GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



EVE RAL 



weeks ago T 



OUR HOMES 



A. I. ROOT 



got a little 

 scratch on the 

 forefinger of my 

 right hand down 

 near the root of 

 the nail; but as 

 I had a lot of 

 work in the gar- 

 den in the way 

 of gathering my 

 crops, etc., I 

 paid but little 

 attention to the 



Inirt. But it kept getting worse. Some- 

 times it would seem almost well, and then it 

 would get a bump in some way during the 

 day and then get worse. I tried protecting 

 it with a little piece of cloth tied over the 

 end of the finger; but the cloth soon got 

 in the way, looked unsightly, and I neglect- 

 ed it until it became so bad that I had to 

 take it to the doctor. He said he ought to 

 have had charge sooner. But he cauteriz- 

 ed it, putting on some salve. Then he tied it 

 up and I went liome. Toward night it was 

 so painful that I called on him again. He 

 said it would probably gather and break, 

 but added that my best way was to get 

 along with it as it was, as well as I could. 

 Toward bedtime, however, the pain be- 

 came so acute, I felt sure I should not be 

 able to sleep a wink unless I had some re- 

 lief. Of course, my little prayer, "Lord, 

 help," stood up before me; but one of my 

 skeptical friends had suggested to me— and 

 he did it very kindly— that my answers to 

 prayer were a good deal selfish ones ; and I 

 think he suggested, too, that I encouraged 

 the idea — at least indirectly — that God 

 seemed more willing to answer my prayers 

 than the prayers of other people. In think- 

 ing it over I was impressed with the idea 

 that perhaps I had been— at least to some 

 extent — unwilling to bear the trials and 

 crosses that seem to be the common lot of 

 humanity. Had I really any right to pray 

 that I might be delivered from whatever 

 troubles confront me, as I have been doing 

 the greater part of my life? ' I thought of 

 Paul and his thona in the flesh, and felt at 

 the time that I, just then, had a " thorn in 

 the flesh" in very truth; and the thorn 

 seemed to be right down at the root of that 

 finger-nail. Then I remembered good old 

 Isaac Watts' little hymn: 



Must T be carried to the skies 



On flowery beds of ease, 

 While others fought to win the prize 



And sailed thru bloody seas? 

 Since I must fight if I would win, 



Increa.se my courage, Lord; 

 ril bear the toil, endure the pain, 



^pported by thy word. 



J] 



My grace is sufficieut for tliee. — ll CoR. 12:9. 

 Before they call I will answer. — ISAI.\H 65:24. 

 Neithei- shall there be any more pain. — Rev. 21:4. 



.January, 1920 



Am I going 

 to be a man and 

 take my share 

 of pain and suf- 

 fering like other 

 people, or shall 

 I be a " baby," 

 when things like 

 this come to 

 pass? Then I 

 V e m e m b e r e d 

 again the reply 

 that came to 

 Paul, "My grace 

 is sufficient for 

 thee." I was just getting ready to take a 

 bath before retiring. After thinking the 

 nuitter over I ventured a little audible 

 prayer something like this: 



" Lord, give me grace to bear this pain 

 (even if it should prevent me from sleep- 

 ing a wink tonight), if it be not consistent 

 with thy holy will to have it removed." 



My good friends, especially the ones who 

 send me so many kind words of encourage- 

 ment, jilease take a good look at that brief 

 prayer. Is it all right? Would there be 

 anything selfish or inconsistent in any poor 

 suffering child of humanity in uttering 

 sueli a prayer? Now for the result; and 

 may God's Holy Spirit help me to tell it. 

 so far as I am able, exactly as it hapiDened. 

 Almost as soon as the prayer was uttered 

 — at least within a few minutes — the pain 

 ceased. There was inflammation, and the 

 arm had been feverish clear up to the el- 

 bow ; but almost in an instant it was gone. 

 I went to bed and slept soimdly. In the 

 morning, when I came to examine the 

 finger, to my great surprise the swelling 

 had gone down, and everything was almost 

 normal. I showed it to Mrs. Root as an 

 evidence of the wonderful answer to 

 }>rayer. By the way, let me digress a little. 

 Now, there is something more about this 

 wonderful answer to my prayer. All I 

 have said is strictly true; but after break- 

 fast I went to remove the bandage I had 

 worn during the night, and the antiseptic 

 gauze, that the doctor gave me to do it up 

 with, had a stain right over the spot near- 

 est the finger-nail. 



" Hello ! " said I ; "here is some explana- 

 tion for this sudden relief." Then I pro- 

 ceeded to soak the disturbing finger in a 

 glass of hot water to soften it up, and then 

 T discovered the sore had broken during the 

 night, and this was what made the stain. 

 Then I went back to what liappened after 

 my pi-ayer the night before. I was ready 

 to" get into the bathtui). but the water was 

 almost too hot. I ])ut my hand in to see if 

 I could bear it— the "sore" hand, mind 



