Furry
Furry
Furry
Furry
Furry
Furry
Furry
"Wholesale Confession"
A traveler in Russia gives the following interesting account of a public "confession" which he attended in "Holy Week." It is a fair sample of wholesale confession, which is not by any means confined to Russia, nor to members of a State church. It is so easy for people to admit in an off-hand way that they are "all miserable sinners," and to imagine that if they recognize that they are doing wrong, that is a confession of it. "I know I ought not to do this," some one will apologetically say, while in the very act of doing it, and will comfort himself with the delusion that now he has cleared himself, when he has only condemned himself. Such confessions only harden the conscience, and confirm one in sin, because the persons do not really have any sense of sin, or any intention of forsaking the evil practices; and thus we see that they are really not confessions of sin at all:-
I did not attend all the services during the week, but I was fortunate enough to witness the novel way Batushka (little father, or literally, "Papa") managed to shorten his labours at the confessional. He had announced that every one must come at a certain hour and the church was full. Each peasant was in his sheepskin, word "the leather side out and the furry side in," with the wool hanging in a deep fringe round the bottom, and the scent of these coats was not refreshing. The only other visible articles of attire were immense top top boots, replaced in the case of extra-wretched persons by long rags wound round the legs to a great thickness, while the feet were thrust into bark slippers. The crowd stood (there are no seats) with intent eyes fixed on the priest, and he, standing with his back to the altar, accused them during a good quarter of an hour of such sins as he knew to be most general. They answered in a chorus, every one acknowledging to everything, there being no one so fussy as to want to deny or specify.
"You removed part of the bridge for fuel."
"Yes, yes, Batushka," replied the big voices.
"You drank too much vodka."
"Yes, yes, Batushka."
"You kicked some old and tiresome man."
"Yes, yes, Batushka."
"You gave me short measure in my tithes."
"Yes, yes, Batushka."
"You shifted your neighbour's landmark."
"Yes, yes, Batushka."
"Scorning the claims of others, you ate the whole pan of borsch yourself."
"Yes, yes, Batushka."
"You felled a tree in the forest."
"Yes, yes, Batushka," etc.
"Well, well, that will do. Now you're forgiven. You can go home," and he gabbled a benediction.
May 1, 1902 EJW, PTUK 284
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“Pussie gives her babies a bath. They do not have a nice tub full of fresh water as you do. She uses her own tongue for a sponge, and licks them all over their furry bodies. Is not this a strange bath? But pussy is very well pleased with it, and of course she knows what is best for her own babies.”
June 4, 1903 EJW, PTUK 363
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As you put on your warm clothes, do you ever stop to think where they come from? Some of them are made from the woolly coat of the sheep, the hair of the camel or Cashmere Goat, or the fur of the beaver or brown rat! Even the skins of young goats are made into gloves called kid gloves. The buffalo robe is the skin of a bison, and carriage robes and rugs are sometimes made of the shaggy coats of bears and wolves. We get ivory from the elephant. Polecats' hairs are used for artists' brushes. Hogs' bristles are also used for brushes, and their hide is made into leather for saddles. The otter can be taught to catch fish for its master, the Shepherd Dog to tend sheep, the St. Bernard Dog to find lost and freezing travelers, the Reindeer and Esquimaux Dog to take the place of horses in cold countries, the ox to plough, and the noble horse to be the companion and servant of man. The cow gives us milk, butter, glue, leather for our shoes and carriage and harness, and hair for plastering. Even the despised rat saves the lives of thousands of people in our large cities by eating the decaying things in the sewers.
The more you study and think about the animals the more you will see to admire, and to thank God for. For it was God, who, on the sixth day, made "the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth after their kind; and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25. Oh, to have seen them then! Not a poor, sickly, or cross animal among them all! Not one that would hurt or kill, for then none lived on flesh, but upon the green herb which God gave them for their meat. Genesis 1:30. They all were more tame and friendly than your dog or kitten.
Now, many animals are wild and so fierce that we would be afraid to meet them outside of a cage. But God has made a wonderful promise. He says that by-and-by the beasts will all be as good and friendly as they were at first,-so friendly that a little child can lead them. Listen, here is His promise:-
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox. . . . They shall not hurt nor destroy."
Isaiah 11:6, 7, 9.
In other parts of the Bible we learn that this will be after He has made the earth all new again and destroyed every evil thing. Where will you be? Will you be among the evil things that will be destroyed, or among the happy children who will live on the beautiful new earth with Jesus, and who will lead the friendly lion and the bear? If you would be with Jesus then, you must live to please Him now. If you are cross and rude to your parents, and cruel to God's birds and animals now, He could not trust you to live with them in the perfect new earth. Jesus invites you to be there, but He cannot take you unless you here learn to be kind and gentle and good.
January 18, 1894 EJW, PTUK 45.7-10