Mothers by Daniel Nettleton

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 17, 1910

Mothers

By Daniel Nettleton

DANIEL NETTLETON

“The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased, Until that I Deborah arose, That I arose a mother in Israel.”

WE as conference laborers have been asked to report our work in the REVIEW and in conference papers, and we should comply with this request. Our people desire to hear from their ministers and workers. I am thankful we have periodicals that gather up and rehearse what God has done with us in the places to which we have been sent.

But there is one class of workers who do not report, and I presume we shall never see their names in our conference papers. The name of these workers has been chosen as the title of this article. Their failure to report is not because they are idle; I believe they are doing as real and important work as any of us who do report.

The most important thing about a steamship is not its gilded name and pleasant decks where the passengers promenade, but its mighty engines that make it go; and they are out of sight. The essential thing about a watch is not the face and hands, though they may be looked at often, but the “works;” and they are in the case out of sight: so I believe the thing that is making this third angel’s message go, is the workers in the homes of our people, the mothers and the fathers; and they are largely out of sight; and sometimes, I fear, are forgotten, and not appreciated as they should be. Therefore, please let me report for them. I am sure we will all concede, as the text says, that the rulers, the leaders in Israel, would soon cease if there were no mothers.

As I visit our schools, colleges, and sanitariums,—and they are growing in numbers and efficiency,—I see a large number of young people who are preparing for a place in the work of God. And I ask, Who is building all these institutions and furnishing them with teachers and students? Whence come all these strong young men and bright young women who are so earnest and eager in the work of preparing for the whitening fields beyond? I have the answer, but I did not get it from our conference paper; for this class of workers for whom I speak, never send in reports. I got it from the homes of our people. I have visited those homes, and know of what I speak. I have sat at their tables and heard the parents speak of the dear ones at school. I have knelt with them at the family altar, and prayed with them for their dear sons and daughters who were absent.

Yes, it is this class of workers that make it possible for us to have institutions that are sending out missionaries to the field whence come our reports. They have been and are doing a work in silence and obscurity that erelong, like the silent seed, will produce a plant that will blossom into fragrance and beauty, or like the sun, which has been hid by dark mountains and clouds, come forth to give light to those that sit in darkness, to guide their feet into paths of peace. “One hour of silent sunshine will do more to change the face of nature than the toil of a million men in a lifetime.”

And to the young people who may chance to read these lines, let me say, If you have left the old home, and are in some one of our schools or sanitariums, do not forget or permit the press of study or work to keep you from writing often to father and mother. No doubt you often get something from them that keeps you “going to school.” O! how much good it will do the folks at home to hear from you! St. Paul said, “Let them learn first to show piety at home.”

As I read my Bible, I am impressed with the prominence and importance given to motherhood. In God’s Word we read of great men, such as Moses, Samuel, David, Solomon, Peter, Paul, John, and others, who were prophets, priests, kings, and leaders in Israel. We also read in Ps. 68: 11, R. V.: “The Lord giveth the word: the women that publish the tidings are a great host.” Among this great host are the names of Jochebed, Hannah, Ruth, Esther, Elizabeth, and she who was highly favored above all women—Mary, the mother of Jesus. To her was given the responsibility of training and caring for him on whose shoulders was to rest the “government,”—whose name is Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

This Prince of Peace spent thirty years in the home of Joseph and Mary at Nazareth, and was subject unto them. The child Jesus did not receive instruction in the synagogue school. His mother was his first human teacher. From her lips and from the scrolls of the prophets he learned of heavenly things. Under her care and tuition he increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

It was Hannah’s prayer that gave to Israel one of her greatest prophets. Samuel established the school of prophets, and led backslidden Israel back to God. It was the baby cry from the opened ark of bulrushes that reached the heart of Pharaoh’s daughter, and made Moses heir to the throne and all “the treasures in Egypt.” That helpless babe appealed to her mother instinct, and she took him for her own son, and he was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and works; but it was Jochebed’s prayers and careful training for twelve years, when she was his mother nurse, that made him the man of God, the deliverer of his people, the greatest author and poet of all the ages. It was Eunice, his mother, and Lois, his grandmother, that made Timothy a great evangelist and St. Paul’s favorite helper.

A great artist, when asked the secret of his success, answered, “It was my mother’s smile that made me a painter.” When a child, he would steal away to the attic and paint pictures. One day his mother quietly followed him, and unobserved, for a time, she watched him paint. Finally he discovered her watching him. He was frightened at first, and thought he might be punished for wasting time and paint. But his mother smiled, and laying her hand lovingly upon his head, said, “My son, you are doing well.” That smile and kindly word opened the door of success to him, and hung on the walls of the great art galleries of Europe and America superb paintings before which admiring thousands stand and extol the skill of the author. But who ever thinks of or extols the mother whose smile made him a painter, and to whom he is indebted for all his glory?

When Paul would tell us of the liberty of God’s people, and the blessedness of their Eden home, he said, “Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all;” and when the Lord would illustrate his tender compassion and comforting love, he says, “As one

whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you.” Isa. 66: 13.

Dear fathers and mothers in Israel, do not be discouraged or complain at your obscure and humble lot. Your work shall be rewarded. See Jer. 31: 15, 16. I had rather be a humble father or mother toiler in my home field than be enrolled among the famous kings or bloody conquerors of earth.

These are some of the workers, a few of that great company who in obscurity and silence are toiling on from year to year, and whose patient, loving service is making men great. The results of their toil may not be recorded here, but on the pages of the books of heaven, recorded by angel hands, their deeds of love are written in plain and glowing lines. And as long as sun, moon, and stars shall shine, and constellations circle on to the music of the spheres, the praises of these mother toilers shall be sung by the immortal tongues of angels and men.

Port Townsend, Wash.