A Fire in One's Pocket.
Uncle Sam's patent office is good for many surprises. One of these was Calorit.
It looks like a can of tomato soup; and it is, but not by any means an ordinary can.
You punch a few holes in one end, and, presto! the can begins to fizz and sputter and steam precisely as if it had taken to boiling. Indeed, that is exactly what it is doing.
You leave it alone for five minutes, turn it upside down, leave it alone for five minutes more, open it as you would any other can, and pour out—perfectly cooked soup, piping hot, ready to serve!
It might have been any other kind of soup. Or, an entrée. Or coffee, cocoa, chocolate.
What's the secret? Just this. There was a layer of quicklime. Then a layer of cold water. And when you punched the tin you let out the water upon the lime. Easy enough. Why didn't I think of it?
You see how convenient it's going to be. For picnics. Or journeys. Or on bad days when a fellow doesn't want to leave his office. And so on.
Now that we have Calorit for the stomach, I want some such arrangement for my head. I am so often called upon to deliver ideas off-hand—impromptu speeches, say; or equally impromptu articles; or letters in a hurry; or to supply the place of an absent Sunday-school teacher; or unexpectedly to lead a meeting. No end of sudden demands upon my brain.
And the thoughts do come out so half-cooked! And the expression is so cold! And the result is so clammy and dish-watery!
Won't somebody tell me the secret of brain-calorit?
Instant Assets.
"Quick action" appeals to the man of to-day. "Instant" is a word that advertising is bringing into prominence. There are foods and drinks that need only hot water to be immediately available for the satisfaction of hunger or thirst. An Instant food meets a lack. But still more useful is instant religion, religion that is ready for the need, religion that does not tarry, religion that prevents remorse and does not merely arouse it after the sin has been committed. If we would be efficient Christians, our Christianity must be "instant, in season and out of season"; for a religion of victory is more satisfactory than a religion of repair.
Saying "Yes!" and Not "Ye-E-Es."
Probably in the course of my life I have been a member of-well, several hundred committees. The business of many of these committees has been to ask people to do things. Usually the things that I have had to ask people to do were things that they were not hankering to do.
I wish I had made a record from the beginning of the number of persons that have said "Yes!" heartily, and the number that have said "Ye-e-es."
Most of them did say yes after some fashion. Conscience may be depended upon, in the end. Custom counts for much. The example of others is a powerful incentive. Regard for one's reputation is a mighty spur. The committeeman gets things done usually.
But ah, what a difference in the way it gets done! What a difference between the cordial, prompt, glad assent and the grudging, hesitant, frigid agreement! The first sends the warm glow right to the very heart of the fortunate committeeman. "God bless you, dear fellow!" he says to himself, or sometimes speaks it out—with proper changes in the expression, if it is a lady. But as for the other man—the curmudgeon—we thank him summarily and get away as quickly as we can.
Now, why not do it handsomely, as long as we must, and we know that we must? The trouble probably is that at first we don't realize that we must. If we recognized acquiescence as a necessity, albeit a disagreeable necessity, we should have the sense to make it count or the most toward personal popularity, if we had no other motive in our heartiness. Why not think fast, perceive our compulsion more speedily, and get some credit out of what we cannot avoid? There would seem to be some sense in this.
But how much more sense there would be in the generous, ready spirit that leaps toward opportunities for doing good as meaner spirits leap toward opportunities for getting good! We can cultivate that spirit if we will. We can gain the "Yes" habit and put it in place of the "Ye-e-es" habit. It will be the most profitable exchange we could make, though we spent the rest of our lifetime as a member of the largest stock exchange in the country.