Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1906-06-29

!
!: Sunday School !
{ LESSON FOR JULY 1. :.
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I ''Ai II 'NN'' W.
your Father which is in Heaven, that one
| Of these little ones should prrish.-Mat-
thew IS II.
In the time of Jesus there was much
struggle amongst the religious teachers OF
the people for "A high place. Everything
was done by them to gain honor among
men, and to obtain wealth and power ana
privileges. Surface goodness and surface
show had come to occupy the cIl"l plac"
in the attention of those who prot"S"d
TO be good and little thought was giN"n
TO those matters which affect the heart
of man and which may max" II either
beautiful or foul beyond description. 1t
was a time of supcrliriality.
Away. to be sure, th"r" ar" NOR" p"o-
pie who dream Of social advancement
than there ar" WhO striv" to cultivate
their hearts in the beauty Of holiness. l'ut
the times in which Jesus lived seem l."
have been particularly superficial and sell
iSh. And the disciples OF Jesus could not
get quito away from the prevailing men
Ial atmosphere. they. TOO. wanted 10 b"
great and that meant TO them 10 be IN
high auliurily. 1t was not without r"gF"f
and establishment. nr first. that they CAV"
up their dream Of worldly greatness, and
substituted for it Il dream of lowlln"SS.
1t is hard at any time for men to W"
humble. but there was n special trnpiA-
ton for the close followers of Jesus to
| desire power, for they had inherited from
many generations tn" belief that lh"i.
nation was destined to rule. and they be-
licved that in some way jesus would full
fill this hope. leading His nation to vic
tory over their enemies. Naturally, there
fore. they laid great store by their hop"
of rising to power as Ills closest friends
and representatives.
OF course. the power they desired was
to be power for good, and theretor" the
desire seemed to them Il right desire. HOW
many rood men are led astray by that
idea,
The proper attitude toward power and
high position is to take humbly what God
sends us. lie may place us, for lbs own
ends. high in mems view and esteem.
THAI mag be how We can serve Him best.
Or He may see that we can serve Linn
best in very humble stations.
Children are more democratic than
their elders. 1t takes time to instlll into
their minds and hearts class distinctions.
They are natural believers in true worth,
and for the most part they by nature
hate show and shams. In our dealings
with others we should remember this
childlike trait and copy it. God is no
respecter Of persons as to their social
status and we should not be. We should
try to see the true worth lying behind
the lowly and even the repellant exterior.
And we should try to feel brotherly kind
ness to all, making no difference IN our
thoughts between those of high and those
CT low degree, unless it be in favor OF the
latter.
H. 1f oh5lI.nn Js
that they have quick sympathies. They
can very easily be taught to like doing
kindly things. And most of them hate
real cruelty, although they may be cruel
because of lack of appreciation of the
rain they are inficting. Their finer in
stincts for beautiful ways and things
have not been blunted. AS life goes on
we cannot avoid becoming somewhat
hardened or oblivious of the suffering
about us. but we should not allow our
selves to become callous so that our SYM
pathies are not alive when there is an
opportunity to bring them into useful
activity. .'-..
Again: Children are in a sense purer
than their elders. They have not been
touched by the worlds filth. We cannot
escape coming to close quarters with that
filth, but we should not allow our hearts
to be contaminated by it in the least de-
gree. OF course, the purity of the pure
among the grown-ups is a very different
and much nobler thing than the purity Of
the child-mind. But yet there is some
thing in the purity of the child that we
must emulate. if we desire to become
Christ-like. We must be filed only with
thoughts that are beautiful and clean.
Again Children are t~eachable. They
accent instruction under authority easily.
They are comparatively care-free. They
have not, it is true, the causes for worry
that their parents have. But still they
stand in this as the type of what we older
ones must attain to if we are to become
Christlike. How can we be citizens OF
the heavenly kingdom unless we really
regard God as our Father in Heaven!
And if we regard Him so how can we
be burdened with cares? ..
In many ways the unspoiled child
| shows its humility, for humility is one of
those virtues that go very deep and make
themselves felt in all ones acts.
Except Ye Turn-That is the way the
r.. V. renders it. We are to turn back
to the days of our childhood as it were
to berin all over again. We are to give
M all that has tended to make US less
| humble, and become once more as chill
| dren but this time with God as the Eath-
! or to whom we look for help, comfort and
guidance.
Occasions of Stumbling.-The sight of
, evil things such as drunkenness. waste
fitness. carelessncss, cruelty, are occa-
| sions Of stumbling to children. 70 a child
who has never seen a drunken man it is
\ horrible insight into the depravity that
is possible to human nature to see one.
I, is something unimaginable at first
and it we're best that it should remain so.
Luxurious living with poverty all about
is a thing which cannot but cause chill
dren to stumble, and those who put this
occasion Of stumbling in the way Of chill
dren will not be held blameless.
Cut 1t Of.-Cut off and put away alb
solutely anything that keeps you from
| entering into life. No sacrifice can pos
sibly be too great to make. And yet we
sometimes stick at very small sacrifices.
Some people who realize that card play
| ing and dancing are not conducive TO
their spiritual welfare will yet not give
| them up. 1t is not likely that these peo-
! ple would lose an eye in order to come
| into fellowship with Christ.
Stray Sheep.-The helplessness of the
sheen illustrates our helplessness without
Gods care. We are all as children in
| this. And the more helpless we are. the
more dependent we are, the greater is the
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