p. 57 | THE GRUMBLER

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Feb 5, 1880

THE GRUMBLER.

It is natural for us to grumble at what we don't like.

Whether in church, state, or family, when things don't move to suit us, we feel like grumbling. And it is a habit that grows stronger the more it is indulged.

Some people are always grumbling about State affairs. Everything with them goes wrong. The taxes are unreasonable; public affairs are in general badly managed, and every public man in the country is corrupt.

Men who continually grumble about what is wrong, will soon get to growling about what is not wrong.

A grumbler in the family is the most disagreeable of mortals. The other members of the family, being in constant contact with him, are continually made unhappy by his daily snarling. You can't please him, and it is needless to try. Do what you may, it is all wrong with him. And no matter what position you take on any question he is on the other side.

A grumbler in the church is a nuisance. He is a perpetual clog upon church work. He claims to be exceedingly anxious for work to be done. But he can't get anything done right. The preaching is poor. The prayer meeting is dull and formal. The Sabbath School is all wrong. And the members of the church generally are in disorder. Everything is going to the bad, and going rapidly. Thus the grumbler makes himself universally disagreeable.

Sometimes we call him an ecclesiastical "sore-head."

Let us make ourselves as agreeable to others as possible, and if things even go wrong, follow the advice of the Psalmist:

"Fret not thyself because of evil doers."—Baptist Banner.