The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-05-07

No. I haven't am iaea- can't hin
~ an Incident For au ams~asase. nor -
anything else ~ write about. for neat
| sunday. and. were 81 not Tor th. fat
that som. afty thousand readers. more
ar Jess. WetHl u disappointed @h.n
they open their SUNDAY aap*fa- 1
/ thIuk Ia SNAP but. thar wssuEx do /
must not eJsast that c4mk @rgtt.
without "a subject SsEle p~sple
wouldn't believe IL They haze 4n
idea t4at. a3! = writer has - do - fa
tSk. th. pencil ia hand and fss Il have
it, way. and III Wtil So rsEhf ahead.
just a. naturally as i pencil. pad ant
writer Nere a piece Ut 4enGne run
10y electricity Having made SORT uf
reputation for writing / must keep IL
| up. oT, 10 put the matter tu another
say. I'm on exhibition every SUNDAY.
ana the children. all 81 uhom look out
FOR uy picture when the paper Is re-
ceived, must not be disappointed. uuT
must | TAI. to give the reader some
| thing that * readable.
As nothing presents itself for .
theme. / belieFe III arite about notir-
ing. \ VERY poor theme admit. Tor
there j. nothing in nothing. Nothing
added 70 nothing makes nothing. ana
nothing taken from nothing i.atc~
nothing
Anything is 4 nothing that fails IL
be- what it might be. and anybody j. a
nothing who fails u d. What he
might do.
The barren fix tree was a nothing.
because. failing To bear fruit, IL could
DO nothing else. Everybody must AL
nit that u fruitless Fix tree is not only
worthless. but. in its nkness OF
growth. il keeps something else from
growing in its place. Which might be Il
blessing.
The saviour said III the salt have
lost its SAVIOR il is thenceforth good
for nothing" in other words IN is
MOI hfap ami Bf n1I-. =, -. tr.9.4.- -,
der foot Of men.
Taking. this as a definition OF moth
ing. II is easy 10 see thai nothings are
To be found everywhere, and, being
nothings, they cannot BE- made grea,.r
nor sm2ller-better- nor worse. Moth
ings they are ANA nothings they are
apt to remain.
Among mortals there are q great
many nothinss who. like the liz tree.
are barren and are cumberers Of the
ground; ana, not being likely to i'm
prove, are doomed To be cut down;
or like the salt which has lost it's sa-
vor, must. sooner or later, be trod-
den under foot
some Of the n%othings Of this world
are very deceptive IN appearance.
They are the best dressed people
men and ONE and seen at 4 dis
lance, they seem to be all right: but
OF y closer view, they are very dis
appointing-they are thinking moth
ing, consequently doing nothing to
better the world. Like Hosea said Of
Israel, many Il promising looking NOR
tai, Is but AN emptys vine"-bearing
no fruit-not even Il bloom.
The Saviour said. Herein is my
Father glorified that you bear much
fruit" and bearing fruit meani, sim
ply, doing what one can to make tine
world better, which Of course means
to glorify God.
III society there are thousands OF
nothingS-nen and women, too, who
DO not, in any wise, contribute TO the
general good. They nave talent. and
time and opportunity; but the world
has never been made u bit better by
their having lived in it. Thousands
aye may L not say millions-live
through the day and sleep through
the night, without a thought of doihg
anything more thar gratifying their
own desires and appetites. They are
"enphatically empty vines-or salt
that has no savor-therefore nothing.
1t might surprise one to know how
many nOthings there are in the
church. OF course [ do not presume
TO know any of them: but that there
are many we are all bound to admit,
because of the slow .ne
church is making.
If understand the meaning of the
parable Of the talents. am sure the
one talent ones are nothings, and, so
q to liohlIS tcltt tIIty
had as we'll be out of the world, as
to be in it. From the teaching of that
t~alent-parable, it is very clean that
every mortal is expected to multiply
himself-that is to say-every one Is
SO to use the talent he has received as
to make another, beside himself,
wiser, better and happier.
Te Lord commended those who re-
ceived two and five talents, because
they multiplied them; but. the one
who received n talent, and hid it,
was condemned and cast out.
To ascertain how many nothings
there in the church, let one enquire of
the pastors, as to how many new
members come in each year. 1t is
safe to assume that each Christian
can prevail with and bring into the
church one person, in the course of q
life time. Better than that. it is safe
to say. that each Christian can bring
IN @ new man every year. If hat were
done, what might lot the millions
and hundreds of millions, who pro-