In the Limelight by MARY A. STEWARD

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 16, 1912

In the Limelight

By MARY A. STEWARD

MARY A. STEWARD

When the news of the organization of a Press Bureau by the General Conference first came to my attention, I was fairly startled. And the more I think and know of it, the more solemn it appears to me.

The public prints are the eyes and ears of the world. Are we as a people, a denomination, are we as individuals, ready to have the limelight of publicity, the searchlights, as it were, turned upon us, on our churches, our institutions, our homes, our lives? Are we so true representatives of our Lord and Master that he will not suffer in the eyes of other Christians, of the world, and even of the heathen, by the exposing of all our doings to the public gaze?

In the carrying out of the program mapped out in the work given by our Press Bureau I see one of the greatest movements of the age, and one of the strongest proofs that we are nearing the end of time.

As the record of the little happenings in our churches and communities, of our greater doings in institutions, in sanitariums, schools, and publishing houses, our still greater doings in missionary lines, the sending out of ministers, doctors, teachers, nurses, and other workers to foreign lands, and our efforts for the heathen at home and abroad,—as these things come under the eyes of the readers of the local papers and of the great dailies, weeklies, and monthlies, there will come a wide inquiry to the lips of the world, “Who are these people? and what do they believe? How have they gained such force so quietly and in so short a time?” As the reports of our meetings and conferences appear, I see reporters coming to interview us, and making their searching inquiries in quest of news.

Then for a little while, it may be, we shall enjoy that period of popularity of which we have been told, and God will call out those that are his, and they will unite with us. Then will come the reaction. The great controversy between Christ and Satan will again spring up, the unseen forces of evil will be concentrated for the last supreme effort against us and against our Master, and then—the end!

Again I ask, Are we ready for all this? Are our institutions, our homes, our individual hearts, ready for the searchlights to be turned on? Are we filled with the spirit of the Master? Do we live as brethren? Do we in honor prefer one another? Are we living examples of the religion we profess, willing to be read and known of all men?

And as our young people receive the instruction given by the bureau in preparing and sending articles to the press, let no one feel that it is a light matter, a way to make a name for one’s self, to get his name into print. In view of the subject-matter that should be furnished the press, and the use that may subsequently be made of the “news” sent out,

let every one who handles the pen be wide-awake and watchful, be vigilant, lest by some unguarded word or expression, you mar the work of God, and convey a wrong impression, and thus hurt the cause which you would serve. We believe that we are God’s “peculiar people,” and these peculiarities will stand out in white light as we come more prominently before the world. If one is not guided by the Holy Spirit, he will be in great danger of saying something that will arouse prejudice, and perhaps cut off every avenue to some honest heart.

To me the establishment of this Press Bureau seems one of the greatest moves ever made by Seventh-day Adventists; and I wonder, O, I wonder, if we are ready! May God help us all to see what it means, and not rush into print in a careless, flippant, selfish spirit. God knows if we are ready; and the fact that he has allowed the bureau to be established, should give us cause for self-examination. Another hour of the great clock of time has struck.

*Sanitarium, Cal.