“Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as
    the day:  the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.”

MEMORY HYMN [460]

    "Lead, kindly light."

THE STILL SMALL VOICE

What is the loudest noise you ever heard?  Did you ever hear an immense cannon fired?  Of course you have heard thunder.  The loudest, most terrifying noise I ever heard was a boiler explosion.  The town heating plant was only three doors from my home.  The whole plant blew up one prayer meeting evening.  The church building was plunged into darkness, the walls shook, windows were broken on every side.  In terror people got down on their knees and crept toward the door.  That was the loudest noise I ever heard.

Now I have here a hammer.  I will drop it to the floor.  Listen.  Is the noise very loud?  Here I have a heavy railroad spike.  Hear the noise this makes as it is dropped.  And now I shall drop this large nail.  The noise that made is not nearly as loud as the noise occasioned by the falling hammer.  Here is a small nail.  You will have to listen very carefully if you hear the sound of the nail as it strikes the carpet.  Have you good ears?  Let us test them.  Here is an ordinary pin.  If you keep very quiet you will be able to hear the falling of this tiny pin.  Do not move in your seat.  Every one, attention!  Listen.  Did you hear it?  Yes, most of you did.

That pin did not make much noise.  No sound could be more subdued than a dropping pin.  Ah, but there is a sound that is infinitely more quiet.  At the same time it is louder than the roll of thunder, or the firing of a huge cannon, or the explosion of a great boiler.  Some call it “conscience.”  I like to think of it as a voice.  It is the still, small voice within.  When you go to do wrong this voice speaks to you.  Hear the voice, and give good heed.

MEMORY VERSE, I Kings 19:  12

    “And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the
    fire:  and after the fire a still small voice.”

MEMORY HYMN [320]

    "I want a principle within."

THANKSGIVING

What does Thanksgiving mean to you?  I hear one boy say, “It means a big dinner.”  I think we all agree with him.  Who does not welcome and enjoy a good dinner!  I hear Mary say, “Thanksgiving means a day off from school.”  I guess you are right too.  School is not such a charming place that girls and boys are unwilling to have an occasional holiday.

Now I am going to ask some of the older people what the day means to them.  There is a young woman.  She is a stenographer.  She says, “Thanksgiving means a day away from the office.  I am at the office every day except Sunday, and I do appreciate, now and then, a day that is really my own.”  Yonder is a traveling salesman.  What does Thanksgiving mean to you?  He says, “It means a day at home.  Last year I spent one hundred and sixty-nine nights away from home.  I have three children.  I should like to see them every day.  There are times when many days pass and I do not see them.  Thanksgiving week I plan to be at home.”