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by yourself and talked to the trees in the woods; and then when driving
the oxen, you would talk to them just as if you were in meeting. ‘This,’
you said, ‘is the way I learned to speak in public. “”—
Manuscript 91,
1903
.
Divine Aid in Speaking—The following day I was ill, and very
weak. The cold had taken a firm hold on my system. I doubted if I
should be able to speak on the morrow. However, I ventured to allow
the brethren to make an appointment for me to address the people
Sabbath forenoon. I made the Lord my entire dependence; for I knew
that unless He should be my helper, I could not speak more than a few
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words. My throat and head were greatly troubled. I was so hoarse that
I could scarcely speak aloud.
Sabbath morning I felt no better. At the appointed hour, I went
over to the chapel, and found it crowded. I feared I should fail, but
began talking. The moment I began to speak, strength was imparted.
I was relieved of hoarseness, and spoke without difficulty for nearly
an hour. My illness seemed to disappear, and my mind was clear. As
soon as I finished speaking, the hoarseness came upon me again, and I
began coughing and sneezing as before.
To me, this experience was a marked evidence of divine help.—
The
Review and Herald, July 19, 1906
.
Long Sermons by Ellen White—[
This entry as well as the next
form part of an impromptu discussion during a talk Ellen White gave
to the General Conference at Lake Goguac, Michigan, July 14, 1890.
]
Elder Underwood: “Do we preach too long?”
Ellen White: “Yes, indeed; and I, too; I take that right to myself. I
preach too long.”
W. C. White: “Let me ask a question. Are we to take your example
as an exponent of your views?”
Ellen White: “Well, didn’t I just make my confession? And haven’t
I given you an example? I consider myself an exception, but I think I
have ventured too far even in the exception. But I will tell you why I
consider myself an exception. I have been taken by my husband and
carried on the cars and laid on the seat, and I have gone to a place of
meeting and have stood under paralysis that had been upon me for
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weeks, so that I have not been able to command my language to speak
a sentence correctly. And yet I would stand on my feet before the
public and make my testimony as straight as a string. The Spirit of the