One result
was that they now had no time for gossip and doubtful talk about
their neighbours. They were all talking about religion and
rejoicing in the things of the Lord. If they met each other on
the street, or in some shop or store, they praised the Lord, and
encouraged each other to press on in the heavenly way. If they
met a sinner, they tenderly besought him to be reconciled to God,
to give up his sins, "flee from the wrath to come," and start at
once for Heaven. If they met in each other's houses, they
gathered around the organ or the piano and sang hymns and songs,
and did not part till they had united in prayer.
There was no criticising of their neighbours, no grumbling and
complaining about the weather, no fault-finding with their lot in
life, or their daily surroundings and circumstances. Their
conversation was joyous, cheerful, and helpful to one another.
Nor was it forced and out of place, but rather it was the
natural, spontaneous outflow of loving, humble, glad hearts
filled with the Spirit, in union with Jesus, and in love and
sympathy with their fellow-men.
And this is, I think, our Heavenly Father's ideal of social and
spiritual intercourse for His children on earth. He would not
have us separate ourselves from each other and shut ourselves up
in convents and monasteries in austere asceticism on the one
hand, nor would He have us light and foolish, or fault-finding
and censorious on the other hand, but sociable, cheerful, and
full of tender, considerate love.
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