790 



JUVENILE GLEANINGS. 



t)EC. 



one can have two earthly fathers. Father 

 holds just one place; so God tills one place, 

 and that one place only. 



Now, friends, I want this Home Paper to 

 be a helpful one. I need hardly tell you that 

 I want all of these Home Papers to be help- 

 ful. I know you have trials and ditficulties; 

 I see them running all through the letters 

 you send me from day to day. i want to see 

 you all happy ; I want to see you enjoy your 

 work, and enjoy life, and 1 want to see you 

 enjoy the things God has in store for you. 

 Now, all the enjoyment in this life depends 

 very greatly upon a proper understanding 

 of our Father, and knowing what we ought 

 to do, and especially what our deportment 

 should be toward him. Does he want our 

 prayers? The Bible says so, and I think 

 common sense says so. Jesus did not tell 

 that disciple that he need not pray at all 

 when he asked him how he should pray ; on 

 the contrary, his reply seemed to indicate 

 that he shuuid pray often. Shall we pray 

 often y and how shall we pray V Let us have 

 some more homely illustrations, if you 

 choose. 



Some time ago, in talking with friend Ken- 

 del, we were discussing ihe matter of em- 

 ploying boys ; for there are many in the city 

 of Cleveland constantly seeking employ- 

 ment, as w>ll as here in Medina. He made 

 this remark : " I make it a rule, never to 

 employ a boy who asks in the outset what 

 pay he is to have " At first I did not just 

 see why he should make such a trifle a test 

 of the boy's disposition and ultimate value. 

 I set common sense at work, and pretty soon 

 I decided this : That it was an excellent 

 test; for boys who are seeking employment, 

 and want to know at the outset what pay 

 they will get, would, as a rule, in the end, 

 think that pay was the principal object, and 

 learning to do business, or getting a start 

 with a good business man, was of secondary 

 impoitance. Suppose that some one who 

 had been thinking of becoming a Christian 

 should begin lo ask God what pay he should 

 get, or should question the pastor or Sab- 

 bath-school teacher, as to how much pay he 

 should get for becoming a Christian; sup- 

 pose he should ask how soon he sliould be- 

 come veiy happy, or, would God commence 

 right off to send"him whatever he prayed for. 

 Why! it would be awful, une can never 

 become a Christinn in that way; neither can 

 any one become a prohtable member of soci- 

 ety where his constant question is. How can 

 I get the most of this world's goods by the 

 least exertion ? Religion is the direct oppo- 

 site of seltishness; and love to God, and 

 love to one"s fellow-men, drives out sellish- 

 ness. The little illustration 1 have given 

 you shows what the altitude of one seekii g 

 employment should be toward the one he 

 would have for his employer ; or, if you 

 choose, it illustrates what the attitude of a 

 son should be toward a father, and, in the 

 same light, our relation toward God. JSow, 

 if we are the children, and God is the Father, 

 what line of conduct becomes usV the Bible 

 teaches not only that God is a heavenly Fath- 

 er, but that man is free to do right or wrong. 

 Every son has the choice of being obedient to 

 his father, or disobedient ; and although the 



father may, as a general thing, by good in- 

 fluences, keep the son from evil w^ys, the 

 son has the power to choose evil instead of 

 good, if he wishes. He is free, as it were; 

 and although the father may be seeking 

 daily and hourly to find some means by 

 which he may restrain the son from evil, if 

 the son be determined on evil he may fail, 

 simply because we are free moral agents. 



Now, of late, in asking myself what pru- 

 dence and common sense and the Bible dic- 

 tate, I have received answers something like 

 the illustration 1 am now going to give you; 

 and in the illustration I am going to use, 

 please bear in mind that 1 use mjself as an 

 illustration, as an earthly teacher, and di- 

 vine what my attitude toward God should 

 be, by asking myself the question, what 

 should the attitude of any son or pupil be to- 

 ward any earthly teacher? I have before 

 spoken of those lessons Christ gave us, of 

 the need of importunity in prayer, and I have 

 told you, too, that the more I studied this 

 matter of importunity, the more comfort it 

 gave me. How many parents are there who 

 have not, some time or other, wished their 

 children would come to them more, and 

 come to them in an importunate way ? 1 am 

 glad to see my children want things, and it 

 gives me a thj ill of pleasure, too, to see them 

 want things vehemently. I am glad to have 

 an employe come to me with wants, and I 

 am glan lo see him come with great wants ; 

 in fact, it always gives me a thrill of pleasure 

 to see boys and girls who are vehement and 

 importunate— that is, where they are impor- 

 tunate for things that are proper and right. 

 Give me a boy who is vehement and importu- 

 nate in his desire to get an education, and I 

 feel at once that I have scmiething to build 

 upon — bearing in mind, of course, that his 

 importunity does not come by fits and starts, 

 but that he has a settled determination to 

 accomplish his purpose. In fact, to a cer- 

 tain extent I like to tee people have hobbies 

 — not unreasonable ones, of course, but I do 

 enjoy seeing any oire stick to a single idea 

 until he develops it and knows all about it. 

 Rather than to see people with no purpose 

 at all in life, I believe I would rather see 

 them intent on making money siniply ; but, 

 of course, I never want to see the greed for 

 money so great as to overrule a sense of 

 right and wrong. 



Well, I am glad to be able to say that I 

 never had any experience in governing a son 

 who was disobedient ; but 1 have had a great 

 deal of experience with boys who were not 

 taught to obey at home. I have watched 

 them anxiously and lovingly ; 1 have prayed 

 for them, and 1 have anxiously waited for 

 some symptom of a desire to do right. 

 Suppose a boy comes to me and wants work. 

 If 1 am in need of more help, my first ques- 

 tion is, '; Do you either drink, swear, or use 

 tobacco?" very often he admits that he 

 has been guilty of one or more of these acts. 

 But he gives me a fair and square promise 

 to abstain from all, if I will give him a place 

 among our boys nud girls here in the factory 

 or on our grounds. Time passes, and I feel 

 a little troubled about him, because I see no 

 positive indication of a very great desire of 

 any thing more than selfish interests, such as 



