"R" means reverence, which is one of the chief titles, for if you have
not that it matters nothing what else you have.
Reverence for God and for God's name; reverence for yourself, your body,
the wonderful gift of mind, the power you have of choosing; reverence
for yourself as a temple in which God wants to dwell; reverence for
everything that is sacred and holy; reverence for the church and the
Sunday School.
When the Prince came to Canada everything was made as beautiful as
possible, and every one uncovered their head because he represented the
king.
But, girls and boys, you are children of the King. You are sons and
daughters of the Lord God Almighty. Do you not think you should be very
reverent toward all your life, because you represent the King?
Up among the Indians I was struck with their reverence in church and in
our camp. Every night before going to our tents we stood around the
camp-fire and sang a hymn and had a good-night prayer and every one of
those Indians stood, the very picture of reverence.
You have a chance in church service and Sunday School to show your
reverence for all these sacred things and to be all that makes you very
knightly. An irreverent boy or girl, who does not care, or who makes a
mock at holy things, will never get very high; or if he does, will some
day topple down, sure as fate.
"S" stands for self-control, and that means able to use yourself and to
use your temper.
It means you are sitting on the wagon-seat doing the driving and not
running between the shafts while something drives you. It means you are
the engineer in the cab, with your hand on the lever, and if you can't
be that, your life train will run away with you and then smash goes
everything!
Out in the Rockies they used to have safety switches on the heavy grades
so that if a train got away it would run into the switch and up-hill and
stop. But a good, strong engineer, with a strong hand on the lever,
usually does the work. Self-control means you are in charge and are
keeping your lever well in hand.
You know, girls and boys, we are like gunpowder. We fire off easily. We
have so many nerves and are so high-strung; and if we were not that, we
would never do anything.
Appetites and passions do things and give us all life force, but they
have to be held in, like a splendid horse kept under bit and bridle.
Out in California there is a shell called the Abalone. It attaches
itself to the rock by a very strong muscle that holds so tight it has to
be pried open often with a crowbar. When it is all cleaned up it is
wondrously beautiful in varied colours of green and pink and opalescent
pearl.
One day a little child was walking on the beach and stepped on an open
shell, when quick as a flash it closed and held her there. They suppose
she called out in terror, but no one heard, and the tide rose and
covered her, and the body swaying at last, broke off and all they found
was a boot, with bones, in the heart of the shell.
They tell of some fishermen going out to gather Abalone shells. One, in
a hurry, reached out to pull it off the rock, when it closed on him and
held him as in a vise, and the rising tide gradually drew him out of the
boat and drowned him. You see, instead of possessing the shell it
possessed him.
Lose self-control and you become possessed by something. Keep
self-control and you are master.
Life's end is to be master and not mastered.
"P" stands for purity. You know how you love a flower and what a
picture of purity a white flower is. The beautiful Easter lily, or a
white rose with waxen petals and shining heart, what is there more
lovely?
Perhaps there is something even more lovely than that. It is the face
and eyes of a little child who has never yet learned to sin, and looks
up into your face with a look so sweet and holy that you wonder how you
could do or be anything mean in its presence.