p. 10 | His Way of Saying It

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Jun 23, 1904

His Way of Saying It

IN the Bengali language, which is spoken by thousands of people in far-away India, there is no word that has the meaning of our English “Thank you.”

Now there was once a little heathen boy in that country, who had been told in the mission school about God’s love in sending Jesus Christ to die for him, that his sins might be forgiven. As he listened, his eyes filled with tears, and his heart grew big with gratitude.

After the morning school, the missionary went out alone to take a walk in his garden. Just as he was passing a quiet corner, he observed something moving among a clump of bushes. Looking cautiously through the leaves, he saw the little Bengali boy who had listened so earnestly. He was on his knees on the ground, his hands were clasped, his lips were moving, and the missionary could just hear what he was saying. The lad was not praying, but he was repeating over one by one the letters of the Bengali alphabet.

The teacher asked him gently what he was doing. The child answered that he wanted to thank God for the wonderful love of which he had just heard, but he knew no word in which to express his thanks; so he was saying the letters over to God, and asking God to take the letters and make a word for himself. All which would express the thanks the child could not say.—Selected.