Shall We Colonize Around Our Institutions
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hard work? Have you counseled with the Lord in regard to this matter?
Have you evidence that your desire for a change of location is free
from selfish motives, and would be for the honor of God?
From letters received by those connected with our institutions, and
by movements already made, we see that many desire to obtain homes
near these institutions. My mind is weighed down with perplexity
regarding this, because I have received instruction from the Lord in
regard to the influence that would be exerted upon individuals and upon
our work for our people selfishly to gather around our institutions.
For years, in warnings often repeated, I have testified to our people
that God was not pleased to see families leaving the smaller churches,
and gathering into the places where our publishing houses, sanitariums,
and schools are established, for their own convenience, ease, or worldly
profit.
In Australia, we went into the forest and secured a large tract of
land for our school. Plans were laid to sell to our brethren building lots
near the school homes and near the meetinghouse. But I was instructed
to protest against permitting families to settle near our school homes.
The counsel given was that it would be much better for families not to
live near the school, and not to live too close to one another.
Those who feel like settling close to our publishing house or our
sanitarium and school at Takoma Park, should take counsel before they
move.
To those who are looking toward Mountain View as a favorable
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place in which to live, because the Pacific Press is to be established
there, I would say: Look to other parts of the world, which need the
light that you have received in trust. Remember that God has given
to every man his work. Choose some locality where you will have
opportunity to let your light shine forth amid the moral darkness.
It is always the case that when an institution is established in a
place, there are many families who desire to settle near it. Thus it has
been in Battle Creek and in Oakland, and, to some extent, in almost
every place where we have a school or a sanitarium.
There are restless ones who, were they to go to a new place to
live, would still be dissatisfied, because the spirit of disaffection is in
their hearts, and a change of place does not bring a change of heart.
Their characters have not been refined and ennobled by the Spirit of
Christ. They need to learn the lesson of contentment. They do not