1881 



GLEANINGS IN J3EE CULTURE. 



450 



help it. The most of them arc too lazy to work, and 

 want big pay. If a man preaches, let him work too. 

 And another thing is the strife between the church- 

 es. They arc all striving for one place. What will 

 they do when they get there? The preachers keep 

 croquet for their children to play, and the superin- 

 ten<lent of the Sal)bath school docs so too. They 

 play Sabbath afternoons. 1 would just as soon play 

 cards. 1 don't play any of tiiem. I try to treat all 

 mankind as I like to be treatid. 1 oiai/ become a 

 praying man some day. Well, about the bees. You 

 said that the bee-keepers ought all to set aside one 

 stand and its increase for the support of the Lord's 

 work. I have eleven stands, and have one of them 

 set aside for that purpose. L. N. Coijpeh. 



Tehama, Cherokee Co., Kansas. 



Friend ('., it does not take miicb educa- 

 tion to read the P>ible, enouf>;li to lead one to 

 eternal life, and I have sometimes been led 

 to think that an especial blessing- rested on 

 those who were compelled to stnHy it slowly 

 and laborionsly. It is the '•'unrighteous'' 

 lives of the preachers that bother you, is it y 

 ^V^ell, as I do not know those near you, I 

 can not say but that yon arc right ; but, my 

 friend, Avhatever may be flicir faidts, I am 

 sure there is a grievous one of uncharitable- 

 ness in your own heart. The ministers of 

 our town are among the most earnest and 

 hard-working class I know of, and it is a 

 kind of work ifon prol)al)ly could not be hired 

 to do either. ' Teaching school is a wearing 

 kind of labor, because of the responsibilities 

 of looking after so many; but a faithful 

 minister has the whole community on his 

 shoulders. The dear Iriend who preaches to 

 us every Sabbath, I am happy to say is an 

 intimate friend of mine; and rknow,as per- 

 haps but few do, of some of the cares and 

 trials he has to endure. It took iiim years 

 to ht him for the place he holds, and I fear 

 many of us forget how safely and wisely he 

 advises us through the most peri)lexing and 

 diHicult phases of human life. Go and get 

 acquainted with your ministers, friend C., 

 and see if you do not tell me you were mis- 

 taken. And so you feel sorry to see the 

 strife between the churches, do you V Well, 

 here is my hand on that, and you and I will 

 let the world see that we two, at least, are 

 above this kind of weakness. Divide the 

 proceeds of that hive I'round among them, 

 and then let the world know you are inter- 

 ested in the prosperity and purity of every 

 Churchill your vicinity. If God has given 

 you a clearer perception of right and wrong 

 than he has your neighbors, you can give 

 them a pure upright life for an example. If 

 yoiu' conscience tells you it is wrong to play 

 cro.luet, by no means do it; but be careful 

 how you lay down lines for the conduct of 

 other people. If you would have that con- 

 science become a real guide and friend in 

 life, by all means become a praying man, 

 and in the solitude of your closet ask God to 

 let the voice of conscience guide you in all 

 doubtful or difiicull matters. Listen to our 

 next friend : — 



I did not expect to write you again so soon, but 

 reading Our Homes in June Gi.eamnc.s has brought 

 up thoughts that I luust try to express, as I under- 

 stand you; that is, what and who is honest. I try 

 to live by the rule, " Judge j'e for yourselves if these 



things be so;" but as the years roll on I feel less and 

 less competent to judge as to what is strictly right 

 or wrong, and the only way I know is to more care- 

 fully heed " the ^•oice of God within me;" and if the 

 Bible doctrine of "ministering angels" be true, 

 then on the principle that " like attracts like," the 

 better our thoughts and actions, the better will be 

 the angels that minister to us; lor John says, "Not 

 a» the spirits are of God," and adds this: "Prove the 

 .spirits, and see if they be of God." 



One Bible student has written, "Through intideii- 

 ty, is to come an intelligent belief in the Bible," and 

 I believe he was right; at least, in my case; not that 

 I profess to understand the Bible, only this: once 1 

 had a "blind belief," then no belief; now I am con- 

 tinually finding (to me) new truths. I read the Bi- 

 ble just as you listen to ministers, and judge for mj-- 

 self ; and what I can not use or undcstand or ajjply, 

 I just leave without comment until I am able to use 

 it. I frcl that there is a wise ov-er-ruling power, and 

 that there may be ministering angel?, agents of this 

 power, who strive to help and guide us. 



J. U. Bt.MlS. 



Los Angeles, Cal., July 1, 188L 



The following is from a friend who lias 

 written me letters about some points in 

 doctrine, as nearly as I can understand : — 



You object to the Bible truths I tried to impress 

 upon your memory, in a manner pooh-poohing them 

 as if they were of no importance; besides, you pre- 

 fer the teachings that emanated from the 7-hilled 

 city to the teachings of the Bible. The apostle de- 

 clares that Jesus Christ was the minister of the cir- 

 cumcision, to confirm the promises of God to the 

 fathers. Where in the Bible does it teach the exis- 

 tence and translation of immortal souls to trans- 

 ckyana at death? Oh that Root would root deep in- 

 to that book, and find the hidden treasure, for he 

 has not yet foimd it : 



You (liu'st not publish this in Gle.anings. 



New Hamburg, Ont., Can. H. Smith. 



Friend S., I do not know but that I am 

 about like the boy who, when he came home 

 dripping wet, accounted for it to his mother 

 by saying that the boys dared him to jump 

 into the creek, and he wasn't going to be 

 (laved by anybody. As your letter is not 

 very long, it does not take up much room ; 

 but I hope you will forgive me if I say I 

 don't even now get a glimmering of what it 

 means, ttnless you allude to some thing I 

 have heard about the sleep of the dead. Are 

 you sui'e you are not in error in trying to 

 point out to me my duty? Suppose I should 

 take your letter along with me and read it to 

 the boys in jail; do you think it would have 

 the same effect in restraining them from 

 crime that it would if I opened the JJible 

 and read — 



He hath shewed thee, () man, what is good; and 

 what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, 

 and to li)vemercj% and to walkhumbly with thy God? 

 — MiCAH. 6 : 8. 



Friend S., there are quite a number of you 

 who complain of the way I teach here in the 

 Home Papers, and beg space to give their 

 own peculiar views ; but do you think the 

 Home Papers would have the hold on the 

 hearts of the people they now have if I al- 

 h)wed them to be filled up with views on 

 doctrine? See the following from away off 

 in China : — 



