Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 22 (1907)
Lt 370, 1907
Kress, Brother and Sister [D. H.]
St. Helena, California
October 23, 1907
Portions of this letter are published in 2SM 197-198. +Note
Dr. and Mrs. D. H. Kress
Dear Brother and Sister Kress:
I have received and read your letter. I can perceive running through it a tone of disappointment. This makes me sad: I feel that you need to take fresh courage in the Lord. You should not allow yourselves to think that you have cause for discouragement. Strive to make the very best of the present situation. 22LtMs, Lt 370, 1907, par. 1
I will insert a paragraph here taken from a letter to one whom I thought these words would help: 22LtMs, Lt 370, 1907, par. 2
“Just now is the time when the work must be carried intelligently. I know you want to be a co-laborer with Christ. Remember that the Lord has experienced, trusted men who will act faithfully the part assigned to them. Do not give place to the thought that you are not appreciated.” 22LtMs, Lt 370, 1907, par. 3
In view of the large work that is to be done, our laborers should be willing to work for a reasonable wage. Even if you could obtain large wages, you should consider the example of Christ in coming to our world and living a life of self-denial. Just at this time it means very much what wages are demanded by the workers. If you require and receive a large wage, the door is thrown open for others to do the same. It was the demand for large wages among the workers at Battle Creek that helped to spoil the spirit of the work there. Two men led out in this movement, and they were joined by three or four others; and the result was a union in a course of action which, if followed by the majority, would have destroyed one of the characteristic features of the work of this message. The cause of present truth was founded in self-denial and self-sacrifice. This selfish, grasping spirit is entirely opposed to its principles. It is like the deadly leprosy, which in time will disease the whole body. I am afraid of it. We need to take heed lest we outgrow the simple, self-sacrificing spirit that marked our work in its early years. 22LtMs, Lt 370, 1907, par. 4
You will not find it difficult to exert a wide influence in the sanitarium at Washington. If you will act an unselfish part, not requiring the wages which you would naturally suppose you must draw, the Lord will sustain you in your work. If, on the other hand, you ask for a high wage, another, and still another, will think that they have a right to demand just as high a wage as you; and by this means the money will be used that should be expended in building up the work of the cause of present truth in other places. 22LtMs, Lt 370, 1907, par. 5
In making important decisions, we should study every side of the question. We are ever to remember that we are given a place in the work to act as responsible agencies. Some would follow a worldly fashion in the drawing of their salaries; but the Lord does not view matters as these men view them. He views our duties and responsibilities in the light of Christ’s self-denying example. The gospel must be so presented to the world that percept and example will harmonize. 22LtMs, Lt 370, 1907, par. 6
Our sanitariums are not to be conducted after the customs of the world. It is not to be considered necessary that even the medical superintendent shall draw a large salary. We are the servants of God. 22LtMs, Lt 370, 1907, par. 7
“God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body; for we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” [2 Corinthians 4:6-11.] 22LtMs, Lt 370, 1907, par. 8