The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-06-11


 the perfect insects, as the caterpillar un- folds the trarfsfgured life of butter fly. offer unlimited fields for gospel H. illustration. "Go to the ant, thou slug gard, consider her ways and be wise.
 Busy as an Ant.'
 Busy. busy busy. Busy as an ant" is an old proverb. Whether she is caring for her eggs or finding the grubs; whether she belongs to foraging party or is going forth upon war or conquest to capture the eggs of another niVe' which eggs she intends to develop into future slaves; whether she Is migrating from one part of the country to another or is building the walls and the hall- ways. souaring the chambers, laying the foundations or aching the dome of new house, the ant is always busy She works during the day, she works during the night, she works while she eats; IL al most seems she works while she sleeps Her ambition is not to find out now ht- tie she can do, but Row much she can do. She works and works and Works. She keeps on working. To do something is the very breath of her existence.
 This proverb Is automatic. You go out for A summer stroll and one of your lit- tie children calls: "Oh, mother, come and look See these little black things. What are they? Ants, my dear, you say. Then you stoop over that nive and watch them. They are moving, al- ways moving. Some are busy house cleaning. If you could enter the cham Der of an ant mound, you would lind that each room and connecting hallway, are absolutely clean. Every particle of dust which once choked those galleries has been carried out, piece by piece, and deposited afar off, where 1t will not op- struct the openings of the ant hill. Some of these ants are house cleaning some are going after food. Some are caring for the grubs. But they are all working the ants are always working Their work ing hours are simply unlimited. SIT John Lubbock, the famous naturalist, re- ported that he once watched single ant who worked without intermlssion or relaxation from 6 o'clock in the morning until nearly 10 o'clock at night. For six teen hours that ant continued diligently at her task You cannot dream or lot of ants getting together as do some men today, whose chief aim seems to be to find out how little work they can do in life and what is the maximum of pay they can force out of their employers for minimum of labor. Oh no. That is not the ants way. No sooner does the sunlight crawl over the eastern hills than the ant hive becomes busy. The different ants say: Come, sisters, we must get to work. Hurry up now We have so much work to do and such lit tie time in which to do It. Be busy. De busy,' The human foot may have often crushed an ant in the pathway, but l doubt if it ever killed an ant taking an afternoon nap. When an ant IS siain in the country road she is always hurry ing somewhere or trying to get back to her hive after she has accomplished the purpose of her journey. She is working. She is continually working. She is al- ways working.
 No Place for ldIeness.
 likeness has no place in Gods econ omy. Life is work; life means con tinual struggle for physical as well as moral and spiritual existence. God would not send the snows of winter, the drafts of summer, the winds. the frosts and the hunger unless he meant man to work; God would not have made helplessness during infancy and childhood unless he meant 2 parent to work; God would not send sickness and helpless old age unless he desired all people to work during the strength and vigor of manhood and wo- manhood. Eff any would not work, neither should he eat is the Pauline in- yective against sloth "Go to the ant, an nup skpM Isu IspIsuoo 'pIBSSnIs noun wise" All happiness and health. all mental social spiritual and financial progress depend upon preserving toll. The sooner our growing boys ana girls realize that they must work for liveli- hood the better 1t will be for them and the better 1t will be for us who are caring for them during the years of their development.
 Unremitting toll an essential for hu- man fife. is the first lesson the ant hill teaches us today. But the ability to make the right use of toll, to conserve energy so that the maximum Of results are produced from the maximum of la bor. to perform work so thoroughly and intelIigently that It is not useless and has to be done over. is the second teach ing of my text "Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise" does not allude any more to the ceaseless activity of the ant than 1t does to her marvellous foresight, with which she plans out her work and ac- complshes her results.
 The ant uses her brain as we'll as her mandables or legs She, uses her eyes Tn see where she is going as we'll as her feet to walk. Study the ant as an archi- tect or builder Some of us have