“So, with the members of the Home Department, we have come to think of you as ‘silent partners’ in the work of our school.  And as occasion develops, we want you to feel that here is your place of activity—­your school.

“But we shall remember the words of Paul, ’We have many members in one body, and all the members have not the same office,’ and we shall not forget the important places in our school of those who are enrolled in our Home Department.”

THE BROOK
    —­Gossip
    —­Our Words

The Life Which is Tainted by the Habit of Speaking Unkind Words
Falls Short of Its Highest Mission.

THE LESSON—­That the subtle practice of speaking carelessly concerning other people poisons many an otherwise worthy life.

The teacher who leads the child to cultivate the strictest care in his thoughts and in his words, as they relate especially to those about him, has helped to lay the foundation of a life of true worth to his fellows.  The tendency is toward a habit of fault-finding criticism which not only harms the object of the disparaging words, but which injures and undermines the usefulness of the life of the habitually unfair critic.

The Talk.

“Marion Lawrance, whose influence permeates much of the work for the advancement of the Sunday School of today, uses a most striking illustration to show the baneful result of the use of words which harm those about whom they are spoken.  Standing before his audience, he displays a rose in full bloom.  Mr. Lawrance then deliberately destroys the beautiful flower by removing one daintily tinted leaf after another until only the bare stem remains and the delicate petals litter the floor and the speaker’s table.  During the process, the speaker explains that none but God could have made such a rose; it speaks of His love and His power, of His tenderness and of His care for His children.  But any human hand can destroy it.  So it is with that treasure which we call our good name—­our reputation among men.  Through the grace of God we may live so true that we deserve the respect and honor of our fellowmen; and yet, that good name, that reputation, may suffer irreparable injury at the hands of one who, through deliberate design or careless habit, speaks words concerning us which cause us to be misjudged or misunderstood.  Says Samuel Butler: 

      “’The feeblest vermin can destroy
        As sure as stoutest beasts of prey;
        And only with their eyes and breath,
        Infect and poison men to death.’

“Let us illustrate the point by placing on the paper a little landscape. [Draw Fig. 78 complete leaving the right half of the paper blank.] We have before us a great, wide river, a stream which forms an important channel of commerce.  Each year, traffic is carried over its waters which amount to many hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Cities have grown up along its banks; in many ways it has been a wonderful blessing.  Its silent waters flow on and on through the years, blessing generation after generation of men.