"To the one who needs your smile there is nothing else in all the world, perhaps, that will prove so life-giving. Many a despondent one has been thrilled with vital power, lifted, and enn.o.bled by the knowledge that another heart beats with it in tenderness and sympathy."
WHAT IS BEST?
--Success --Work
Success Means the Constant Employment of Our Best Faculties in the n.o.blest of Service.
THE LESSON--That true success does not depend so much upon what you get out of this world, as upon what you accomplish for others.
The magic word, "Success," is before each one of us to inspire us to larger deeds; but let us not forget that many a rich man has made a great failure of life, while many a poor man has made a great success of it. The talk deals with the subject in a commercial way, as an ill.u.s.tration of success in the truest sense.
~~The Talk.~~
"Every one of us desires to be successful. But some of us have one definition of success while others have an entirely different view.
Many are sure that the attainment of wealth is the measure of success; some are equally sure that the achievement of political or social honors marks the arrival at the goal of success; and so on. But, no matter how we may have defined success, many of us who have fallen short of our ideals declare in the bitterness of disappointment that we could have reached the top if we had only had the advantages that others enjoyed; if we had been helped at the proper time, or if we could have had enough money or strength.
"Let us take the example of the young man who occupies a high position in the commercial world. We will draw a picture of him seated at his desk. [Draw Fig. 88, complete.] This young man is at the head of an important department of a great manufacturing concern, and there are rumors that he is about to be advanced to a place of greater responsibility. He receives a large salary. It is a part of his duties to direct the work of many men in his department. These men come to him for instructions. We will draw one of these men. [Draw man to complete Fig. 89.] What is pa.s.sing in the mind of the man who stands here receiving his instructions? This is what he is saying to himself: "I cannot understand why this other man, who is no older than I am, should have such a good position, while I must stay in a place of less importance. He must have a pull." And he goes away with bitterness in his heart.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 88]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 89]
"The fact is that the man with the lesser position spends his time, his energy and his talent in pursuing the trivial, temporary things, the so-called pleasures of life. He is a time-waster. The successful one has won his way by concentrating his efforts on learning how best to do his work.
"Do you ever harbor such thoughts about people who have made good in the commercial life? Have you ever, for example, thought that the high place in the world of commerce held by Andrew Carnegie was attained through some strange chance or luck? If you have, perhaps it might be well to take a glance at the main points of his early life. In Scotland, his father was a weaver, whose business was destroyed by the introduction of power looms. One day, when the father came home, he said to his boy, "Andy, I have no more work!" The lad knew what it meant, and immediately he decided to meet his father"s problem to keep the wolf of hunger from the door. He was then but ten years old. It was decided to come to America, and here Andrew Carnegie, at the age of eleven, obtained a place in a mill as a bobbin boy, at $1.20 a week. He writes as follows concerning the great lesson he learned at that time: "I was no longer dependent upon my parents but at last was admitted to the family partnership as a contributing member and able to help them. I think that makes a man out of a boy sooner than anything else." At the age of fourteen, he was a stoker in the boiler room of a small factory, and then took employment as a telegraph boy at $300 a year. When he advanced to a place of greater responsibility as a telegrapher, he made his first investment in the purchase of an interest in an express company. While still engaged in this capacity he met Woodruff, the inventor of the sleeping car, and seeing the value of the invention he later engaged in its manufacture. From then forward, as superintendent of the Pittsburgh division of the Pennsylvania railroad, in the oil fields and in the steel industry of which he has long been regarded as the king, his rise has been the result, not of good fortune, but of hard work looking toward a desired object.
"The story of the success of the lives of Lincoln, of Moody, of Mozart, of thousands of the world"s great men is the story of work and hope, of poverty and inspiration.
"So, in the Christian life, Jesus asks us to cast out of our lives the pursuit of the vain, transient things and to center our minds and hearts upon the truest, the loftiest and the best. Success may mean a most humble place in the world. But the "pearl of great price" is the blessing of peace, of faith, of hope and of love which come to him to whom the Master says, "Well done.""
MESSAGES to the CHILDREN --Cradle Roll Day --Children
The Scriptures Are Full of Beautiful Thoughts for Cradle Roll Day.
THE LESSON--That G.o.d loves a baby; that both the Father and the Son, through their recorded words, constantly express their love of the little ones.
This somewhat "unusual" chalk talk will not fail to accomplish its object in getting the attention of the children and causing them to consider some of the especially beautiful thoughts appropriate to Cradle Roll Day.
~~The Talk.~~
"I want to see the hand of every boy or girl who likes to get a letter. Yes, and you like to get pretty post cards, too; don"t you?
And the reason you like to get them is that you know, then, that someone thinks of you and cares for you.
"Well, then, on this Cradle Roll day, I am sure we would all like to get a letter from someone who cares for us, and so, I will first draw the envelope and then see if there is a message in it for us. [Draw the envelope on the paper in black outline and then, with the broad side of your crayon give it an even tinting of pink, light blue or other dainty color. Then, with your black crayon, address the envelope to your own school, by revising the wording as here shown. Add the stamp in brown, and the postmark in black, completing Fig. 90.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 90]
"Well, here is the envelope. Now, I wonder if there is anything in it for us.
[With a sharp pen knife or scissors cut a slit in the paper at the end of the envelope as if you were opening it. Thrust in your hand and bring forth a sheet of paper like a letter only much larger--folded to fit the envelope (Fig. 91). This, of course, is placed there in advance, beneath the outer sheet, attached with thumb tacks so it will tear loose readily. The action will arouse much interest.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 91]
"Well, surely we have something here that looks like a letter or a message. Ah, yes, it is a message of love to the little ones from the Savior Himself, for it was Jesus who spoke these beautiful words:
""Suffer the little children to come unto me, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven."
"And let us see if there is a message for the little boys and girls of the Sunshine and the primary cla.s.ses. Ah, yes, here it is; and it is from the Bible, too (Eccl. 12: 1), and this is what it says:
""Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, when, the evil days come not nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them." And this means that if you are faithful to your Sunday school and will remember the beautiful things you learn here and carry them through life with you, you will be more than grateful in the years that are to come.
"I wonder if there is anything here to let these boys and girls know whether G.o.d thinks they are worth anything or not. Yes, here is a message from the Psalms which says: "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy is he whose quiver is full of them!" And so a man is rich if he has those about him who call him father, and a mother is blessed in the love of her children.
"Does the message say anything about how the boys and girls should treat their fathers and their mothers? Let us see. Yes, it says: "Honor thy father and mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy G.o.d giveth thee." And again it says: "My son, heed the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother."
And then, too, it adds this word: "Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord."
"And is there a message for us older ones on this Cradle Roll Day? I believe there is, for I find here this message: "Except ye become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter the Kingdom of Heaven."
"And is there a message to the parent which sheds any light on the way they should treat their children? Yes, here it is: "The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame." When we are boys and girls we must obey father and mother or suffer punishment to keep us in the right pathway.
"And is there a message to the grandfathers and grandmothers on this glad day? I think so, for I find here this message, "Children"s children are the crown of old men."
"Let us remember all of these messages which have come again to us on this glad Cradle Roll Day."
THE PERFECT LIFE --Thanksgiving Day --Perfection
The Love of G.o.d in Our Hearts May Be Perfect, Even Though Our Lives Fall Short of Perfection.
THE LESSON--That if we "hunger and thirst after righteousness," as did the Pilgrim Fathers, our lives, though imperfect, will be well pleasing to the Father.
Many of us are discouraged because we cannot, or do not, attain to the high ideal of life which we find before us. G.o.d"s Word seems to bring comfort to the disappointed one by showing him that if he earnestly desires to attain to the highest ideal, his acts are well pleasing to G.o.d, even though he falls short of his hopes. In using the Pilgrim Fathers as an ill.u.s.tration, the talk is well fitted to the observance of Thanksgiving Day, but it is also appropriate for many other occasions.
~~The Talk.~~
"Any one of us who wants to find something beautiful about us, needs only to take a good look. Here, for instance, we may see a tall, straight tree. [Draw the tree, of Fig. 92.] And over here, nearer by, we may find a rosebush in bloom. [Draw the bush and rose.] And here is the sun shining in all its glory. [Draw the sun, using orange. Any suitable color may be used for the rose. The trunk of the tree should be in brown and the foliage in green. Draw the distant foliage, completing Fig. 92.] And as we look upon these things we may think of them as perfect in every way, because they are all G.o.d"s handiwork.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 92]
"And yet--
"Let us take a closer look. We find that when the tree is cut down for lumber it is marred by many imperfections, and that a great deal of it has to be thrown away as useless. Somehow, we are a little bit disappointed in the tree, for we thought it was perfect. As we turn to the rose, we are reminded by a sharp pain in our fingers as we examine it, that the stems are covered with ugly thorns. [Add the thorns.] And then we notice, too, that many of the leaves on the bush are deformed and unshapely. As we turn to look upon the sun, we are dazzled by its brilliance, at first, and then we discover that even this brightness is clouded by spots which seem to make it imperfect. Then too, as we look away from it, we find that the sun, in its pa.s.sage through the sky not only brightens many a dark corner, but it casts many a deep, gloomy shadow as well. [Draw the shadow of the tree, completing Fig. 93.]