The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1901-10-11


Endeavor societies are fathers anC
mothers now, while older members
then are grandparents to-day
Shall not Christian Endeavor con
tinue to be blessing to it's frst
friend? Shall it be guilty of the
suicidal policy of losing from its
ranks and from the circle Of its in.
| tiuence the men and the women
whom it has trained, and to whose
labors it has the right to lay claim,
and to bless whose lives it is still
it's first duty? Properly promoted
this would give immortality to the
| Christian Endeavor movement.
1t would cover with confusion the
Icynic who is trying, by telling to
others, to persuade himself that
Christian Endeavor is dying out.
Are we not, to use the characteris-
tically delicate and expressive Ian
guage of DR.. Clark, being "set to-
| gether" in families? Has not the
croaker from the beginning declar-
ed, in effect, that it was match
making society, and that the ini-
tials, c. E., stand for ''courting
everywhere" CheerfuIly let us ac-
cept the sneer as a compliment, and
make the most OF it. Certainly if
there are in all the world any two
people who should be sset togeth-
er" in family devout young
Christian Endeavor man and a
consecrated young Christian En-
deavor woman are those twain.
Forbid not the bans, but rather let
them go from the marriage altar
pledged also to the practice of re-
ligion and the erection of the fire.
side altar.
THE HOME is IMPERILED.
But there is another sufficient
reason for the prompt Inauguration
of this new idea in Christian En-
deavor. The home itself, which
should be the source, normal aud
abouuding, of all true righteous
ness and patriotism, culture and
happiness, is threatened by hun
dred enemies. 1t is of the utmost
importance that something should
be done to set the world agog about
the home, its duties and dangers;
when people think they are
reasonably safe. There would be
immeasurable meaning in the fact
that 90. 900 Christian Endeavor So
cieties are engaged in considering
the conditions which contribute to
the ideal Christian home. There
would be abundant reason for the
new birth of hope for the future of
the church and the state if, with
its splendid organization, it's
matchless machinery and its SUI
perb literature, the whole Chris
tian Endeavor movement, should be
set to this task among others-the
labor of discovering and destroying
the foes Of the fireslde, and of find
ing and enthroning the influences
that should reign in the domestic
realm.
TOO BUSY FOR HOME MAKING
Chief among the hazards of the
home to-day is the fact that we
have grown too busy for household
duty and Joy. Have you read "a
Plain Talk with Young Men and
Women Who Work, a capital book
by the wizard of Christian Endeav-
or, Prof. Amos r. Wells7 In it is
a fable which is remarkable for be-
ing more nearly true than is most
history. It is the story Of a 1.-the
limbed young farmer who went out
in the early morning to plow. In
the crisp air Of the new day yel
might have heard his CHEEKY voice
as he bade his beast 60 on, urged
forward bv the keen crack Of whip
which the sturdy youth welded
above the back of his OK. Noontide
came and the plowman but bent
lower over his task. The evening
shadows grew long, but the absorb
ed worker was all unmindful of the
vanishing day. Deaf to the melody
of the day-long bird songs. and
blind to all the beauty about him,
the worker thought only Of his task
and plodded painfully on. Sud-
denly the bent shoulders felt the
cruel cut of the whip, and glaneing
down the piowman made the as
founding discovery that the hands
with which he grasped the plow
handles had turned to hoofs, and
that, inste- Of driving, he was now
drawing The plow, and being dtiven
by the OK. 1t is not a fable; it is
photograph. Ours is too strenuous
age. We have no time from our
toll to devote to our homes. Even
those of us who are Christian work
ers are not at this point the least
guilty-some of Us, alas, are the