Zest!—Zest for work is the secret of all true joy and service—that, and love for souls. When one possesses this, life becomes a vast opportunity, menial tasks become interesting, and dull routine becomes a stimulating challenge to achievement. Thus an otherwise drab picture is illuminated and transformed. Not how little, but how much, for God and man becomes the ruling passion. Salary becomes a minor factor—a mere means of existence while one is seeking to pour into service many times the value of the pittance received. Such a life is filled with throbbing interest and yields the greatest satisfaction. Petty criticisms and jealousies are submerged and forgotten, and life takes on its fullest meaning. He who abandons himself in service will find that little else counts. His will be a happy and satisfying life.
Extravagances!—Some of our speakers and writers have a penchant for extravagant overstatement, unchecked quotations, and inaccurate figures, which distress and repel intelligent bearers or readers who seek to live in the realm of reality and fact. We lose the confidence of those whom we most need when we catch up some convenient, sweeping statement and employ it to enforce present truth. We should tell the truth truthfully. Misstatement, exaggeration, and the frequent inaccuracies of the public press dishonor truth, when employed, and discredit the user. Unconscious overstatement and distortion are the bane of not a few of our speakers and writers. Bad enough when employed in the desk, they become dangerously misrepresentative when they appear in print. We need to check our rutterances. Such sensationalism is unworthy of the herald of this message.
Evaluations!—Some are prone to pass general judgment upon a group, based upon unfavorable impressions created by a few. This is unjust in principle, and, when followed, is prejudicial to our influence. The indiscretions of a single worker will usually overshadow the irreproachable lives of a hundred blameless laborers. One or two careless youth will divert the attention from dozens of serious, loyal, representative young men and young women. One worldly sister in a congregation will often make an impression that overtowers the modest dress and representative lives of fifty of her sisters. Therefore we as workers should not make the all-too-common mistake of condemning a whole group because of a few unfavorable impressions. Our youth are not all on the broad road to destruction just because a few have wandered conspicuously off the narrow way. Our sisters are not worldly fashion followers generally, simply because there are certain flagrant examples of carelessness. The critical pessimist sees the exception and condemns the whole. The faith-imbued optimist and realist sees the preponderant wholesomeness of the group, while recognizing the needs and perils of the few.
Allowance!--We must make due allowance for the quirks and oddities of our fellow workers—just as they must make allowance for ours. There are often in others disagreeable, irritating little traits that we would have changed. But usually we have to take people as they are, and let their good qualities outbalance their poor ones. We must be a bit philosophical about the situation; otherwise association is not too pleasant. But each must live his own life, and we must learn to work with people as they are. Let's learn a lesson from our associations, however, and seek to overcome our own oddities, so that people will like to work with us.
Attack!--More and more this movement will come to the forefront as the object of the world's scrutiny and attack. An educated, religion-conceited world scorns our humble and comparatively recent origin. We are alleged to be innovators, intruders. Too often we have allowed ourselves to be placed disadvantageously on the defensive. Instead, we should take the' aggressive. We should force others to the d, ense of their departures, and press this advatil ige to win the honest in heart to the acceptance of present truth. We have not yet capitalized the full force and powerful position of this message. No open mind can gainsay the witness of the church of the ages. Only in this movement is there continuity and restoration of the message of the centuries. This movement alone meets the mandate of God, the demands of the Scriptures and prophecy, and the support of history. Instead of battling to sustain unpopular truth, let us show where the departures of apostasy are stamped upon the beliefs and practices of popular Christendom.
L. E. F.
