"You boys know how it is when you are riding a bicycle. Your wheel will stay upright as long as you are pushing ahead, but as soon as you stop the wheel topples over.
"Sometimes the aeroplane engine fails to work, sometimes a wire or rod breaks, sometimes the aviator attempts to do some fancy flying which throws the machine out of balance, sometimes the wind prevents the machine from going on in its course. Any of these things may cause the machine to stop going forward and come dashing downward.
"You, boys—and you, girls—and we older men and women, are just like the aeroplane in one great particular. In the Christian life, in our work, in our study, in our efforts to do good, we can never hope to succeed and progress if we let anything stop us in the way. How truly does all this apply to the Sunday School. The stand-still boy and the stand-still girl never get anywhere. The stand-still Sunday School is 'a dead one.' Life in Sunday School means movement, forward and upward. If the flying machine stops, it comes crashing to the earth. If the Sunday School stops, you will also 'hear something drop.' And the same thing is true of us as Christians. Praying and psalm singing are not enough. Backsliding begins when Christians stop working—stop going forward. If we would grow, we must go! And 'keep a-goin'!"
THE PLUM TREE
—Mothers' Day
—Training
The Responsibility of Motherhood—A Lesson From the Tree Nursery.
THE LESSON—That constant training and cultivation are necessary to the attainment of excellence in plant life; so, also, the quality of the child depends upon the home training.