Don’t Be a Mummy by CLAUDE E. HOLMES.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 3, 1908

Don’t Be a Mummy

By CLAUDE E. HOLMES.

Moses was once on the way to the royal cemetery of Theban-hill mummies. But he changed his path toward the wilderness, that he might live with the wandering children of God. Had he not made that decision, and cast off the purple vestments of Egyptian glory, we might to-day look upon his mummy in some museum. This change was caused by a knowledge of the true education. There were two paths which appeared before Moses. The distance between them may not have seemed far apart as he viewed them. But as time went by, Moses found that they were as far apart as heaven and earth; for he is now in heaven, and his royal successor a mummy on earth!

You are making decisions to-day which will be as far-reaching in their results as those of Moses. Look for the teacher that will guide you the way Moses was led by his mother.

When you start in your school work, do not “keep back part of the price,” but make all your efforts tell. Throw all your strength into getting something definite and eternal.

A little of the right kind of training will do wonders. Do you know that mosquitoes stopped the French nation from digging the Panama Canal? The mosquitoes did not succeed in doing that with the United States. Why?—Because an energetic man ferreted out the cause of the difficulty. Maybe it is some little thing that is keeping you from having success in clearing up the King’s highway. Investigate. Talk with some of our faithful teachers; possibly they can discover your difficulty. Have you ever consulted them about it?

One place in the city of Washington which few tourists fail to visit is the Navy Yards. Here are made the monster

guns for the war-ships. Not far from this interesting spot is another important place much less assuming than the navy yards both in size and sound. It is called the “Barracks.” Here the government makes its soldiers. In the business of war such institutions are necessary. Cannon must be made; and men must be trained in order to act understandingly and successfully against the foe.

Seventh-day Adventist training-schools, whether they be church-schools, academies, or colleges, bear the same relation to our work as the navy yards, barracks, and forts do to the national government. One discouraging feature of modern warfare, however, is the rapidity with which a weapon becomes obsolete. This is not true with the weapon of the Christian. He has only one,—the sword (the Word of God),—and it never becomes antiquated. Nothing has ever been invented, or ever will be invented, that it can not pierce. The work of our schools should be converged upon one thing,—training volunteers in the use of that sword. To teach them the philosophy and so-called truths of worldly science is like building cannon to-day that will be worthless to-morrow.

While the sword is our only weapon, Paul informs us that we need an armor. Did you ever think that the enemy might get the advantage of you if you have only the sword? The armor is necessary to protect you from the fiery darts of Satan. You know that a sword is useful only in a hand-to-hand conflict. Darts can be thrown from a distance. You need the armor—the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith.

As soon as possible, you want to go to one of our schools, and join the classes which teach the art of making such shields, helmets, breastplates, and sandals. Take lessons in using that sword. Goliath made a fatal mistake when he trusted his shield to the hand of another man. What person on his death-bed ever regretted that he spent more time studying the Bible than any other book? How many, if they could have lived a few more years would have searched it more faithfully? Why should we not learn a lesson, and begin where they left off?

Factories take pig-iron and turn out finished cannon. That is their business. Scores of theological seminaries are supposed to be in the business of making well-rounded Christian ministers. Where does the fault lie when students enrol as Christians, and are graduated unbelievers, or perhaps they are infidels when they matriculate and are the same when they step out into the world to wield their influence? To send a product out in no better state than when received would not be tolerated in a worldly institution making material things. Thus while many universities are failing in their purpose, I am glad that our schools are taking decided steps in fulfilling their sacred duty. At the end of the school year we have read of many baptisms. The students are going out into the field to engage in actual work. When such a spirit is implanted in their minds, the schools are doing their proper tasks.

There is one degree that all should endeavor to secure, and that is the degree of B. A. You no doubt think that the degree of Bachelor of Arts is worth having. It looks good after one’s name. But that is not the B. A. that you want. It goes after your character — Born Again. Do not rest satisfied until you possess it.

Our schools are numerous, and do excellent work; and we have scores of young men and women with rare talents. The problem to solve is: How can we get the two together? It won’t do to corral and drive them there. I am convinced that the problem has already been partially, if not entirely, solved. The scholarship plan is practical, and will fill our schools with ambitious youth.

Before one will care to attend a school, he must have a desire to learn. The experiences gained by canvassing will place this longing in his heart. As he talks with persons about the truth, he quickly discovers his lack of knowledge and his need of ability to present what he knows. Then he will go to school. Man can not stop him, and God will not.

Do not think that even getting an intellectual training in one of our schools is the end of your efforts. When you are called up before the Judge, you will not be asked to repeat the multiplication table or give selections from some Shakespearean play, but, How have you served your fellow men?

It takes a good heart training to be graceful and skilful in giving cups of cold water to thirsty travelers along life’s dusty pathway. Maybe along the way you will find some in prison. Sing a stanza of the song of praise composed by Paul and Silas, and possibly you may free them. Learn how to apply bandages of love to broken hearts, and to give sight to the blind. God will then give you a post-graduate course in the heavenly school. He has one hundred forty-four thousand scholarships ready and waiting for those who will pass the examinations.

CLAUDE E. HOLMES.