p. 290 | Rust | AdventAI

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Oct 2, 1879

Rust.

ONCE upon a time an Arabian princess was presented with an ivory casket exquisitely wrought, by her teacher, with the injunction not to open it until a year had rolled around. Many were the speculations as to what it contained, and the time was impatiently waited for when the jeweled key should disclose the mysterious contents. It came at last, and the maiden went away alone, and with trembling haste unlocked the treasure; and lo! reposing on delicate satin linings, lay nothing but a shroud of rust; the form of something beautiful could be discerned, but the beauty had gone forever. Tearful with disappointment, she did not at first see a slip of parchment containing these words: "Dear pupil: May you learn from this a lesson in your life. This trinket, when inclosed, had upon it only a single spot of rust; by neglect it has become the useless thing you now behold, only a blot on its pure surroundings. So a little stain on your character will, by inattention and neglect, mar a bright and useful life, and in time will leave only the dark record of what might have been. If you now place within a jewel of gold, and after many years seek the result, you will find it still as sparkling as ever. So with yourself; treasure up only the pure, the good; and you will ever be an ornament to society, and a source of true pleasure to yourself and your friends."