The Sunday-School Teacher’s Life-Work
TALKING lately with a young man, who is a splendid specimen of Christian manhood—“ Do you remember” he asked, “a Miss K., who, many years ago, was a Sunday-school teacher in your church in Philadelphia?” “Right well do we remember her, with her sheer Scotch grit, and her abundant Christian grace.” “Well,” he continued, “she was just the best woman that I ever saw. She was my teacher, and not only my teacher, but my friend and confidant. And not only mine, but such she was to all her boys. And she would have us often at her house, and interested herself in everything that interested us. I shall never forget how, when you were raising money to build your new church, she gave the money she had saved for a bonnet, and wore the old one another season. I tell you, she was a Christian, through and through.” He believed in that teacher before he believed in Christ. It would not be too much to say that, just because he believed in that teacher, he came to believe in Christ. He is now a successful pastor in the far West; and she, in her humble little sphere, is plodding along in the far East, little dreaming how long are the lines in which she is projecting her power. Possibly she may read these little lines; if so, she will not be unduly lifted up, but only in gratitude and praise. And let other teachers who may read this record, learn a lesson as to which way lies the secret of success in the Sunday-school teacher’s life-work.