Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 114, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 June 1917 — MADE COMPLETE [ARTICLE]

MADE COMPLETE

i*he Four Elements of Childhood Needed in the Well-Rounded Christian Manhood. Childhood is so filled with beautiful elements that it is not strange the Saviour compared those in the kingdam of heaven to a little child. We mehtion four of these elements: .j_The element of inquiry. A boy has been defined as an animated interroga-tion-point, and we Think it would not wrong the girl to include her also in this fine definition. How many questions they can ask, and how Jttange many of them are I Some are frivolous, some are idle, but some are profound and startling. A little child, recelving its first impressions about God, listened in wonder till the mother paused, and then it asked. Who made God?”Anol her, its mother a member of one church and the father of another, was toddling along with the father to Bible school one morning, when the bell on mother’s church began to ring. The little fellow, puzzled and perplexed, looked up into his father’s face and said : “Papa, why did Dod put your church in one place and mamma's in another?” And this should be one of the ruling characteristics of mature life, however old and wise we be. Perhaps no man ever wrestled with a more difficult problem than Job, and none ever asked more questions, and no one ever triumphed more gloriously. We should question our par. ents, our teachers and our preachers. We should ifiterrogate the Bible; -gnd~ other good books; And not only these, but the stones, the stars, the birds and the flowers; yea, all nature, for it speaks of God. The reverent question, persistently asked, is the surest key to the temple of truth, and the one great highway to the realm of knowledge and usefulness. ‘ Element of Trust. The element of trust. The Christian walks not by sight, but by faith. A little girl was busy- at play, when she overheard a woman say that her mother had told a certain thing, but that she doubted it. The child was on her feet in a moment, and, in the most earnest manner, she said r“lf m y mother said it was so, then it is so, whether it is so or not!” This is a child’s way of expressing perfect trust, such trust as made Abraham “the friend of God” and “the father of the faithful.” “Without faith it is imposslble to please God.” Like children with their hands clasped in the hands of their parents, we should go where the Father leads, trusting his wisdom and love to guide us aright, and to shield us from all danger. We trust our banker, our physician, our railroad engineer, all of w’hom often fall; why not trust a God who never fails? A life without trust is a garland robbed Element of Forgiveness. The element of forgiveness. Children have their quarrels and spats, and, for the moment, it looks -as if they would never be friends again. But in a littie while the storm is past and the sky is clear, and there is not a vestige of the trouble left lingering in the heart. And so it shout'd be with the children of God. It should never be said by us, “I can forgive, but I cannot forget." That is not forgiveness. To harbor resentment and to purpose revenge is as unlike the Spirit of the Christ as light is unlike darkness. The small man and the coward never forgive, but the large man and the brave always do. When the river, ice-locked during the winter, melts in the spring, its flow is all the most abundant and majestic. And when fine natures forgive and forget, the life-current of love is increased by the thaw. Paul and Barnabas had a difference so great that it sent them asunder into separate fields of labor, but their love for each other was unimpaired. The highest tribute ever paid to Lincoln was that, though his heart was as big ns the world, there 'was no room in it for the memory of a wrong. And the dying prayer Of the Saviour was: —“Forgive them [his murderers], for they know not what they do.** Element of Enjoyment. The element of enjoyment. The average boy, with his “Robinson Cruso” and “Arabian Nights;” with his ball and bat, drum and trumpet, kite and top, pony and saddle, dog and gun, and the average girl, with her playhouse, dolls and swlfig, constitute a picture of genuine enjoyment. They know they are being cared for, and that every want is being anticipated. They are_ facing the sun, so that all shadows fall behind them. The night brings them sweet rest, and the morning, bright and buoyant, bids them enjoy another day. And should not the Christian be happy? He has God for a father, Christ for a brother, angels for spirits, the earth for a school and workshop and heaven for a home. “Weeping may endpre for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” those who love God.” “Rejoice in the Lord always; and against I say rejoin.”—Christian Standard.