140 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURB. 



Mav 



him I thought the Lord placed it there for the 

 verr purpose of answerinf;: my prayer, and re- 

 warding my faith in the efficacy of coming to 

 Him for huip in all emergencies. What do you 

 think about it, my friends ? 



At another time, one of our young converts, 

 a boy who had been a Sabbath breaker, a pro- 

 fane swearer, and one who went with the 

 worst company in our town, came forward, 

 and promised to try to lead a Christian life, 

 in a few days got discouraged, and told some 

 of his friends he was going to give it up. I 

 called on his mother, who was a widow, and 

 learned that he was much in the habit of fre- 

 quenting a barber's shop kept by a colored 

 woman, and that he had there been told the 

 Christian men of our town were no better than 

 others, and perhaps not as good. 



I wonder if there are those among my read- 

 ers who have said the same thing, or who feel 

 perhaps, an inclination to say it now. If so, 

 may that dear Saviour who loves us all, give 

 me wisdom enough to show you what a fearful 

 thing you are perhaps almost unconsciously 

 doing. The boy had already left off swearing 

 and Sabbath-breaking, had applied to me for a 

 a place to work, and was going straight to- 

 ward all that was good and noble in life. 

 Would any one of you, for anything, say a 

 word that would induce him to go back to his 

 old habits? Diyou know of anything else 

 that makes hard boys relent and come back 

 and listen to the pleading of th.'ir mothers? 



When I started to visit this place for the 

 purpose of talking to them about discouraging 

 young men who were just starting out for a 

 better life, my heart misgave me as usual, and 

 the more I thought about it the more I felt 

 that it would look singular and out of place, 

 and had I not promised, I fear I should have 

 backed out. A^^king the Lord to bless even 

 my blunders, I pushed ahead. The first duty 

 pointed out, was to take these colored people 

 by the hand, and to teis?/, to have, as well as to 

 ask thern to come to our Sabbath Schools and 

 meetings. Whatever I may hare thought oe- 

 fore, I now felt it a duty to let my " light 

 shine," even so far as to consider these people 

 brothers and sisters, and then my work was 

 easy. The woman had formerly been a Meth- 

 odist, but there was no colored church 

 in our town, and she had such good reasons to 

 feel she was considered an intruder, that she 

 had not been to church for a long time. While 

 we were talking, the very young man came in, 

 and pretty soon others. At first they listened, 

 then began shvly to ask questions, and soou 

 we all engaged in singing one of Moody's soul- 

 stirring hymns. When some of them said 

 they would like to be Christians in the way I 

 had presented it, 1 told them they could start 

 that very minute, and if I am not mistaken, 

 every one of thorn knelt with me when I knelt 

 in prayer. The tearful eyes, cordiil hand- 

 shaking, and warm invitations that I received 

 to come again, from nearly all, convinced me 

 most emphatically, that I had in no way been 

 out of the path of duty, in having a little 

 prayer meeting right in the middle of the day, 

 in a public l)arber's whop. The moral I gath- 

 ered, was to let my "light shine" in every 

 direction vvhere I felt light was needed, even if 

 I did feel it rni^ht look singular and a little 



out of place, when contemplating the work to 

 be done. 



In our " home," there is a son about 14, who 

 a few weeks ago, seemed to be interested in 

 almost everything else but going to meeting. 

 He would study his lesson leaf a little while if 

 asked to do so by his parents, but it was very 

 clear that be did it more out of obedience than 

 because he felt any interest in it. We, my 

 wife and I, had talked the matter over, and 

 had feared he was drifting into the scepticism 

 that prevailed in our town to such an extent, 

 but yet we hardly knew what we could do 

 about it more than to pray for guidance. 

 When the revival work commenced, I was so 

 busily engaged in the welfare of those in our 

 town who were far on the road to ruin, thnt I 

 really forgot our own children ; for all that, 

 their sharp eyes and ears were takinir in the 

 whole work, and when they saw me taking the 

 Bible and going into the homes of some of our 

 less fortunate neighbors, and that these same 

 neighbors who had never been in the habit of 

 attending church soon began to join in the 

 new work that was going on, the evidence to 

 their childish minds, was more convincing 

 than whole chapters of the most eloquent 

 oratory. Our boy has been getting to be so 

 extremely bashful, that we were worried about 

 him. He was so sensitive to ridicule, that he 

 could hardly be induced to even go out in 

 public with his own sister, and when I tried to 

 have him join with us in singing the easy Sab- 

 bath School hymns, he was so afraid of his own 

 voice that after codxing and trying for hojars, 

 I was forced to give it up. A few days ago he 

 asked to go to meeting without our mention- 

 ing the subject ; very soon afterward, while 

 shaking hands with those who came forward. 

 I was astonished to find mvself putting out 

 my hand to my own boy. Knowing his sensi- 

 tive nature, I spoke gently to him anrl passed 

 on, but his grandm^ither saw him and in the 

 fullness of her heart said so much that he 

 broke down completely, and sobbed as if his 

 heart would break, something he would not 

 have done for anything in the world, if he 

 could have helped it. D> you think he is 

 afraid of his own voice now? He now speaks 

 in our meetings, sings with the rest, and 1 

 hope would not be afraid to do anything ho 

 might think right, should his old comrades 

 bring to bear all the ridicule and sarcasm thej^ 

 are master of. 



Now then, my friends, if you are anxious 

 that your son shall tread in safe paths where 

 he will be safe from the greac mass of tempta- 

 tions that surround him in his teens, will it 

 not l>e best to let your light shine into tlte 

 homes of your neighbors, rather than soend 

 too much time in talking and praying wi h the 

 youths themselves ? 



I once heard of a good deacon who prayed 

 earnestly one cold bitter day in mid-winter, 

 that the Lord would care for tho-ie wtio were 

 destitute of food, etc. His son, who was a lad 

 in his teens, made the remark that if his tarher 

 wo u I all give him the key to the corn crib, /ti 

 would answer thit prayer. The son knew oJ" 

 near neighbors who were really in winn. Are 

 not some of us who think ourselves C*iristians 

 in danger of doing the same thing? Who was 

 nearer right., the son or the father? 



