A COMMERCIAL TURN OF MIND

     The idea of getting gain possessed me at an early age, and my young mind began to scheme how I could earn a few pennies of my own. I roamed the valleys in search of elder berries which were dried and sold to the huckster at three cents a pound. In exchange, he gave me young chickens at from ten to fifteen cents each. These I turned into hogs, and hogs into calves, and calves into colts; so that by the time I had finished the country school and was about to start to college, I was following Jacob's example in stock raising. Had I continued thus, I might have become rich.

     But God ordered otherwise. It is usually those who have ability to make money whom He calls to a life of trust. Christ did not call tramps and easy-going men to follow Him, but rather those who were wide-awake and capable of doing something.

     On arriving in our new field in the South, we had no means of support. Times were hard and money scarce. It was as easy to get $10.00 in Pennsylvania, as $1.00 in Georgia. God and His providences seemed to hold us in Atlanta and, little by little, we gained a foothold. After three years, when we had a family of twenty-five or more workers to feed, it meant close figuring in order to get through. In addition to our own family, the poor and homeless frequently called for food.

     Our compassion for this class of people gave us the idea of starting a coal and wood yard, in order that we might give work to the unemployed. In connection with this we fitted up a lodging house above our mission, where men could get a bed for five cents; and if they did not have the money, they could work it out in the wood yard. Much coal and wood were given away, and to those who were able to buy, we sold.

     We had no thought of our own interests in the way of money-making, but, to our surprise, the business more than paid expenses, and the first year we cleared $200.00. The second year we enlarged, and the profit was over $1,000.00. At this point, the tendency would have been to plunge in for all we could make but, instead, we felt led to abandon the coal business and devote our time and energies to printing. Here, as well as in other projects, much detail work and figuring were required.

     In addition to all this, we were getting in deeper by taking charge of a Rescue Home in Cleveland, Ohio. Now we had a family of fifty or more to support, and it meant an expense of over $200.00 per month. There being no steady income, the burden was thrown upon the writer. This financial strain necessarily developed and made me a financier, which I now fear was a mistake. Had I spent my time and energy in prayer, study and writing, instead of figuring and economizing, I might have been much farther along spiritually, and might have seen as much accomplished philanthropically.

     And how shall I profit by this? If, by diligence and frugality, I have been able not only to carry these burdens but, in addition, lay something aside, I am resolved, not to do as men generally do -- plan and speculate that they may get more -- but to publish and circulate good literature that never would have been circulated had there not been something upon which to draw. I have known men who had ability and who felt led to write something that would have stirred thousands, but they never did so because there were no means available to push it through.

     Instead of training to save something for a "rainy day," let us set something in motion that will live after we are gone; and He who takes care of the sparrow will surely take care of us.

     But how can it be done? By economy, self-denial, and good management. Suffer a few suggestions. By doing our own cleaning, pressing and many other things that most people hire done. Instead of having beefsteak and canned goods once or twice a day, fruit, cereals and vegetables are cheaper and more healthful. A daily newspaper does not seem to cost much, but in a year it runs up to about $5.00, besides crowding out the Bible and time for secret prayer.

     We have known preachers' families to be always poor because their ideals of living were too high. They always wanted the best of everything. Suffice it to say they owed bills here and there or were so pressed that they were never able to do much toward helping God's cause.

     Another reason why some people are not blessed financially as they might be, is that they are too narrow and self-centered. It pays to tithe and practice liberality. There is nothing gained in giving just as little as possible in order to protect a reputation. "There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty."