Fifty-Two Story Talks to Boys and Girls Part 4

G.o.d IS NOW HERE

In a sermon which Dean Stanley, an English minister, preached to children in Westminster Abbey, he told the following story: "There was a little girl living with her grandfather. She was a good child, but he was not a very good man; and one day, when she came back from school, he had put in writing over her bed, 'G.o.d is nowhere,' for he did not believe in the good G.o.d, and he tried to make the little girl believe the same as he.

"What did the little girl do? She had no eyes to see, no ears to hear what her grandfather tried to teach her. She was very small. She could only read words of one syllable at a time; she rose above the bad meaning which he had tried to put into her mind, because her little mind could not do otherwise, and she read the words not 'G.o.d is nowhere,' but 'G.o.d is now here.'"

And she was right. She was wiser than her gray-haired grandfather. For G.o.d is now here. He is everywhere. And whenever even the smallest child speaks to Him in the simplest prayer He hears the child's voice. G.o.d is now here. That is a good motto for us to take with us to school, to keep us honest; to play, to keep us sweet; to our homes, to keep us unselfish.

DAVID LIVINGSTONE'S FAITH

No doubt you have all heard of David Livingstone, the great missionary to Africa. I wish to tell you a story of his faith in Christ.

He was trying to cross one of the rivers of Africa one day with his little company of men, when the savages in that locality tried to prevent him. They gathered in large numbers with their spears and poisoned arrows and war-clubs, and blocked his way to the river.

Livingstone and his little company were no match for these hostile warriors, and it looked as if he and his men would be killed.

Then he thought of a scheme of waiting till nightfall and of crossing over under cover of the darkness. But later that seemed to him a cowardly thing to do, and he tells us how the verse in the Bible came back to him in which Jesus says: "All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations ... and lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."

The great missionary said of this verse: "It is the word of a Gentleman of the most sacred and strictest honour, and there is an end on't. I feel quite calm now, thank G.o.d."

Next morning he crossed the river without any difficulty, although the bank was lined with savages armed to the teeth.

I think that is always the way when we trust in Christ. He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us, and we can rely upon His word.

THE HAPPY MAN

Once upon a time there was a king who was very rich, but very unhappy.

He had a beautiful marble palace, with extensive parks and grounds, fine horses and carriages, but he was not happy.

So one day he called together his court-messengers, and sent them out into the world, telling them to travel far and wide until they found a man who was happy beyond all others, and when they found him, to take off his s.h.i.+rt and bring it to him. For he thought that perhaps by wearing this s.h.i.+rt he might gain the happiness he sought.

The messengers went forth, and after a long search finally found a man who seemed happier than all his fellows. And as he sat singing in the suns.h.i.+ne the king's messengers pounced upon him to take away his s.h.i.+rt; but lo, when they took his coat off they found he had no s.h.i.+rt!

The story means this, that happiness does not depend upon what you have or have not. It comes from within, and not from without. If you have the right spirit you will have a song, riches or not. But if you have not the right spirit you will not be happy, no matter what you have.

A SERMON FOR THE BOYS

A teacher said the other day that ninety boys out of every hundred who fail in grammar schools and high-schools smoke tobacco. He says also that boys who smoke are nearly all unruly and disobedient in school. And he says again, that boys who get their lessons well and stand high in grammar-schools take lower marks in high-school if they begin to smoke in high-school. This ought to be enough to make any boy stop and think before he begins to smoke, for it shows that it not only hurts a boy's mind, but his morals also.

I think the reason most boys take up smoking is not because they like it, but because their schoolmates do it, and they want to be one of "the crowd." When you boil that down it means either that a boy wants to be smart, or else he has not courage enough to stand alone; that is, he is a coward.

You would not think much of a boy who was about to enter a race and, just before he entered it, hurt his foot on purpose, so that he could not run his best, would you? Well, that is just what every boy does who smokes: it hinders him in the race of life. You ought not to smoke before you are twenty-one years old, because your body is not strong enough to stand it. The safest way is not to smoke at all, but at least don't smoke until you get your growth.

TIRE-TROUBLE

People who own automobiles have a great deal to say about "tire-trouble." There are a great many kinds of tire-trouble. In the first place, a tire often gets punctured by a nail running into it. Then there are "blow-outs" caused by the inner tube giving way. Then there are leaky valves, by which the air slowly leaks out. There are also sand-blisters, caused by little particles of sand getting into the tire and making a swelling in it, which soon gives way. And finally tires may get rim-cut, which means that the steel rim which fastens them on wears them through by rubbing. The result of these things is what is known as a flat tire with all the air gone out, and the automobile b.u.mps on the hard rim.

Boys and girls have tire-troubles, too. I have seen boys and girls get so vexed about things that they just exploded in a burst of temper like a blow-out in a tire. I have known them to run up against something sharp and difficult which took all the buoyancy out of them, just like a nail causing a puncture in a tire. I have known them to tell a lie, although n.o.body else knew it, and it bothered them so inside that it was like sand on the inside of the tire causing a sand-blister. I have known them to fret about things so that all their enthusiasm leaked away just as the tire that had a leaky valve. And finally I have known them to be rim-cut by a.s.sociating with some sharp-tongued boy or girl. The result of all this was a flat tire, and these boys and girls just went b.u.mping along without any happiness or lightness of heart. They couldn't get anywhere with their work or their play.

The only cure that I know of for a boy or girl with a flat tire is more of G.o.d's uplifting strength.

G.o.d says that they who trust in Him shall run, and not be weary.

WATCHING FOR IDLE BOYS

Probably all boys and girls whisper in school if they think the teacher will not catch them. Some teachers set boys and girls to watch one another and to tell on one another when they see anyone whispering. I do not think that is a fair thing to do, for it makes tell-tales of boys and girls. And tell-tales are never attractive.

The story I am going to relate to you is about a teacher who set the pupils in a room to watch each other, and to tell if they caught anyone idle. One boy had a grudge against another, and he thought that now would be the time to get even with him. So he watched carefully, and as soon as he found the other boy idling he called the teacher's attention to it. Of course every boy and girl waited anxiously to see what the teacher would do. And then something unexpected happened. The teacher said to the tell-tale: "So you saw this boy idling, did you?"

"Yes, sir," quickly answered the boy.

"Then," said the teacher, "what were you doing when you found him idling?" The boy blushed, and hung his head. He not only had been caught idling himself, but playing a mean trick. That was a lesson for him: he never watched for idle boys again. And it ought to be a lesson for us, too, when instead of attending to our own work, we neglect it, and try to get other people into trouble.

CHRIST AND THE DOG

My children's sermon to-day has to do with a legend. A legend is a story that has come down to us from the olden times, but which cannot be proved to be true. This legend is about Christ.

It tells of how one day He was walking down a street in Jerusalem and saw a company of people gathered about a dead dog in the street. Now, city dogs in the land where Christ lived are not petted as they are in our own country. They act as scavengers, and live on whatever they can pick up. They are s.h.a.ggy and dirty and yellow. The people stone them and kick them, and do not call them by kind names.

So the people who had gathered about this dog were making unkind remarks about it, saying how ugly it was, when Christ came up, and looking at the dog, He said, "But do you see what beautiful, even, white teeth he has?" Then, it is said, the people knew this must be Christ, who could find something to praise even in a dog like that.

But that was the way Christ always dealt with people. He always saw something good in them. And when people knew that Christ saw something good in them, they tried to live up to what He saw, and to be good.