EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE.
By S. M. I. H.
A YEAR ago my husband, although a member of the church, had little interest in anything religious. I observed the noontide hour of prayer, as he had ceased to care. The children and myself observed it openly the same as morning and evening worship, and now, although there is not entire consecration to the Lord in all things, yet he is more kind to me, and testifies to God’s goodness, and reads our papers. That note in the REVIEW AND HERALD concerning the keeping of a post-office is good. I can testify that one can keep the Sabbath, and the post-office, too. We are in charge of the post-office in this place. My husband is the postmaster, and I am the assistant. No one bothers us on the Sabbath. In the beginning we said that if we could not manage the post-office and be unmolested on the Sabbath, we would not enter the business at all. All respect us, and we are not bothered in the least. We believe this is one way to let our light shine. The following is quoted from a letter written by a sister in New York:— There are two classes of women I am looking for. I want a woman to do general housework, a strong Christian girl, who can do hygienic cooking, and whom I could trust with the care of baby when I go out,—one who can live out the truth attractively in a neighborhood where I am alone. She would receive good wages. I also want a woman or homeless girl who can sew and assist with baby or light housework, or be generally useful, who would be glad of a good home. Is there not some one who would do this for a home? Of course I would keep her in clothes. If any wish to correspond with this sister concerning these positions, the name and address will be gladly given. Address Office of Woman’s Gospel Work, 271 W. Main St., Battle Creek, Mich. A question is raised in a certain locality by one of our sisters, who had, before she came into the faith with us, been surrounded with all elegance, after the fashion of the world, and had a choice collection of art productions. The question that is raised is concerning the propriety of such things being in the possession of Seventh-day Adventists. In a personal letter she has brought the matter to my notice, asking me to vindicate her position, which is that a love for, and appreciation of, these things is a mark of culture, and should be cultivated. I will not quote from her letter, but from my answer, as I wish to express what I believe to be the only true principle upon which to judge of this question of art, especially the nude, as this is at present, and will become more and more, a live question for our young people especially, to meet. Nothing in the world but sin should horrify anyone who knows the truth of God. A failure on the part of persons to appreciate art should not produce any such sensations or anxieties in us who know that the Lord is soon coming. The need of the hour is not the cultivation of art, but of character, along the lines which will bring us into harmony with the Spirit of God. Since it is revealed to us in the word of God that, when man sinned, God considered that the human body should no longer be publicly exposed, and himself made a covering for it, I believe that we are to keep the body covered, and to frown upon every attempt to bring the details of the human figure to public notice, even in painting or sculpture. Outlines may be used with perfect propriety when they are for the purpose of necessary instruction; but I believe that anything in art that exposes any part of the distinctively sexual portions of the human figure to public gaze, is calculated to cultivate that which is coarse instead of refining. It is the study of nature instead of art,—the study of God in nature,—and the washing and regenerating of the Holy Spirit, that produces genuine refinement. A good many years ago the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union took a position against the nude in art; and we have had reason to do this. In this organization are some of the most cultivated women of the nation,—those who have, in answer to earnest conviction, put away everything from their homes which was of that nature. Some had homes that were richly decorated with that which the world considers the choicest productions of art; but they sacrificed them on the conviction that these were all of the devil of impurity. I believe more and more that this is so. However it might have been in former ages of the world’s history, it is certainly true now that the people of God should take a position squarely against everything of that sort; for we are in a very corrupt age, and the atmosphere is full of vileness. It is like the locust, which can feed upon anything, from bud and blossom in the garden to the posts of the house, or the woodwork of the machinery with which the farm is cultivated.