Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Lt 111, 1903

Magan, P. T.

“Elmshaven,” St. Helena, California

June 16, 1903

Portions of this letter are published in CS 278; 6MR 106-109.

Dear brother Magan,—

I have been made very sad by hearing from Sister Druillard of your wife’s sickness. I have been feeling anxious about you and Brother Sutherland. I have been trying to get an opportunity to write to you, but I would no sooner get a page written than something else would come up that demanded my attention. Several times I have written a page or two and then have had to stop. I will try to find these pages and will have them copied and sent to you. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 1

After hearing of the affliction that has come to you in your home, I felt that I must write to you, even if I had to leave other things undone. I am sincerely sorry that your wife has been so troubled by the reports that she has heard. I wish to tell her and you that I am not two-sided. I have said nothing to any one in disparagement of you or of Brother Sutherland. The fear I have had for you is that you would take too many burdens. You must have special help if you do the work that you have outlined for yourself. You desire to do more than your physical strength will justify you in doing. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 2

This is the fear that I have had for you both—that you will not realize how much you both need help to carry on the work resting so heavily on you. I feared that you would fail if you tried to carry the many burdens that you were preparing to carry. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 3

The Lord has given us our work to do. He will hold us responsible if we permit ourselves to be so heavily drawn upon by different enterprises, that the work which He has given us to do for perishing souls is made a matter of secondary importance. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 4

I pray that God will give Sister Magan special help, and that she will not worry any longer. She need not entertain the thought that Sister White is working or will work against Brother Magan. I have never given any one reason to say this. I feel deeply grieved that reports that grieve and wound souls should be carried by those who claim to believe the truth. What an amount of mischief the unruly tongue can frame out of nothing. How much harm can be done by those who try to make things appear in the worst light! I have not lost confidence in Brother Magan or Brother Sutherland. Their names are often mentioned by me in private prayer and at our seasons of family worship. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 5

My fear for them has been that they would gather so many responsibilities to themselves that in the work they are planning to do they would exhaust their vital energies and rob themselves of their power to stand as men of capability and influence. They must have a larger number of faithful helpers. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 6

I shall pray most earnestly that the Lord will give light and grace and saving power to Sister Magan, that she may be restored to health. The Lord bids her look to Him for strength. I shall pray, too, that God will strengthen Brother Magan. I have often expressed my fear that the burden was resting too heavily upon him and Brother Sutherland. I am sure that it is. My brethren, consider carefully the work that you and others have decided must be done at Berrien Springs. Then say firmly that you cannot be weighed down by an accumulation of cares and burdens. I do not want you to think that you must carry forward certain lines of work, such as the sale of Education unless you can have facilities and helpers that will enable you to do this without becoming worn out. I want you to live and to be in good health, and I cannot consent that my interests shall be a worry or a burden to you. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 7

I do not worry and will not worry about myself. I have done my duty and in doing it have incurred debts. My place has brought me in nothing as yet; in fact, it has been some loss. We sold our last year’s prune crop to a young man, a neighbor of ours. He bought largely from other prune orchards and got more on his hands than he could manage. Then, too, the weather was very unfavorable for his drying operations, and he lost heavily. Of course, his creditors lost with him, and I among the rest. My loss was about five hundred dollars. But I would not say anything to add to the young man’s affliction. He took so much on himself that he could neither do justice to himself nor his neighbors. He made a mistake that meant great loss to himself, and I felt very sorry for him. I mention this to show you that I believe in making the best of a bad case. It is not right to discourage one who has been unfortunate. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 8

The rain came early last year, and tons of my grapes rotted on the vines. These losses came at a time when I needed money very much. But I made no complaint; for this would not have helped the matter at all. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 9

Thus disappointment after disappointment has come to us. This year we have no apples or peaches on our place, and very few cherries. But we have much to be thankful for. The loganberry bushes are doing well. We had a few strawberries, and on the land that I hire from the Sanitarium there was a very heavy crop of oats, which we shall use as winter feed for our horses and cows. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 10

We shall not have nearly so many prunes this year as we had last, but they will be larger and will bring a good price. I am thankful to the Lord for every favor that I receive from His hand. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 11

I have always had the very tenderest feelings for you, my brother. I have ever regarded you as the Lord’s workman, and my only fear for you now is that in your intense effort to make a success of the sale of Education, you will disqualify yourself physically for the lines of work that the school demands of you. I want you to be successful in the work of your school—or rather, in the work of the Lord’s school; for in the Berrien Springs School, God desires to fit young men and young women to accomplish a precious work for Him. He desires you to co-operate with Him in giving the right mold to the work of the school. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 12

I have expressed myself in a crude way, but I hope that you will understand me. If you suppose that I am taking sides against you, my brethren, you are making a mistake. I am intensely interested in the school problem with which you are wrestling. I want your work to be a success. I will do anything in my power to help forward this work. I will help, by counsels and appeals, to encourage our people to carry forward the work of selling Object Lessons as it has been carried in the past. The work that has been and is being done to circulate this book is missionary work that the Lord has laid out to be accomplished. About the importance of this work we have no question. Many souls have been brought into the truth through reading Object Lessons. The plan that has been followed for its circulation bears the signal approval of God. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 13

I beg of you not to be in any way disheartened. When you hear reports that I have changed my attitude toward you, will you not be frank enough to ask me whether I have? 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 14

If it is best for you and Brother Sutherland to come apart and rest awhile, I hope that you will do so. Brother Magan, you have a family, and you should give your wife and children time and attention. You should take time to rest. I entreat you to do this. Do not ruin your health. Stop before you reach the breaking point. Tell your wife that the Lord has a tender care for her. Tell her that He desires her to be of good courage in the Lord. She must rely on Him. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 15

To Every Man His Work

You cannot have understood the words that I spoke in the Pacific Press Chapel. They were spoken to guard you from the danger of taking too much responsibility. I desired to keep you from loading yourself down with so many burdens that the strain upon you would be greater than you could bear. What I wished to impress upon you was the thought that in your school work you are to unite and combine with other minds, that you may have sufficient workers to carry the work forward symmetrically. Every part of the work is to stand our clear and distinct in its own individuality. One man is not to be expected to have exactly the same train of thought that another man has. One may have tact and ability that the other does not possess. The Lord will prepare workers to fit into their lot and place; for each one has his work. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 16

You are in danger of looking unfavorably upon some whom the Lord desires to unite with you for fear that they will counterwork your work. Varied gifts must be brought in. You need these gifts in the work that you are doing. In the building of the tabernacle, different lines of work were assigned to different ones. But all labored under the supervision of God. The Lord gives men talents that will enable them to carry forward special lines of work. Each one is to be allowed to do the special work for which he is fitted. Then part will fit perfectly to part. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 17

Give other men a chance to get hold with you. Let each be a help to the other. Hold up one another’s hands. You cannot expect that all will work in exactly the same way in which you work. It is the Lord’s plan that there shall be unity in diversity. There is no man who can be a criterion for all other men. Our varied trusts are proportioned to our varied capabilities. I have been distinctly instructed that God endows men with different degrees of capability and then places them where they can do the work for which they are fitted. Each worker is to give his fellow workers the respect that he wishes to have shown to himself. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 18

Of all the leaves upon a tree, there are no two precisely alike. And the Lord does not expect that His workers shall be exactly alike in their skill or in their manner of working. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 19

There are those who think that it is only to a certain few that talents have been given and that these few are to be distinguished above their fellows. This is not so. Every member of the church of Christ is the possessor of some special gift. Every one has been given wisdom and tact which fit him to perform some special work. There is a place for every one, a post of duty for every soldier in the Lord’s army. All have been entrusted with the goods of heaven. Some have one class of goods and some another. For one to belittle the work and talents of another is to dishonor God. Let the Lord place His own estimate upon the talents entrusted and upon the use made of them. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 20

We are all to be united in Christ, and we are ever to be ready to make the improvement that the Lord, through His different agencies, may tell us we should make. The Lord desires His workers to make constant improvement. He desires them to work in perfect unity, helping one another. As our talents are diligently traded upon, they will multiply. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 21

Every gift that the Lord has entrusted to us is to be valued and used. The smallest gift is not to be overlooked. The Lord gives to every man according to his several ability to use the gift bestowed. Each should be encouraged to use his gift. The least talented may enlarge his capabilities by doing his best. The church of Christ is made up of vessels large and small. The Lord can use the smallest gift to advance His cause, if the possessor has faith in Him. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 22

The workers brought together in the providence of God may have traits of character that differ widely. Yet their gifts may be just what God needs to mold and fashion the minds with which they are brought in contact. They are to labor in harmony, however different they may be. The Lord looks from heaven and sees that in His work on this earth a variety of gifts is needed. The church is a garden, adorned with different trees and plants and flowers. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 23

I have to write this over and over again to the very best of workers in our cause. Do not misunderstand God’s plan or disappoint His purposes. There is danger that grave mistakes will be made by putting aside the very men that the Lord has prepared to act a part in educating and training the youth. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 24

God does not expect any man to use talents that He has not given him. He expects His workers to use their talents in union with one another. No one is to think that his work is to be carried forward in a stereotyped, precise way, little details being carried out in a way that is approved by one man or two men or three men. Give your students room to work with the greatest Teacher the world has ever known. He is a true educator. As members of God’s family, we are to give one another room to work. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 25

When God gives a man a special work to do, he is to stand in his lot and place as did Daniel, ready to answer the call of God, ready to fulfil His purpose. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 26

Let us all do our best. Let us learn from one another; and above all, let us go often to the great Teacher; for He has pledged His word that He will give divine wisdom to those that ask in faith. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 27

The commission that Christ gave to His disciples just before His ascension is given to us also. “Go ye therefore,” He said, “and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” [Matthew 28:19, 20.] 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 28

Oh, if those who claim to be the followers of Christ would fulfil this commission, what a great work might be done! We are glad that on every side, in fields close at hand and in the regions beyond, there are openings for missionary workers. But there are many who please the enemy by exerting their influence to keep matters in confusion among themselves. The love of the truth is not cherished in their hearts. They are not sanctified by its power. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 29

Brother Magan, whenever in the future any one shall say to you, “I will lend Sister White some money,” ask them if they will not lend it to her without interest. It is right to borrow money to carry forward a work that we know God desires to have accomplished. We should not wait in inconvenience, and make the work much harder, because we do not wish to borrow money. Mistakes have been made in incurring debt to do that which could well have waited till a future time. But there is danger of going to the other extreme. We are not to place ourselves in a position that will endanger health and make our work wearing. We are to act sensibly. We must do the work that needs to be done, even if we have to borrow money and pay interest. 18LtMs, Lt 111, 1903, par. 30