The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-04-26

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| ness If you can make her feel that somebody
cares for her. you have found path through
| which YOU may finally carry happiness into
her soul A mere gift may not do IL; sunshine
| and rain are gifts, and much more beautiful
| Gifts than money nnfeeltngly bestowed, But
benefit coupled with gentle pity, and offered
| in such way as to show true interest in the
sufferer, will call her back to life, and another
| Magdalene, like the first, will wash your feet
! with her tears, and wipe them with the hair Of
| Again. You are anxious to save a soul; that
soul must be the recipient of your lessons,
| your efforts, your advice; But shall receiving
| by coldly given counsels, not by brow-beat-
| Ing, but rather by unostentattous and afTec-
| tiOnate words of Christian sympathy, which
| will breathe q heart of love, and show your
| estimate of the value and preciousness of
| soul.
And last of all, what is there in Jesus of
| Nazareth and His religion that makes receiv-
| ing such a Joy? We are saved by the Cross.
| But what does that mean? Not merely that
the Jews and Romans put Christ to death, but
especially that lie was voluntary sufferer;
that He gave up His life when all the powers of
earth and heaven were at his disposal for its
defense. Out OF love He gave His life for us. In
the gentlest mood of sorrow, and in the noblest
mould of love, He linked pain with immortal
compassion. Touched by His sublime giving,
we receive His gift with abashed and humble
But lei us now turn from the blessedness of
receiving TO that of giving. Wherein does the
blessedness of giving consist, and how is it
superior to that of receiving?
We answer that the pleasure of giving does
not consist il the simple fact OF parting with
! what we have. On the contrary, If there be
| the Deart no fOunt OF goodness on whose stream
our gifts float forth To their object, the sepera-
| ton from our treasure must be painful. 1t is
like pluclSing the feathers from the living bird,
like tearing open the oyster In order to extract
| the precious pearl; like Jerking out the jewel
that hung in 'the swine ssnout, and rending the
| tough nesh." 1t is not the gver, but the
| cheerful giver who Is blessed. 1t is not he
| who shows mercy who Is happy, but he that
| "showeth mercy with cheerfulness," he that
True. giving is an act of the soul, by which it
comes into harmony with God. 1t is joyful
inr nj he oh 100 xnt N1nt har
own, which does not live unto itself, which
con1esses itselfits brothers keeper. In aword,
in action. 1t is a spring in the heart which
does not content itself with boiling and bub-
bling within its own narrow limits, but delights
to flow forth and make all without to blossom
with gladness. 1t is an Instrument OF music
whose cords, touched by the trembling finger
of sorrow, send forth strains of heavenly COM
fort 1t is feeling ready to be converted
into bread, and meat, and clothes, and frewood,
and lodging for the wretChed. 1t is a cloud,
troubled and restless until it pours its shower
| of ofretreshment upon the parched wastes of hu-
manity, 1t is the Good Shepherd, whose step
| is never so light as when his shoulder is bur-
| dened with the losC sheep which He has rescued
| from the wolf. 1t is the Good Samaritan, who
| forgets an enemy's hatred in brothers misfor-
We often hear about giving from a sense of
| duty, but If our view be correct, the bessedness
of benevOlence is far very, very far beyond
| this. The sense of duty is something stern and
| strictly just. 1t waits until want and woe
| knock at the door. When it hears the knock,
it opens the door and inquiries, with a solemn
| extent of its own bond? But Christian benevo-
| lence, instead of waiting Tor want to knock,
| knocks at the door of want, and chases away
sorrow with the smile with which it asks the
| privilege OF relieving. Is 1T not so? What has
! been the spirit of the noble philanthropists of
| the world? Was tia stern, calculating sense Of
duty that sent out John Howard and Elizabeth
and John Wesley, and Saul of Tarsus? Nay,
brethren, sense of duty can provide us feet,
but these servants OF God and humanity moved
work ed for nothing and found themselves; they
were off on the errands of love before the sense
of duty had finished doing his sums. BY the time
duty had got on his boots, and taken up his
STAFF b5d dgybg g Of ssefSrgSt boTaTy tn
set the table; and by the time duty arrived,
charity had departed, leaving a rainbow over
the door, and nothing the matter within.
Shall we now ask why giving is more blessed
than receiving? Have we not answered it? Is
not the very spirit of true giving bliss in itself
| already? It is baptism which purifes and
saturates with the very spray of the River OF
! own light-it gives without losing. 1t wins ad-
| miration and gratitude, but humbly lays its
| trophies on the altar of the Lord of all. It is a
ioy' a glory, sanctity of inner life, blossoming
with perennial beauty, and bending and break
ing with an eXhaustless fruitage.
But not only is the spirit of giving superior TO
the state of mind and heart involved in re-
| ceiving; the true giver shows his superiority to
the receiver in all the forms OF his happy
| activity. AS the stars over the clouds, so is
the giver over the receiver. If he bestow bread
the very flesh it yields is his. If he supply coal
deadly chill is his his. Ills is the roof that Keeps
| out the storm: his is the coat that blunts the
pinch of the frost. If he give safe counsel IN
trouble, his is the peace that comes back to the
heart of his neighbor. II he pick up a fallen
child in the street and tenderly sets it on its
little feet again, the grateful patter OF those feet
is music of his own making. If he draw soul
to God, its shouts, its peace, and, in some
sense, its renewed life are his In him is full,
filled the word of the wise man, "Ihere is Jha
which scattereth and yet etincreaseth." In open
ing his heart to men, he hath opened Heaven To
| himself, andall men have opened their gratetu
souls 10 MIN. what he scatters is seed; wha
| returns to him is a great harvest. The covetoui
| man is like the horse .leech, ever crying "GiVe
| giYeW This man, with reverence be it spoken
| is like God, ever entreating, Take, takep
Brethren, is 1T not blessed to give, more blessed
than to receive?
Gentlemen of the Independent Order of Ode
| Fellows:-l do not belong to your order, but
have read your rules, and have met with fire.
quent instances of the good you have done.
Manual is replete with Scripture quotations
both from the old and the New Testaments
| 1find, too that one OF your degrees goes beyond
| the mere duty of one Odd Fellow to another anC
! recognizes the universal brotherhood o
the race. With your recognition OF the Bibl'
in this book, cannot understand how any
man can honestly be q member of your orde
f without accepting the Divine authority o
| Christianity.
, Taking this view, therefore, we cannot unite
| with some who oppose you, and who oppose al
: such societies as un- or even anti-C Christian.
3 | the Constitution and laws of the United States
[ only recognized God and His word as you do,
should be content. You are, of course, not
| church, If you Were the even limited secrec c,
4 | OF your order would be inadmtssible. But VIII
q | Will deny the right of men TO unite for mutua
u security? Your society, in its beneficial as
: poets, as understand 1t, is only sort of lif
and health insurance, for your mutual supper
10 In sickness for the benefit of WidoWhOod an,
e orphanage. And 10 oppose you as unchristian