A Heathen Mother's Example by W. C. Dunscombe, M. D.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 17, 1910

_A Heathen Mother's Example_

By W. C. Dunscombe, M. D.

W. C. DUNSCOMBE, M. D.

ONE day as I walked through the grounds of a large Buddhist temple, I noticed a mother, with a baby strapped to her back, approach the bronze image of Buddha. She took the heavy rope hanging in front of the bell and struck it two or three times to awaken the god if perchance he might be sleeping. Before the bell had ceased vibrating, clapping her hands together, she bowed as she offered up her petition. Her baby was only about two years old, but as soon as the mother had finished, she put the baby's hands on the rope and helped her strike it. Then the child put its hands together and bowed its head also for a moment or two.

I have often thought of this since, and it has taught me a great lesson. Those who serve Satan are wiser than many Christian parents. When a Buddhist has thus been taught from its earliest childhood to reverence Buddha, it is indeed hard for such a soul to break the fetters and come out into the light. O that Christian parents would as faithfully instruct their children to reverence Jehovah and his worship! Shall it be said of us that the heathen are wiser in their generation than we?

Tokio, Japan.