“Ah, here comes a nice-looking thought that wants to enter into your head.  Fortunately, you have a faithful servant who answers the doorbell every time a visitor comes.  It is your Conscience, and if it is well trained, it will admit to your mind only the pure thoughts, and it will slam the door in the face of all harmful intruders.  But, alas! we are the master of the house and sometimes when Conscience would close the door to an unholy thought, we tell the servant to step aside, and we admit the visitor.  It is a shame!  And the worst of it is that Conscience, like an obedient servant, finally lets us have our own way and then we have thrust out our best friend!

“Here is a boy who has lagged behind in his school work.  A nice-looking little thought comes along and says, ’Why not cheat just a little?  No one would know anything about it.’  In a jiffy, Conscience is on hand trying to shut the door.  But the boy welcomes the thought into his head.  Conscience, made bold by the threatened disaster, tries to show the lad that he can succeed more surely by remaining true and honest, but the thought prevails, and before the boy knows it, the door is opened to a multitude of other thoughts, and the ones which came last are worse than the little one which entered first.  When such a boy is grown to young manhood he finds himself robbed of character, robbed of honors, robbed of noble ambitions.  He is a failure.  No one trusts him for he cannot trust himself.  He is completely at the mercy of his evil thoughts, and Conscience can no longer serve him.

“How gladly, then, should each one of you boys and girls welcome good thoughts.  Make Conscience your door-keeper.  The same good thought will come again and again, bringing other splendid, helpful, delightful thoughts, and they will become the greater part of your life.  Every one of you has a thinker in his head.  Be careful to keep it clean and pure.”

JENNIE CASSEDAY
    —­Children’s Day
    —­Service

A Children’s Day Story of What One Girl Did to Make Others
Happy.

THE LESSON—­That one little act may multiply to bless countless thousands.

The story of Jennie Casseday is one of the sweetest narratives of humble service that can be told to children and their elders.  It is a chapter from real life which may be copied in varied form by each one of us.  Its use is suggested for Children’s day, but it is good for many other occasions.

The Talk.

“This morning, while we are surrounded by these beautiful flowers, and while our hearts are light as we think of all the beauty and brightness that God has given us, I want to tell you the story of Jennie Casseday and what she did to bring beauty and gladness into the world.  You may think that Jennie couldn’t do very much, because she was a poor little cripple girl.  She lived at Louisville, Kentucky.  When she was small, she was just as lively and happy as any other little girl; but one day she suffered from a terrible accident and from that time she was helpless.  I am going to draw a picture of Jennie’s crutch to represent her suffering and her helplessness. [Draw crutch with brown, Fig. 54.]