The Children's Hour with Uncle Arthur, Book 1

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THE CHILDREN'S HOUR WITH UNCLE ARTHUR

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CHILDREN'S With

HOUR

UNCLE ARTHUR

Book One

By

ARTHUR Author

MAXWELL

S.

of "Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories"

Wholesome, Truthful, Uplifting, Stories for

Inspiring

Boys and

Girls

REVIEW AND HERALD

Publishing Association

WASHINGTON,

D.C.

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Jit.

it

*

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f^Jvvn s copyrighted, nineteen hundred fortyby the Review and Herald Publishing Association

KZ/f'*" five,

i

PRINTED

H. A.

IN U.S.A.

ROBERTS

It Is

Fun

to

Climb

a Tree, but Dangerous.

Be

Careful, Boys

U.S. DEPT

A

OF THE

Kindly Ranger and His Friends

in

Yosemite Discover a Robin's Nest

STORY 1.

2.

3. 4. 5.

PAGE

Saved From the Flood Brenda's Skates Catherine's Cake Paying the Price Why Bozo Refused to Budge

6.

Splinters of Sin

7.

Faithful Fido

8.

It

9.

Red the Responsible

A Touch

12.

Why

Felt

19 31

37 40 43 48 55

59 the

World

63 67

Roily Wouldn't Eat

Money Back, The Hand of

15. Five

Round

Boys

13

25

and the Bees

11.

13.

.

Wasn't "Quite Safe"

10. Billy

14.

.

Please!

71

the Master

75

Haystack

79

in a

7

THE CHILDREN'S HOUR

8 16.

The

17.

God's Plans for You

89

18. 19.

Watch Me! The Jumping Cow

93 97

20.

When Tim Was

21.

He

Last Scrapings

83

Late

101

107

22.

Come Back! How Many Times?

23.

The Boy

24.

What

25.

Why

26.

Walter and the Wolves

27.

Mother's Hands I Belong to the King

28.

Will

Who

Ill

Found Black Gold

117 123 127 133

Price Love?

Chrissie

Changed Her Mind

.138 145 149

With Guns

29. Playing

154 159 164 169

30. Vera's Victory 31.

Showing the Flag

32.

The

Girl

33. Bigger

Who

Said, "I

Won't"

and Bigger

173

34. Strong as Atlas 35.

36. 37. 38. 39.

40.

41. 42.

Not

Me! Faithful and True Annie and the Indian

176 179

for

183

Once Too Often The Purse in the Pigpen The Shipwrecked Printer The Boy Who Refused a Fortune Seventy "Thank You's"

43.

How

44.

The Book, of Beginnings The Birds Start Singing The First Man

45. 46. 47.

Man's

First

Home

The

51.

The Man God Took The Old World Ends The Rainbow of a New Beginning

Sabbath 49. What One Sin Cost 50. The First Promise Ever

53.

.

First

Made

189 193

196

Things Began

48.

52.

\

' ,...._«

yet.

He had one

beautiful thing to do, the loveliest, kindest, sweet-

est act of all creation

As Adam

week.

sat there in the forest glade,

with the

animals crowding around, looking at him with their

THE CHILDREN'S HOUR

230 big, friendly eyes

and

sniffing at

him with

their long,

pointed noses, or their short, stubby noses, he noticed

something about them he had not seen before. To each one God had given a mate. To the lion, a lioness. To And so on. But he was alone. the tiger, a tigress. There was no creature anywhere that looked like him. Then he began to realize that though the animals might be his friends they could never be his close companions, thinking his thoughts, sharing his joys, talking over with hopes and plans. Suddenly, as he thought of these things, he became very, very sleepy. Inasmuch as he had never slept be-

him

his

he must have wondered what the sleepy feeling meant, and what was going to happen to him. Perhaps he tried to wake himself iip and shake off the feeling of drowsiness. But if he did, it was no use. He became fore,

more and more

sleepy, until at last, in a secluded part

under the shade of some big, beautiful tree, he lay down and went fast asleep. "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept." No sooner was he asleep than God did a strange thing. With infinite skill He performed an operation on Adam, the first in human history. The Bible says, "He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a woman." Perhaps you wonder why God did this; why He didn't choose some other way. If He could make light by saying, "Let there be light"; if He could make the of the forest,

THE FIRST MAN

231

by saying, "Let there be trees," why didn't He just say, "Let there be a woman"? There must have been a very good reason, or God would not have worked the way He did. I think He did it this way that man might ever remember that his wife is truly part of him and so treat her as he would trees

himself.

And now rib

it

let

us watch

God

says (in the margin) that

Just as, but a

little

at

work

He

while before, he had "formed

He had

that

"builded" a woman.

of the dust of the ground," fashioning the

derful creature

Of

again.

ever made, so

now

man

most wonall

His

in-

knowledge and wisdom were used in the creation of the one who was to become the mother of the whole human family. How perfectly He molded the features finite

of her lovely face! long,

flowing hair!

How

gracefully

With what

placed within her heart

all

He

arranged her

loving thought

the tenderness,

all

He

the gen-

and all the endless store of love He wanted every mother to have! At last this fairest creature of creation was com-

tleness, all the sweetness,

pleted.

Then

in all her perfect loveliness

God

"brought

her unto the man."

Adam

was still asleep. I don't know. Perhaps he was dreaming dreaming of the companion he hoped to find someday, somewhere in the woods Perhaps

or

fields.

—

Then perhaps God called to him, "Adam, wake up! See what I have made for you."

wake up, Then Adam awoke, rubbed his eyes, and looked. There before him was something more beautiful than

THE CHILDREN'S HOUR

232

any dream, a being so choice, so noble, so altogether lovely that his heart leaped within him.

upon her

lovely

form and gazed into her

As he looked bright, kindly,

understanding eyes, he knew instantly that this was his mate. This was the companion he had been seeking. "And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." And now I see them, dear, beautiful creatures, walk-

arm through

and fields, exploring King and queen of the all the wonders of creation. glorious new earth, they wander hither and yon, admiring the beauties of their lovely kingdom. They talk together of the marvels they have seen and the wonders of God's power. And they praise Him for all His gooding

arm

in

the forests

ness to them.

And

I

think, too, that

I

see

God,

silently

them, smiling upon their perfect happiness.

watching

STORY 47

T,he Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there

He had to

He

put the

man whom

formed.'

Did you ever plant a garden? How exciting it is sow the seeds, then watch the little plants grow, and pluck the flowers! planted a garden it was different.

finally gather the crops or

But when God He didn't need to plant seeds. As the great Creator He could say, I want a cluster of giant redwoods here and a grove of silver birches there, and they appeared at His word. He called for a hill to be covered with pines and another with oaks, and it was so. He called for a valley to be carpeted with yellow buttercups, another with

anemones, another with sweet-smelling hyacinths, while everywhere through the meadows He summoned the little white daisies. And it was so. All the earth was beautiful then; there were no deserts or marshes or bare, rocky crags; everywhere was breath-taking loveliness. But there was one place scarlet

233

THE CHILDREN'S HOUR

234

more

God

beautiful than

planted, man's

all.

first

This was Eden, the garden

home.

first

man and the house; He planted

a

cabin or an apart-

Notice that

when God made

the

woman He didn't build them a garden. He didn't give them a log

ment with hot-and-cold water or a

first

three-story stucco

house or even a palace such as a king and queen might have expected; instead He gave them a home amid the trees and flowers. Its walls were pines and firs and oaks; Its its floors were bluebells, cowslips, and primroses.

was the great dome of heaven, while for light the sun shone by day and the moon and the stars by night. No shelter, of course, was needed in those days, for there was no rain. Instead "there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." roof

Genesis 2:6.

This

home had no bedroom,

as

we

think of bed-

rooms, only cozy, moss-covered nooks anywhere one wished to rest. Its parlor was a hillside overlooking

some

bay or a sandy, lakeside cove. Its music room was a low branch of a tree, where the songs of birds could be heard. Its larder and kitchen were the vines, bushes, and fruit trees, ever loaded with good delightful

things to eat.

No home ever built by man has been like this garden planted by God, so beautiful, so peaceful, so happy, so altogether perfect.

Now,

as

Adam

and Eve, hand

in hand, hasten here

can of all that God has given them, they come suddenly upon something so

and there

to see everything they

MAN'S FIRST

HOME

235

unusual that they stop to look at it in amazement. It is a tree the like of which they have not found anywhere garden.

else in the

covered with brilliant

Tall, graceful, magnificent, fruit.

Not

far

away they

other wonderful tree also loaded with lovely

it

is

see an-

fruit.

Just

wondering what these two trees can be, God draws near and tells them that they are now in the very center of their garden home, that one of these trees is "the tree of life" and the other "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou as they are

shalt surely die."

doubt they both wondered why God had put a And tree in their garden of which they mustn't eat. what did He mean by saying that if they should eat of What did He mean by "dying"? it they would die?

No

What was

"dying"?

wondering, they go on their way, looking for more of the treasures God had placed in the garden for them. It is still the sixth day of creation week, though late in the afternoon. How much has happened upon this Still

wonderful day! And now the sun, which has been high in the heavens, is moving toward the horizon. The heat of afternoon is giving place to the cool of evening, something that neither Adam nor Eve has ever known before. great, this

THE CHILDREN'S HOUR

236

Birds are twittering as they prepare to sleep, while

new

sounds come from the forest as the animals sense that night

is

near.

The happy

westward, behold the blazing glory of the sunset. As the red orb plunges earthward, the sky is filled with wondrous colors and a new beauty glows upon every tree and flower. Adam and Eve bow their heads in worship of their pair, gazing

Maker while God

looks

down

in delight at the

com-

pletion of His work.

"And God saw

everything that

was very good." All had turned out well.

behold,

He had made,

and,

it

All was the best that

could be.

The

earth with

precious stones,

The

its

its

and silver and grass and flowers

rich stores of gold

bright covering of

and birds and animals in all their marvelous variety. And now this man and this woman bowing in worship, recognizing their God. Again the stars sang together and all the sons of

and

God

trees.

fish

shouted for

"And, behold,

And

the sixth

joy.

was very good." day slowly faded into it

night.

STORY 48

week. to do.

I

hope

We

so.

all

It's

suppose you go to church every a good thing for boys and girls

miss something

God. But when you go

when we

don't wor-

ship

church I wonder if you ever ask yourself how "going to church" started, and who began the idea of keeping the Sabbath? You know,

many

to

week and the week before and the week before that and the week before that. You have a pretty good idea that some people at least kept it all last year and the year before that and the year before that. But how far back have people kept the Sabbath? A hundred years? Five hun-

of course, that

people kept

it

last

A

thousand years? For almost six Yes, and much longer than that. thousand years, without a break, the Sabbath has been kept by somebody or other on this old earth. Every week, without fail, someone or some group of people has worshiped God on this day.

dred years?

237

THE CHILDREN'S HOUR

238

The

fact

that

is

God

it

all

began

in that

garden

home

Adam

and Eve. Indeed, the very first Sabbath ever observed was kept by God Him^ self, together with these two wonderful creatures fresh from His creative hands. It was when the sun set on the sixth day of creation week that the first Sabbath which

planted for

of all time began.

But how did the seventh day come

to be a Sabbath,

or rest day?

The Bible says that "on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.

And God

because that in

was

God

He had

it

rested

and made." don't think this means that God

which I

and from

blessed the seventh day,

sanctified all

it:

His work

created

tired, for

God does not get tired.

rested because

He

He rested

Rather,

He had finished His work of creation. Then, too, I think He rested because He wanted to set Adam and Eve an example that He wished them and their because

children to follow.

God

But

"blessed"

To

it

not only

and

"sanctify"

"rested"

"sanctified"

means

on

this

He

day.

it.

to set apart as holy,

and

this

what God did with the seventh day. He set it apart from the other days of the week as a holy day of rest and worship.

is

exactly

How

did

God

"bless" the Sabbath day?

putting a blessing into

properly can find.

it

And

Surely by

which only those who keep it is

a fact, even after

all

it

these

2

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