To whom it may concern: This is to certify that I am homely, and am trying to cover up the fact by the use of paint and powder, thus hoping to deceive the public.
SIGNED—O. C. PRIDE.
"The King's daughter is all glorious within." And because of this it works out, and so, with God's glory upon one, surely there is no need of the world's adornments to supplement God's handiwork. "The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit" is the adorning which all should seek, and all may obtain.
The climax of trinket wearing is to be found in the heathen world. There they deck themselves literally from head to heel. They puncture ears, lips, and nose to find more room for their jewelry. God's arraignment of His people in the third chapter of Isaiah for patterning after the heathen customs is appalling, and we wonder that the translators of the Bible had the ingenuity to ferret out all the different kinds of trumpery in that dead language and find their proper expression in English. When the writer was a boy going to a country school, he was told by the teacher that barbarians wore jewelry, and in proportion as people did the same today they were barbarian. We once stepped into a restaurant in the city of Omaha, and noticed a woman seated at one of the tables. The sight of her hand eclipsed anything we had ever seen. There were rings galore. We do not remember the number on her fingers, but she had so many, it looked as if she had not room enough on her fingers, so she actually had one on her thumb. Doubtless she thought this added to her beauty. We once saw a fortune teller with large rings in her ears, three chains around her neck, seven rings on her fingers and eight bracelets on the wrists.
How different is all this from the beauty which the Holy Spirit gives! We have seen the faces of some saints that verily shone with the brightness of the indwelling Christ within. Sometimes in deathbed scenes God has lifted the curtain just enough to let a little of heaven's halo fall across the features, and how it lighted up the face and made it radiant with a glory which at once was known to be unearthly. God surely knows how to beautify His people.
CHAPTER II
THE PALM TREE IS NOTED FOR ITS STRAIGHTNESS
There is something in the very nature of this remarkable production, that scarcely allows of any departure from the perpendicular. The palm tree will grow straight. One seldom sees a crooked one. We remember seeing one, but it was dead.
Now, if we have the palm tree blessing, we are spiritually straight. God's people are straight. They are straight in their homes, in the church, in their business, with the world, with each other and with God. In their business deals they will not stoop to any underhanded trickery either on a big scale or little. They will even swear to their own hurt and change not. They will put themselves out to hunt up the conductor in order to pay their nickle fare before they leave the car. They never leave the counter with a surplus of change if they know it. They are careful about not using many words in buying and selling. They never cover up the defects and make prominent the good points in their deals. They endeavor to observe the Golden Rule, doing unto others as they would have others do to them. They will surely overcome any stingy element in their makeup, if previously possessed with such a factor. They will not lavish their homes and let God's cause languish. Their earthly store belongs to God, and they recognize His right to draw upon them whenever He chooses.