Keep your Lamps Clean by D. M. Cartwright

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 16, 1875

Keep your Lamps Clean.

By D. M. Cartwright

I do not mean this in a spiritual sense, but literally. I refer to the lamps in the church. I am frequently pained on entering one of our meeting-houses to see the lamps dirty, the chimneys smoked and uncleaned, and the wicks poorly trimmed. Frequently, there will not be half lamps enough to properly light the house. Brethren, these things ought not to be.

Whoever has the care of the meeting-house should feel an ambition to have things kept neat. The floor should be cleaned, the windows washed, and everything in order. In particular, the lamps should be bright and clear. Oil which has stood in the lamps for weeks will not burn now. It should all be emptied out. Do not put fresh oil with the old. This spoils both. Take out all the old wicks and put in new ones. The lamps themselves should be carefully washed. The chimneys should be as clear as crystal—not a speck upon them. A very few minutes work will accomplish this. When we are to have a public meeting and a general turnout, it is important that these little things should not be neglected. If our brethren do not see to these things where I hold my meetings, I shall be tempted to scold about it, and that you know is very unpleasant.

D. M. Cartwright.