REPORTING by Joseph Harvey Waggoner

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 29, 1877

REPORTING

By Joseph Harvey Waggoner

This is an important part of the work in the T. and M. Societies, and every one ought to bring in a report every time. At a meeting which I lately attended; the complaint was made that the director did not seem to like it if a small report was presented, and this was made an excuse for making no report at all if but little had been done.

This is all wrong. Every item of work should be reported, however small the amount, and the directors should so instruct the members. Otherwise, the whole amount of labor cannot be known; and many small items swell the aggregate.

Beside this, it will be found to be a fact that the habit of reporting will beget and strengthen the habit of working. If all were compelled to report every quarter, there can be no doubt they would all work, for few if any would be willing to repeat many times the following report: “I have done nothing during the last quarter.” It may not in itself be a commendable motive to wish to make each report larger than the one preceding, but it is a truth that the heart soon grows into the work in which we are engaged, and the greater our diligence in our work the greater will be our interest in the work. The more we do for the cause of God the deeper will be our interest in it, and the stronger our love for it. They who are dull and indifferent in the cause of God should not wait and do nothing till their feelings grow stronger. If they go to work, they will soon find themselves in possession of lively feelings for the work in which they are engaged.

No labor of love is ever lost. It has its influence somewhere. Even if we see no immediate result on others, it has a beneficial result on ourselves, so that it is never unfruitful. We have no cause to be discouraged. Nor should we falter because we cannot do much. Remember, it was the man who had only one talent who was condemned for not improving it. So there can be no excuse offered for want of opportunity to do a large or great work. A little is just as acceptable as much, if the little is all that we can do. The widow’s mites were of great value, because they were all she had. These are lessons of which tract workers should never lose sight. Let every one do something, and let every one make a report, that the general report may show the true amount of work done. J. H. Waggoner.