1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



969 



OUR 

 HOMES, 



BY A. I. R OOT. 



I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the 

 world, but that thou shouldest ktep them from the 

 vil.— John 17: 11 



He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto 

 the end. to him will 1 give power over the nations. — 

 Rev. -J; -t>. 



When I got back to mj' Michigan home 

 in October, I found a ver^' cordial welcome 

 from the Simday-school, especially from 

 that class of thirtj' or forty I have told you 

 about. As there was to be no preaching- 

 that evening (the pastor comes to that church 

 only once in two weeks) one of the girls in 

 my class came to me after Sunday-school, 

 saying something like this: 



" Mr. Root, there is no preaching to-night, 

 and won't you talk to us if we will all 

 come?" 



" Why, Alice, this should have been 

 thought of sooner, so as to be announced 

 before the closing of the school. I am afraid 

 the people are not readj', just as I am not 

 ready. I have made no preparation for any 

 talk." 



"But, Mr. Root, ive will give the notice, 

 and guarantee that you will have an audi- 

 ence; 30U always have something good to 

 sa}- to US, even if you don't have much no- 

 tice ahead." 



I still tried to excuse myself; but when 

 another and still another of the young peo- 

 ple from my class put in their plea, I told 

 them I would gladlj' do the best I knew 

 how; and when the hour came for the even- 

 ing services, the sight of a very fair audi- 

 ence of bright expectant people (mostly 

 young) made my heart glad. 



Now, I hope these same young people 

 will excuse me if I mention some things 

 that I would not think of mentioning were 

 it not that I have a feeling it might do good 

 to the young people in other neighborhoods 

 and other churches. 



In the further corner of that little church 

 — that is, one of the corners furthest from 

 the minister's desk, the young people of the 

 neighborhood usually gather. They are 

 busy, hard-working people, especially at 

 the time of year when potatoes (the main 

 crop of tliat region) are being harvested. 

 These people, young and old, work hard 

 from daylight until dark in October. There 

 is no let-up from their labors until Sunday 

 comes; and I am verj'glad indeed that Sun- 

 day rest is so generally observed in that 

 region. Perhaps one reason why the Sun- 

 day-school is so well attended is that these 

 hard-working folks, especially' the younger 

 ones, are constantly watching for some op- 

 portunity to get together. We in the towns 

 and cities have no idea of the way in which 

 they enjoy any sort of recreation. As a 

 consequence, there is more or less visiting 

 on Sunday. Now, while I think this is an 

 evil, I am led to believe it is by no means 

 the worst thing in the world. If young peo- 



ple get together in their various homes at 

 seasonable hours, it is not to be compared 

 with meeting in a saloon open on Sunday, 

 or some sort of gambling-den. Those who 

 attend Sunday-school reg-ularly are not apt 

 to be frequenters of the saloon. Well, now, 

 let us get back to that young people's cor- 

 ner. 



The seats are long, and they usually 

 crowd them (in that corner) pretty full — 

 eight or nine, and sometimes ten of the 

 smaller ones, in a seat; and, as a natural 

 consequence, there is a good deal of merri- 

 ment and visiting before service begins, and, 

 I am afraid, sometimes after the services 

 have commenced, and even duringthe preach- 

 ing. I have been absent so much during 

 the past summer I do not know how bad it 

 is; but after one evening's service the good 

 pastor gave the young people in that corner 

 quite a " talking- to. " It was very kind, 

 and none of them should have taken offense. 

 But somebody told me the young folks did 

 not like him very well because he "scolded " 

 so much about their whispering and play- 

 ing during services. Now, while I think of 

 it I remember that, a year ago, Bro. Reed 

 was anno3ed in the same way, and I thought 

 at one time he was altogether too severe in 

 his reproof. As he is old in the ministry, 

 however, he may have been right and I 

 wrong. When I spoke to him about it he 

 said the remarks were directed mostly to one 

 young woman who had to be reproved the 

 second time during one service. 



Now, friends, this is a problem that has 

 to be met almost everywhere; and I am 

 sorry to add that this sort of irreverence for 

 the house of God (or, perhaps we might say, 

 the }nan of God) has often stirred up un- 

 christianlike feelings, not only in the hearts 

 of the young people, but, I fear, in the 

 heart of the pastor. I do not know just 

 what the proper remedy is. I suppose it 

 depends largely on circumstances; but I do 

 believe that the love of Chi'ist, and the in- 

 fluences of the Holy Spirit, in the heart of 

 the pastor, ought to correct the evil, and 

 leave only feelings of love on both sides, in- 

 stead of bad feelings. 



When I was ready to announce my text I 

 found the young people crowded into that 

 further corner as usual, and I prayed for 

 grace and wisdom. God answered my 

 prayer, and gave me — I was going to say 

 the victory. But I do not think victory is 

 the proper word. It might hurt the feel- 

 ings of some one among those young people 

 whom I love; and God knows I would not do 

 any thing nor say any thing to mar the 

 kindly' feelings existing between us for any 

 thing in the world. Let us say, through 

 kindness and love I came out winner. 



We have in the church a very pretty little 

 organ; and sometimes we have quite a nice 

 little choir of young men and women. Of 

 late, however, the young men do not come 

 up before the audience with the young wo- 

 men. They make the excuse that they do 

 not have time to practice during the week. 

 On this particular evening those back of 



