May, 1923 



GLEANINGS IN B V, !•: CULTURE 



327 



T! 



'IIEEE are 

 two more re- 

 markable an- 

 swers to prayer; 

 or at least they 

 are remarkable 

 and greatly en- 

 couraging to Die. 

 One Sunday eve- 

 ning, just as I 

 had come in on 

 foot from my Ab- 

 beville Sunday 

 school, five miles 

 a w ay, an old 

 friend said to 

 me as follows: 



"Mr. Eoot, a 

 saloon is to be opened up bright and early 

 tomorrow morning at the center of York. 

 Tlie man has got his wet goods in boxes, and 

 is ready to put them on the shelves; and if 

 anything is going to be done to stop it, it 

 must be done this Sunday night; and I do 

 not know of any one who will tackle such a 

 disagreeable job unless it is you." 



I was tired and hungry, and it was al- 

 ready snowing, and nearly dark. I got a 

 hasty lunch; and with a prayer for strength, 

 and wisdom as well, I started out with my 

 umbrella. It was a trip of four miles, and 

 there was so much snow on the railroad track 

 that I had hard work to keep my feet on the 

 ties. There was only one man in the little 

 town of York with whom I was well ac- 

 quainted, and he was a notorious skeptic. I 

 called at his home, and he almost immediate- 

 ly began a tirade against Christians in gen- 

 erg,!. He said something like this: 



"Mr. Eoot, you Christians meet together 

 and pass resolutions, perhaps appoint com- 

 mittees, and pray about it, and that is the 

 last of it. You never do anything. ' ' 



I listened as long as I could stand it, and 

 then I said: 



"There may be some truth in what you 

 say, Mr. Van Orman; but how about you in- 

 fidels? What do you do?" 



"Oh!" replied he, "we go right to work 

 and do things without all that folderol and 

 rigmarole.' ' 



By the way, it occurs to me just here that 

 my old friend, Eev. A. T. Eeed, the boy 

 preacher, once astonished his audience by 

 saying in his opening prayer something like 

 this: 



"O Lord, we thank thee for our enemies, 

 because they oftentimes tell us of our faults 

 which our friends, especially if they are in- 

 timate friends, rarely do." 



I have often thought of it since then. 



After what I said to Mr. Van Orman, and 

 he had replied, I took it up as follows: 



"Mr. Van Orman, I am very glad indeed 

 to have you tell me how unbelievers work, 

 for you and I are going straight, this 

 blessed minute, to do what we can to pre- 

 vent Mr. from opening up here in 



your quiet little town such a thing as has 

 never been known." 



D 



OUR HOMES 



A. I. ROOT 



Let your light so shine before men that they 

 may see your good works, and glorify your Father 

 which is in heaven. — Matt. 5:16. 



The effpctual fervent prayer of a righteous man 

 availeth much. — .James 5:16. 



Her price is far above rubies. — Prov. 31:10. 



The above had 

 the e £f e c t of 

 completely turn- 

 ing the tables. 

 He replied: 



"O Mr. Eoot! 

 I am sure you 

 will do very 

 much better if 

 y o u go alone. 

 Somehow it is 

 out of my line. 

 You are just tlie 

 man for it. ' ' 



He continued 

 to object; but I 

 declared that, 

 after what he 

 had said, he was going up to where the 

 saloon was to be started and introduce 

 me, even if I had to take him by main 

 strength. I got him up to the door, but 

 I had to do the rapping; and when the 

 man made his appearance I asked Mr. Van 

 Orman to introduce me. We both went in 

 and had quite a talk. The man and his 

 wife, with two or three children, were pres- 

 ent. They both resented my interfering, 

 and all that I could do did not seem to 

 change their opinions a particle. The man 

 said he had got to do something to get the 

 means to educate his children, and there 

 seemed to be no other opening just then. 

 Just think of it, friends — opening up a sa: 

 loon as a means of educating the little ones 

 of the household! My skeptical friend had 

 but little to say, and I was about to give it 

 up; but before leaving I said I would like 

 to have them all kneel with me including 

 Mr. Van Orman, while I asked the good 

 Lord to guide us in the matter. My prayer 

 was short, but I think it was something like 

 this: 



"O Lord, thou knowest how thy servant 

 has labored to make this father and mother 

 consider well the step they are about to 

 take. Thou knowest how he seems to have 

 failed entirely. Now may the Holy Spirit 

 do what I have utterly failed to do, and 

 make this father and mother realize Avhat 

 may be the effect in these growing children 

 if the parents go on as they propose to 

 do." 



What do you suppose happened? As we 

 arose from kneeling the mother was shed- 

 ding tears. She stood up to her full height, 

 and raising her hand, she pointed to her 

 husband and said, "Sir, you know how I 

 have objected to this whole undertaking 

 from beginning to end; but you have coaxed 

 and wheedled me into giving a reluctant 

 consent. But I have changed my mind. The 

 minute you open that store and begin sell- 

 ing that stuff to whosoever calls for it, 

 that minute you and I cease to be husband 

 and irife." 



I am afraid, dear friends, that I laughed 

 at the outcome. The husband turned on me 

 and said, "Mr. Eoot, you pretend to be a 

 Christian, and yet you come into my honiQ 



