I Will if You Will by G. B. T.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 27, 1916

“I Will if You Will”

By G. B. T.

I CLIPPED the following from a railroad magazine:—

“I will, if you will, not believe evil of any person until I know it surely.

“I will, if you will, never repeat any disparaging remark I hear of anybody.

“I will, if you will, never look for slights, think any one has meant to offend me, or be sensitive or suspicious. This is always a sign of weakness, of an anemic personality.

“I will, if you will, go away and lock myself up while I have the glooms, and not afflict my depressing mood upon others.

“I will, if you will, be cheerful when I meet the other members of the family; and if I am not cheerful, and can’t be, I will put on cheerfulness and act the part as well as I can.

“I will, if you will, be as polite and charming to my children, my parents, and my brothers and sisters as I am to strangers.

“I will, if you will, practice how to be a good fellow without profligacy, funny without coarseness, strong without cruelty, successful without boasting, entertaining without being a bore, and moral without trying to make other people be as good as I think I am, or as I should like to be thought.

“I will, if you will, be strict as I can myself, and lenient as I can to other people.

“I will, if you will, do nothing to any soul which may become a bitter memory.

“I will, if you will, be tenacious of my convictions, and recognize that other folks may have different convictions and be just as honest as I am.

“I will, if you will, do nothing that shall disgust an honest man, offend or soil the soul of a good woman, or causelessly make a child weep.

“I will, if you will, forgive everybody every night before I go to sleep.

“I will, if you will, be as decent as I can, as true as I can, as happy as I can, as brave as I can, as clean as I can, as patient as I can, as unselfish as I can, and as strong as I can.

“Come! I will if you will.”—Dr. Frank Crane.

These resolutions are printed in a magazine published by a great railroad corporation, and are put forth, not necessarily in the interest of religion, but of good railroading. But they will bear study. They contain principles of righteousness. As Christians we should of course do these things whether others do or not. This, I understand, is the point in the mind of Dr. Crane. It is a challenge to unite with him in believing no evil rumor against another, and in repeating no disparaging remark; in not being offended by imaginary slights; in not looking all the time as if we were attending a funeral or were about to be consigned to penal servitude for life, but in being cheerful and happy. Why not?

It is a challenge to be polite and kind in the house. Surely of all places the home is the place to be kind and courteous. You have perhaps heard of the boy who came into the house, and hearing voices in the kitchen, said, “Pa, who is out in the kitchen with ma?” Father said, “No one, I guess, but some of the family.” “O, yes, there is,” said the boy, “for ma has her company voice.” There are a good many homes where father and mother have a company voice, kind and nice, but when the stranger departs, there are angry, sullen glances, and coarse, snappy words, that bruise and wound.

It is a challenge to regard the convictions and feelings of others, and to think that they are as honest and conscientious as we, although they may not see just as we see. It is a challenge to all to unite in forgiving every human soul before closing the eyes in sleep each night. Surely no Christian can lie down at night with hatred in his heart against a single human being. You may not awake this side the grave. It would be awful to awaken on the other side of the grave with malice or envy in the heart. There will be no chance then to be cleansed, for there will be no Intercessor.

“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Matt. 24:44. G. B. T.