Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-08-04

and when was out on the ocean l found
it. There is no language adequate to
express the help those Comfort Pow
ders'' were to a great many people. There
1 was on a boat one among a thousand
people, going to a foreign land thousands
of miles away from my mother and Sis
ter and you may be sure that when
opened the little box and read the first
powder 1 was glad that Miss Ellen's
heart prompted her to put them in.
Neatly rolled in tissue paper was each
powder and on the top of the box were
the directions, Helpful in cases of dis
couragement, loss Of patience, discon-
tentment, disappointments, heart
troubles, etc.
Take one powder each morning or
as .often as needful; thoroughly mixed
with equal parts of confidence and
thanksgiving. Prepared from the medi-
cine chest of the great physician" The
first powder" l opened read, THE
Lord bless thee and keep the; the Lord
make his face to shine upon thee. The
Lord lift up his countenance upon thee
and give thee peace"
Could anything have been better? 1t
certainly eased my heartache and re-
newed my courage.
At odd times I've slipped powder"
closed one in letter and now I've only
four. And 1 am going to give them,
in one dose, to you my readers, for there
came over me this morning a sort of
feeling that this must be a comfort
prescription. One cannot pick up any
paper without reading of sadness at
home and abroad. Battles, murders and
sudden deaths have been the things that
have filled the papers, and We should
every day of our lives thank God for
president of this country level-head-
ed and with the sort of wisdom that
only God can give, or we too would be
in 1t.
In a certain way We have been fat
tening or filling our pocketbooks by
the necessities Of those people. 1t has
been right for us to sell them wheat and
cotton and such things, but 1t would
have been more like christian nation
to have been honest with God and to
have turned back to, Poland, Belgium
and the war-orphans the tenth of our
receipts. 1t was not ours. One-tenth
is all that God asks any of us to give
him and If we do not give 1t to him many
things are going to be permitted. How
do we know that these unusual floods,
and these calls from our own starving
people are not reminders of what we
owe God?
Sorrows humanize the race" sang
that sweet singer Jean Ingelow, and
until things are brought home to us
many of us fail to realize want and
suffering as actual facts.
America wastes enough to feed and
clothe Belgium. When 1 was in the
city and worked among the so-called
poor 1 often said that some Of the peo-
pie we tried to help wasted enough
to feed themselves. There were often
loaves of bread in the trash-''too stale
to eat" was the excuse. But you never
see anything like that in any foreign
home. Stale bread can be soaked in
milk, or even in water and converted
into a palatable dish. And in the coun-
try the waste is prodigious. Wood.
grains, vegetables. fertilizer, even the
strength of the people, and these social
ed "calamities" may be Gods way of
calling a halt. One of my powders
reads thus:
"Our light affliction. which is but
for a moment, worketh for US far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
And we must confess that even rs we
look over what a month ago were beau
tlful crops and see only yellowed STALKS
we can left up songs of praise because
no enemy hath done it. The harvests
Of France are being gathered by Ger
mans, and the ruthless destruction tina,
once marked a certain mans path to the
sea in our own southland is duplicated
over whole countries across the water,
Tenants and small land owners are NOV
ing to the cities, and this government
is supplying food and shelter to mary
But our treasury is full and the war
with Mexico averted, so there are two
things to be thankful for and our af-
hllf a
when we compare them with the empty
homes and blood soaked soil Of France,
Belgium, Poland and parts of Turkey
Another powder is. "All things. whatso-
ever ye shall ask in prayer, believing,
We shall receive"
Cast thy burden upon the Lord. and
He shall sustain thee"
Even though we have robbed him of
his tenth and have Dragged about the
great things that we have done; even
though many of us have claimed all
the credit, and have never once thanked
God for his help, we may yet take this
powder" and find a cure for disa9-
pointment For the Lord will not cast
off forever; but though he cause grief
vet will he have compassion according
to the multitude of his mercies. and,
as Julian X. Smyth says, The truest
faith is that which not only rests In
the Lord, but which walls patiently for
him. Though good be far off, though 1t
be quite invisible, still it will not be
turned aside, or cast down, but will
both hope and quietly wait for the sal
walton of God" And quietly waiting
does not mean that we must lose cour-
age. Think how many times God has
said BE strong, be of good courage,
and has sent the sluggard to the ant
that wise folk that lay in supplies in
season, and out. We must not get
scared and cut down our help. We
should live as economically as possible,
wear cheaper clothes, and have only
substantial food on our tables if there
is need for our retrenchment. But let
us remember that the truest way to
help another is to give work and pay
living wages.
True charity in helping one save
ones self-respect as we'll as in fur
nishing food and raiment, and that can
be done by making work for those In
need of it. Now look about you and
see how you may help God. For all of
US. the very poorest has some such
mission Not one OF US liveth for self
alone. Whether we intend 1t or not we
are helping or hindering the world,
Nor knoweth thou what argument
Thy life to thy neighbours creed has
lent
All are needed by each one;
Nothing is fair or good alone"
Faithfully Yours,