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February 24, 1909. THE PRESBYTERI/
THE FOLLY OF BEING SHODDY.
"What do you mean by 'shoddy'?" asked a young
girl who overheard a group of women discussing a
neighbor.
"Deliberately trying to appear what one is not," was
one reply.
"Trying to deceive others and being woefully deceived
oneself," came next.
Rather drastic definitions, aren't they? Yet few indeed
will say they arc too severe. The truth of the
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women instinctively resent pretense in others. In the
eyes of well-trained, experienced people a plain garment
of honesty and simplicity becomes every one far
better than the most showy pretense he can put on.
The garment of pretense is always transparent to every
one save the wearer. Yes, worse than that; for
it has a peculiar way of magnifying the very- imperfections
it is supposed to conceal. An incident taken from
the ordinary avenues of life may serve to illustrate: A
young man and his wife went into a small town not
long ago, he to be head of the public school. They
made considerable to-do about their learning, their
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the school and social world, and insisted on taking the
leadership in most public affairs. They lived at-home,
it was soon discovered, in a state of crudeness and
disorder and penuriousness that gave many signs of
lack of refinement. People began to watch their scholarship
and found it very imperfect, superficial. Their
"degrees" proved to be no higher than those of several
college graduates in the place. Sharp eyes caught one
or the other "making breaks" against social good form.
* In all too short a time they were th.e laughing stock of
the community, and were glad to go to a new field.
Had they said nothing of themselves, made no pretenses,
and lived in a state suitable to their station,
they might have made a good many mistakes and have
been forciven thprpfr?r
?
Shoddiness is a foolish effort to impose upon others;
for indeed "ithers see us" in our real character, no matter
what we pretend to be. "lie what you would seem
to be" is a wisdom gem that has crystallized out of human
experiences.?W ellspring.
REJECTED BLESSINGS.
No vonder so many of us are so poor in spiritual
things. To our doors evermore come the heavenly messengers,
their hands laden with rich blessings, which
they wish to give to us. But we are so intent on our
earthly ambitions that we do not see them nor open
our doors to them, and waiting long in vain, they at
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If we would but train ourselves to take whatever
gift God sends to us, we should soon become rich. God's
blessings are ever at our doors. He is the giving God.
1 he trouble with us is that we do not always recognize
the blessings when they are offered us. Some, of the
richest of them come in forms of pain, struggle and sorrow.
Let us learn to accept God's gifts, whether they
?hine in joy or arc veiled in shadows.?J. R. Miller,
D. D.
OF THE SOUTH. 13
CAUSES OF UNREST.
There is such a thing as taking ourselves and the
world too seriously, or at any rate too anxiously. Half
of the secular unrest and dismal, profane sadness of
modern society comes "from the vain idea that every
man is bound to be a critic of life, and to let 110 day
pass without finding some fault with the lrcncnl r>r<W
of things, or projecting some plan for its improvement.
And the other half comes from the greedy notion that
a man's life does consist, after all, in the abundance
of the things that he possesscth, and that it is somehow
or other more respectable and pious to be always
at work making a larger living than it is to lie on your
back in the green pastures and beside the still waters
and thank God you are alive.?Henry Van Dyke.
BEING A CHRISTIAN.
Being a Christian is being a worker. The best Christians
are the best workers. The Christian always works
on a large scale. However small the task may be, he
looks at it and considers it in the light of eternity. No
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..mug is menial, no service is irksome to the Christian.
Being a Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ. .To
follow Him is to be constantly a worker, for He said:
"My Father worketh hitherto and I will work." What
an encouragement this is to the busy worker! The
Bible is full of cheerful thoughts for the busy. The
Christian life is a life of perennial joy. The only one
who can eat his bread with true joy is the Christian.
A good man's hands are stretched out in search of occupation.
He loaths idleness. Whatsoever his hands
find to do, he does it. The ideal good man places his
hand to every good work that God places in his way.?
William Bares Lower, D. D.
GIFTS OF HEALING.
Peter's shadow had healing power in it. The sick
upon whom it rested even for a moment, as he passed
by, became strong and well, and rose up cured and
happy. There are those in every community who carry
with them, wherever they go, a like influence of healing
and blessing. They bear into a sick room a deli
cate sympathy which not only enters into the experience
of the suffering, but puts new cheer and hope into
the heart of th6 sufferer. They speak encouraging and
inspiring words. Their face has in it a message of
cheer wherever it appears. They bring some promise
of God, some word of hope and encouragement. The
discouraged man they meet is made to feel hot only
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him, but also that, after all, his case is not so hopeless
as he imagined it to be, and that he need not despair.
He is ready to try again. It is a blessed thing to carry
such cheer and sympathy to despondent hearts.?Forward.
Live in the fellowship with God by prayer, and in fellowship
with men by sympathy. And above all, believe
in the efficacy of prayer. Do not think it is merely the
prerogative of a few princely souls. Elijah became what
he was, and wielded the power which he did, through
prayer.
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