IJ TIT ")"7 irjR7irn.S-IT
The Commoner
NOVEMBER, 1916
19
they owed tlieir good fortune, but in time this
benefactor, too, would bo remembered in story
and in statue. - ' .
This illustration presents the lesson to bo
conveyed in this address upon The Larger Lire.
Long before tho coming of Christ man had
become acquainted with all tho pleasures that
the body can give; the physical man had been
cultivated to the full and mado to yield its all
to tho race.
Even the mind had beqn explored and its
more extended field had been brought into use.
Art, literature, oratory, poetry, the rich fruitage
of the ages these were man's possessions. But
Jesus revealed to man spiritual values, of which
the world had been unconscious; He made an
infinite addition to man's real wealth.
Ho did not come to subtract from anything
that man know or possessed; He did not come
to withdraw a single good that could be em
bodied in a life. His mission was to give and to
enlarge.
Paul, in speaking of Him, said that He came
"to bring life and immortality to life"; and
Christ himself, in defining His mission, declared,
"I am come that they might have life and have
it more abundantly." Here wo have the testi
mony not .only of the greatest apostle but of tho
Saviour himself, that life was to be enriched by
His presence, His promises and His teachings.
The additions which Christ makes to the life
are three-fold. First, He improves the quality
of that which man had before enjoyed. Tho
body is the better and the stronger for being
subjected to m6ral discipline. The temptations
which come With the body will, when yielded
to, impair its strength and shorten existence.
The physical energies are purific d, and thus pro
longed, when tho body is obedient to spiritual
control and 'brought into harmony with spiritual
laws.
The mind, 'likewise, is lifted to a higher plane
and employed in a much larger work when it
has spiritual direction. The mind, like the body,
is an agent, not a master. Both are excellent
servants, but neither is fit to occupy tne throne.
The mind has temptations of its own and it has
not strength within itself sufficient to enable" It
to resist. thede temptations. "'
Christ not only raises the quality of life by" '
putting the mind and the body under the con- .
trol of the spirit, but he enlarges the life by .
supplying a spiritual vision. The possibilities of
life are viewed with the eye of faith rather than
through the eye of reason. Man walks very
slowly if he must think out the result of each
step before he takes it. He can not "be far
sighted if he sees no farther than the reason
points upon the1 way. The large deeds of life
are the result of faith. It is useless to discuss
which is the more important, faith or works,
because there would be no works of, real value
without faith. Faith comes first; works follow.
The undertakings which have lifted men into
history were undertakings which were spiritu
ally discerned and only possible to those who
trust.
Joseph's -career illustrates the value of faith.
Reason failed when he was imprispned for vir
tue's sake; it was faith that enabled lilm to walk
through the dungeon to a seat by the side of
Pharoah. , . .,
Christ has revealed to man the permanent
things, tho things that defy the grave.
Wo spend a great deal of time on the body.
It shames us to cast up the account and find
out how much we spend for its food, its cloth
ing, its shelter, its comfort. And all the time
we know that this body must return to the dust
from whence it came.
We have no assurance that the strength which
the gymnasium gives us or any perfection of
form or feature can be carried into the next
world. I believe in the resurrection of the body.
It is no more difficult to believe that the spirit
can clothe itself in a body suitable to its new
existence tban it is -to believe that the germ of
life in a grain of Wheat can renew the body in
which it lived. -I do not know just what kind
of a body I shall have in the next world. Ac
cording to the scientists I have had eight bodies
already; an infant's body; a boy's bbdy; a young
man's body, and so on, for- they say the body
is renewed -every seven years. I do not know
which one of these numerous bodies I shall have
in tho next world, and I do not care. The God
who made 'thiaworld; aTML.arranged.it for man's
benefit . can. be trusted' toanake the' next worja,
and I anr.conterit to use', in the Jand. 'beyond tho
sides, whatever body Ho sees fit to give me. But,
I repeat, wo have no assurance anywhere that
physical strength or physical perfection can bo
carried with us beyond this life.
And so with tho mind, we spend a great deal
of time upon it. Wo train it; we educate it; wo
store it with information, but wo do not know
how much of this intellectual accumulation wo
can uso in tho world beyond. Wo commence to
learn as soon as we can talk. Wo go through
tho grades of tho common school, tho high
school and tho college. Wo study history and
literature, science and poetry; we learn a great
deal about people and about passing events
which will surely bo of little value to us be
yond. It is a consolation to know that there is that
which is not mortal. We become more and moro
interested in tho permanent things as wo grow
older. As wo feel the strength of the body de
clining and as lethargy creeps over tho mind wo
yearn to attach ourselves to something that
will remain when we are gone. This is why
people In their latter years look about for en
terprises which they can help; for institutions
about which their memories can entwine, and
movements which will carry their thought, their
purpose and their benovolenco into succeeding
generations.
If you will turn to the Parable of tho Tares,
you will find that Christ, in interpreting it, gave
an assurance that is moro appreciated with tho
years: "Then shall the righteous shine forth as
the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Tho
promise is not to physical beauty or mental
strength; it is righteousness that will shine in
the land beyond, and it will shine, not as a
comet, or meteor; nor as a moon or even as a
fixed star, but as tho SUN.
If Christ had come offering something in ex
change for what man had, it might havo been
necessary to weigh one against tho other, but,
when He came to add that which is beyond price
and to take nothing away, who can afford to re
ject His offer? He knocks at the door of each
home; Ho waits to bestow upon all who will
receivo It tho larger life.
(From The Larger Life.)
IDEALS
Hi,
4" t'
THE VALUE OF AN IDEAL
What is the value of an ideal? Havo you
ever attempted to estimate its worth? Have
you ever tried to measure its value in dollars
and cents? If you would know the pecuniary
value of an ideal, go into the home of some man
of great wealth who has an only son; go into
that home when tho son has gone downward in
a path of dissipation until the father no longer
hopes for his reform, and then ask the father
what an Ideal would have been worth that would
have made a man out of his son instead of a
wreck. He will toll you that all the money that
he has or could have, he would gladly give for
an ideal of life that would turn Ills boy's steps
upward instead of downward.
An ideal is above prico. It means the differ
ence between sucdess and. failure the difference
between a noblo life and a disgraceful career,
and it sometimes means the difference between
'life and death.
(From a lecture on The Value of an Ideal.)
THE CHANGE IN TOLSTOY'S IDEALS
A few months ago it was my good fortune to
spend a day in the. country home of the great
philosopher of Russia. You know something of
the history of Tolstoy, how he was born in the
ranks of the nobility and how with such a birth
he enjoyed every possible social distinction. At
an early age he became a writer of fiction and
his books have given him a fixed place among
the novelists of the century. "He sounded all
the depths and shoals of honor" in so fan as
honor could be derived from society or from lit
erature, and yet, at the age of forty-eight life
seemed so vain and empty to him that ho
wanted to die. They showed me a ring in the
ceiling of a room in his house from which he
had planned to hang himself. And what de
terred him? A change came in his ideal. Ho
waslborn again; he became, a-new creature, and
formore than twenty-eight-years, .clad JnHio
garb of a peasant and living "the simple life 'ot
a peasant, ho has been preaching unto all tho
world a philosophy that rests upon tho doc
trlno "Thou shalt lovo tho Lord thy God with,
all thy heart and thy neighbor as thyself."4
There is scarcely a civilized community In all
the world where tho namo of Tolstoy is not
known and whore his iufluonco has not been felt.
Ho has made such an impression upon the heart
of Russia and tho world that whllo somo of his
books aro refused publication In Russia and
denied Importation from abroad, and whllo
people aro prohibited from circulating somo of
tho things that ho writes, yotwith a million
men under arms the government does not lay
Its hands upon Tolstoy.
(From The Value of an Ideal.)
THE LAWYER'S IDEAL
When a lawyer has holped his client to obtain
all that his client is entitled to, ho has done his
full duty as a lawyer, and if ho goes beyond this,
ho goes at his owi peril. Show mo a lawyor
who has spent a lifetime trying to obneuro tho
lino between right and wrong, trying to prove
that to be just which ho knew to bo unjust, and
I will show you a man who has grown weaker
in character year by year, and whoso advico, at
last, will be of no value to his clients, for ho will
havo lost tho power to discern between right
and wrong. Show me, on the other hand, a law
yer who has spent a lifetime In tho search for
truth, determined to follow whore it leads, and I
will show you a man who has grown stronger in
character day by day and whoso advico con
stantly becomes ra&ro valuablo to his client, be
causo tho power to discern tho truth Increases
with the honest search for it.
A JOURNALISTIC IDEAL
I present to you a different and I beliovc
higher ideal of journalism. If we aro going,
to make any progress in morals wo musl
abandon the idea that morals are defined by the
statutes; we must recognlzo that there Is a wide
margin between that which tho law prohibit!
and that which an enlightened conscience can
approve. We do not legislate against the man
who uses the editorial pago for tho purpose ol
deception but, viewed from the standpoint ot
morals, the man who, whether voluntarily 01
under instructions, writes what he knows to be
untrue or purposely misleads his readers as tc
the character of a proposition upon which thej
have to act, Is as guilty of wrong-doing as the
man who assists in any other swindling trans
action.
PULPIT IDEALS
We need more Elijahs in the pulpit today
more men who will dare to upbraid an Ahab
and defy a Jezebel. It is possible, aye, probable,
that even now, as of old, persecution would fol
low such boldness of spedch, but he who copse
crates himself to religion must smite evil where
he finds it, although in smitlng-lt he may risk
his salary and his social position. It is cawy
enough to denounce the petty thief and the back
alley gambler; it is easy enough to condemn tlfa
friendless .rogue and the penniless wrong-doer,
but what about the rich tax-dodger, the big law
breaker and tho corrupter of government? THE
SOUL THAT IS WARMED BY DIVINE FIRE
WILL BE SATISFIED WITH NOTHING LESS
THAN THE COMPLETE PERFORMANCE OF
DUTY; it must cry aloud and spare
not, to the end that the creed of the Christ may
be exemplified in the life of the nation.
(From The Price of a Soul.)
" MISCELLANEOUS
..r
EDUCATION v
. Universal education is our national a'm an
open- school door before every child born in the
land, and ail -encouraged to make the largest
possible use of the. opportunities furnished.
(From Speech on Education.)
. WcwLO.Thsn Iho Loss of. an Arm
.In thi8ja.t)f increasing education the father
. -f.cjm .denies .lo 'his aon the- advantage cf the
't Sohpbls;-aniJ --inds .h'm aut;-,half educated to'
! -"'compete ".with theboyo well -educated, "Ts wra
' '