“Do you understand, boys and girls, that it was the thing which this mother put into the life of her boy that made him a great and a good man?  Do you now understand what Paul meant when he said that there is no other foundation on which to build your life ’than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ?’

“Let us, then place the word, Christ, upon this rock, the unseen foundation upon which this great life stood so steadfastly.  I leave with you the picture as a memory of the secret of a wonderful life. [Draw lines of rock and lower portion of the lighthouse; add the word “Christ,” completing Fig. 36.]

[Illustration:  Fig. 36]

THE BLESSEDNESS OF WORK
    —­Labor
    —­Diligence

The Truly Happy Life is the One Filled With Honest Employment.

THE LESSON—­That in childhood and youth we should train ourselves to work.

Work is the keynote of the successful life.  “An idle brain is the devil’s workshop.”  The talk is designed to catch the attention with a smile and then give an opportunity to present some valuable thoughts in the matter of diligence and the fulfillment of life’s mission through honorable employment of the mind and the hands.

The Talk.

“Very often we read some very curious things.  The manufacturer of one of the well-known breakfast foods, has placed this strange statement on the outside of each of the packages:  ’Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.’  It seems impossible to do this, and the writer of the words probably had an entirely different way of explaining how he would do it from the way we will demonstrate it here on the drawing paper today.  Let us suppose that we make the statement that we can tell what a man is if we know what he eats.  All right, then, here is a case:  There is a certain man who eats three meals a day out of a dish shaped something like this:  [Draw lines representing Step 1 of Fig. 37.]

[Illustration:  Fig. 37] [Illustration:  Fig. 38]

“And then, let us suppose that the food he eats is heaped up like this:  [Add lines to change the drawing to Step 2.]

“Now, what do you think this food is?  Ice cream?  Ah, no, because when I tell you that this is steam rising from the food you will know it isn’t ice cream:  [Add lines to change the drawing to Step 3.]

“But you will begin to see what it is when I tell you that these two lines represent chopsticks:  [Add lines to change the drawing to Step 5.] What is it?  Rice?  Yes, it is rice, and we will label it in this way. [Add the letters, to change the drawing to Step 5.]

“And now, having found out what the man eats, let us see if we can find out who he is. [Remove the sheet from the drawing board, hold it up and turn it over, exposing Fig. 38 to the audience.  With the attention thus centered upon your work, the boys and girls will listen with eagerness to whatever else you may have for them.]