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The Commoner.
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THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Neb,
must possess himself of this substance if ho
would be strong; faith is "the evidence of things
not seen," and man must havo this evidence if
ho would fight life's battles witlu courage and
success. One can not tell what ho can do until
10 tries; and ho does not try unless ho has
faith. The great things of the world havo been
accomplished by men and women who had faith
enough to attempt tho seemingly impossible
and trusted to God to open tho way.
Tho faith of Abraham established a system
of religion and as a result of that faith more
than four hundred millions, of people are now
worshippers of the one God; the faith of the
apostles brought Christ's words and life beforo
the world; tho faith of the martyrs gave wings
to tho religion for which they died. Faith, in
spiring an unselfish heart a heart yearning to
do some great good, will be found back of
every movement started for man's uplifting.
Faith in tho triumph of truth, because it is
truth, has ever been an unfailing source of cour
age and power. Faith leads us to trust the
omnipotence of tho Ruler pf the Universe, and
tp,put God's promises to the test.
Faith, is a heart virtue; doubts of tho mind
wftl not disturb us if there is faith in the heart:
"Lord I believer help thou mine unbelief."
, Faith is as necessary to the heart of tho in
dividual as it is necessary to world-wide peace.
What can equal the consolation that comes from
reliance upon the care of Him who gives beauty
to the lily, food to the fowls of the air, and
direction to all?
"He, who from zone to zone,
Guides from tho boundless sky thy certain
flight,
. In the long way that I miiBt tread alono
Will' lead my steps aright."
Ninth Example, the means of propogatlng
truth.
"Let your light so shine beforo men, that they
may see your good works and glorify your
Father which is In Heaven."
What bloodshed might have' been avoided;
what slaughter might have been prevented, if
all who boro the namo of Christian had been
willing to trust to the life for the evangelization
of tho world, instead of resorting to tho sword!
It is a slow process, this winning of converts
by example but it is the sure way it is Christ's
way. A speech may be disputed; even a ser
mon may not convince, but no one has yet lived
who could answer a' Christian life; it Is the un
answerable argument in support of the Chris
tian religion.
It Is difficult, at best, to present a theory to
the mind of another without some concrete illustration-of
the theory. Religion Is, therefore, the
The Commoner.
easiest of all subjects to Illustrate because it
can be illustrated by a" life, and life is the only
valid illustration of it. No amount of explana
tion can excuse a life that contradicts the pro
fession. A religious truth is also the easiest
ono to teBt; it only needs to be lived. O
tasto and seo that the Lord is good;" "Come
unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly
in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
There is no possible excuse for a religious quar
rel; each one lives his religion and tho world
will decide which is best.
But while Christians are in duty bound to
perfect themselves as far as possible and as
fast as possible for their own happiness as
well as because their obligation to God and to
others requires it it is not rair to charge up
against Christianity every fault that may ap
pear in the lives of Christians. Christ is the
light, but when that light shines through His
followers it shines through clouded glass. As
tho white flame in a lantern may look blue or
yellow or red according to the color of the
globo which surrounds it, so the pure light
which shines from the Christian may be so
discolored by his faults as to make Christianity
appear gloomy or sordid, or oven dangerous.
Christianity should bo held responsible, not for
the human imperfections which it has not yet
cured, but only for such imperfections as nat
urally and logically follow from an acceptance
of it and there are none.
It is a' tribute to our religion that its critics
take Christianity as the standard and measure
Christians by that standard, finding fault with
them because they do not live up to tho stand
ard; fanlt can not be found with the standard
itself.
Tho progress of Christianity is retarded by
the fact that some of those who- go from Chris
tian to non-Christian countries show a con
tempt for the Christian virtues. As the natives
usually describe as Christians all who come
from the Christian countries, the church is held
responsible for the shortcomings of unbelievers
as well as for the faults of professing Chris
tians, While the church ought not to have to
bear this burden, the fact that it does have to
bear it should make Christians even more
anxious to reach those outside the church and
to throw helpful influences about those who are
temporarily sojourning in foreign lands.
Christian progress is also greatly hindered
by the fact that the Christian nations, acting
through their governments, do things inconsis
tent with Christ's teachings. While perfection
should not be expected in a government, any
more than in an individuals even less, since
governments reflect not the highest sentiment
in the land but rather the average sentiment
still Christians should deeply feel their respon
sibility and exert themselves to the uttermost
to purge their governments of impurity and in
justice. On tho other hand, it is not logical to set up,
as an example, a moral man outside of the
church. W must inquiro from what source
he derives his morality. Is it from Christian
parents? Then why deny to the church the
credit due for giving a1 man, in his youth, a
moral momentum which still carries him for
ward? Does he derive his morality from the
religious atmosphere about him? Then why
deny to the church credit for creating the at
mosphere? The immoral church member who borrows
his habits from the outside world, and the
moral man outside the church who borrows his
virtues from the church, are stumbling blocks
only because their inconsistencies are not clear
ly understood, by the unconverted.
Materialism has no morality of its own; It
la a parasite which fastens itself upon the liv
ing tree of Christianity. It has no trunk; It
has no power to send its roots down into tho
ground and grow upon Its own merits. Its
tendency is to destroy not to create. A society
fashioned according to its plans would be neither
elevated nor lasting; in proportion as material
Ism is. embodied in life it robs life of both use
fulness and happiness, while Christianity grows
and will grow because the more perfect its
embodiment in the life the more attractive and
forceful it becomes.
If It were Impossible to secure ministers to
preach the gospel to those who sit in darkness;
If It were impossible to secure teachers to in
struct them, or physicians to heal in the name
of the Master, It would still be worth while to
send Christians abroad to live among the non
Christian people and to demonstrate that the
VOLUME 10, NUMBER 3a
Christian conception of life can make of a
human beingr a living spring;, pouring forth con
stantly of that which Refreshes, invigorates, and
uplifts.
Tenth Service the measure of greatness
"Whosoever of you will be the chief est, shall
be tho servant of cV
Sorvico is the measure of greatness, it al
ways has been true; It is true today; it always
will be true that he is the greatest who does
the most of good. Read the inscriptions upon
the monuments reared by grateful hands to
those whom the world calls great; they record
not what the dead have received, but what they
have given to the world, and prove that it is
in truth, "more blessed to give than to re
ceive." And how this old earth will be transformed
when this measure of greatness is the measure
of every life! We have had our conflicts, be
cause we have neen trying to see how much we
could get from each other; there will be peace
when we are trying to see how much we can
do for each other. We have had our combats
because we have been trying to see how much
we could get out of the world; there will be
peace when we are trying to see how much wo
can put into the world. The human measure
of a human life is its income; the divine meas
ure of a human life is its outgo its overflow
its contribution to the welfare of the world.
Christianity is not the doctrine of the weak
ling; it does not enervate. One can be as stren
uous in helpful service as in doing evil; the
very highest ambition may find Its gratification
in doing good. Strength and courage any
amount of both can be actively and continu
ously employed in lifting up; they need not
be expended in beating down. It requires both
strength and courage to stand against tempta
tion; ono must have both to stand for the right
against the wrong, especially when, men "revii?
you and persecute you and say all manner of
evil against you falsely." And we must not
forget that there is as much inspiration in a
noble life as in an heoric death.
Christ's conception of life was a revolution
ary one; it will revolutionize an individual, it
will revolutionize a community, a' nation, or a
world. Let one understand that hi success
is to be measured (and Is not tils', happiness
also?) by his service to' society and life takes
on a new meaning. He must now prepare him
self for efficient work; he must strengthen his
body to endure fatigue, and he must avoid the
indulgences which would dissipate his strength;
he is ashamed to tender a physical wreck for
his Master's service. He must train his mind
to act quickly no dull undisciplined brain is
fit for the work which he desires to do. He
must analyze his motives, scrutinize his pur
poses and bring his ideals into harmony with
those of the Perfect Model. In Christ's meas
ure of greatness may be found an explanation
of Christian civilization and an assurance that
fidelity to His teaching will result in material
prosperity and intellectual progress as well as
in spiritual growth. ,
Eleventh Do unto others as you would have
others do unto you, the golden rule of action.
Christ declared this to be the "law and the
prophets." It is a detail of the general plan;
it gives specific instructions as to method. We
are not left in doubt as to how we can prove
our love or manifest the spirit of brotherhood;
we are not only told what to do, but we aro
told how to do it. It will be noticed that the
golden rule of Christ commands that we should
be positively helpful, while Confucius, in his
golden rule, "do not unto others as you would
not have others do unto you," enjoins upon his
followers only negative harmlessness. There is
a vast gulf between these two rules.
It is not sufficient that we abstain from
wrong doing; we must do good. It is difficult
to measure the woe which injustice has brought
mankind or to estimate the benefit to be de
rived from the establishment of universal jus
tice; but the world needs something better than
justice. The earth would be a cold and cheer
less place In which to live if there were nothing
warmer here than justice. We need sympathy;
we need generosity; we need that helpfulness
which benevolence alone Inspires. Many in
juries come to man that can be traced to his
own mistakes to his own negligence or ignor
ance; but we can not coldly turn away from
him we can not leave him to suffer, merely
because he may deserve It. We must help him
first arid advise him afterwards. Even npon
the battle-field the wounded are spared and
many a life has been saved by kindness shown
by tho enemy.
Christianity Is not an abstraction It Is
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