Part 11 (1/2)
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 53]
”I know that we agree that we should be very careful about the kind of people whom we welcome to our homes. But, nevertheless the hand of forgiveness and uplift should be extended to every repentant sinner, for Christ has so taught us. But if we should be so careful about the people whom we admit into our homes, why should we not be still more careful about those other visitors--our thoughts--when we admit them to our minds? Did you ever think of your thoughts as your visitors?
No, I suppose not; but we are going to consider them as visitors today.
”Ah, here comes a nice-looking thought that wants to enter into your head. Fortunately, you have a faithful servant who answers the doorbell every time a visitor comes. It is your Conscience, and if it is well trained, it will admit to your mind only the pure thoughts, and it will slam the door in the face of all harmful intruders. But, alas! we are the master of the house and sometimes when Conscience would close the door to an unholy thought, we tell the servant to step aside, and we admit the visitor. It is a shame! And the worst of it is that Conscience, like an obedient servant, finally lets us have our own way and then we have thrust out our best friend!
”Here is a boy who has lagged behind in his school work. A nice-looking little thought comes along and says, 'Why not cheat just a little? No one would know anything about it.' In a jiffy, Conscience is on hand trying to shut the door. But the boy welcomes the thought into his head. Conscience, made bold by the threatened disaster, tries to show the lad that he can succeed more surely by remaining true and honest, but the thought prevails, and before the boy knows it, the door is opened to a mult.i.tude of other thoughts, and the ones which came last are worse than the little one which entered first. When such a boy is grown to young manhood he finds himself robbed of character, robbed of honors, robbed of n.o.ble ambitions. He is a failure. No one trusts him for he cannot trust himself. He is completely at the mercy of his evil thoughts, and Conscience can no longer serve him.
”How gladly, then, should each one of you boys and girls welcome good thoughts. Make Conscience your door-keeper. The same good thought will come again and again, bringing other splendid, helpful, delightful thoughts, and they will become the greater part of your life. Every one of you has a thinker in his head. Be careful to keep it clean and pure.”
JENNIE Ca.s.sEDAY --Children's Day --Service
A Children's Day Story of What One Girl Did to Make Others Happy.
THE LESSON--That one little act may multiply to bless countless thousands.
The story of Jennie Ca.s.seday is one of the sweetest narratives of humble service that can be told to children and their elders. It is a chapter from real life which may be copied in varied form by each one of us. Its use is suggested for Children's day, but it is good for many other occasions.
~~The Talk.~~
”This morning, while we are surrounded by these beautiful flowers, and while our hearts are light as we think of all the beauty and brightness that G.o.d has given us, I want to tell you the story of Jennie Ca.s.seday and what she did to bring beauty and gladness into the world. You may think that Jennie couldn't do very much, because she was a poor little cripple girl. She lived at Louisville, Kentucky.
When she was small, she was just as lively and happy as any other little girl; but one day she suffered from a terrible accident and from that time she was helpless. I am going to draw a picture of Jennie's crutch to represent her suffering and her helplessness. [Draw crutch with brown, Fig. 54.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 54]
”Have I said she was helpless? Well, this is what I mean: She could not help herself, but she could help others, and this is how she did it: For several dark, painful years Jennie Ca.s.seday suffered and waited--waited for something which she could do to enable her to send some ray of light out into the world which would brighten other hearts. One day she read in the New York Observer how a young girl school teacher, who lived in the outskirts of the city of Boston and was employed in one of the down-town schools, was bringing brightness into the homes of many poor people by taking with her large baskets of beautiful roses and lilacs and s...o...b..a.l.l.s and many other kinds of flowers from her suburban home and giving them to the children whom she met. It was a simple little act, but the reading of it by Jennie Ca.s.seday brought a transformation in her life. I wish I knew the name of this young school teacher in Boston, but I can't give it to you. But it was she who gave to Jennie Ca.s.seday the thought for which she had longed. Jennie's suffering was almost forgotten in her planning and determination to raise flowers and give them to the sick and the needy in Louisville. Her friends soon learned of her plans and there were many willing hearts and hands to help her. Under her guidance the Louisville Flower Mission was established, and it soon proved to be a great and growing blessing. It had been doing its beautiful work for four years when Miss Frances E. Willard, head of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, visited Louisville. There she heard of the mission and the n.o.ble young woman who founded it. Miss Willard visited Jennie Ca.s.seday in her sick room, and when the conference had closed, Jennie had been placed at the head of the Flower Mission department of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, which was at that time brought into existence. This was in 1882, and Jennie continued in this great work until the time of her death in 1893. June 9 is observed as the Red Letter day of the Flower Mission department of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, for this is the birthday of Jennie Ca.s.seday. Every year, thousands of bouquets of beautiful flowers find their way into homes of the sick and the poor throughout the land. And so, with the forgetting of the sufferings of Jennie Ca.s.seday and the remembrance of her beautiful life, I think we may well change this crutch to something more commemorative of her life. [With green chalk, change the crutch to a stem of a carnation, and with pink draw the blossom, Fig. 55.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 55]
”In Louisville, the people have sought to honor the memory of this young woman by the establishment of the Jennie Ca.s.seday Infirmary and the Rest Cottage Home for Working Girls. The school children of Louisville erected a beautiful monument to her memory bearing an appropriate inscription.
”Some of us who have our health and strength may well wonder if we are fulfilling all of G.o.d's demands. Boys and girls, let me impress upon you the thought that it is not the great, showy thing that makes people love us, but the careful doing of the seemingly little things, which, when summed up, make a magnificent whole. Jennie Ca.s.seday did what she could. No more is required of us. But that much is certainly expected, and we will fall short if we fail to meet the expectation.”
[A beautiful close to this talk would be the recitation or reading of Dr. Van d.y.k.e's poem ”Transformation,” which may be found in ”The Blue Flower” or in ”The Builders and Other Poems.”]
MOTHER --Mother's Day --Home Training
The Great Men of the World Pay Her the Highest of Tribute--A Carnation Day Thought.
THE LESSON--That the welfare of the church and of the home rests more with the mothers than with the Sunday School teacher.
It is interesting to read the recorded words of some of the world's greatest minds in tribute to motherhood. The following talk, quoting some of these, should be an impressive lesson to the young and to the mothers as well.
~~The Talk.~~
”Who are these mothers for whom we have decorated our school room and ourselves with these beautiful flowers? [Draw, in black outline the carnation blossom; add the stem in solid green, and place the lettering in purple, red or blue, Fig. 56.]