The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1893-08-31

watch with MIN While with anguish OF
soul he prayed in the garden. They all
forsook him in the hour Of his supreme
trial, and yet he died for them. And on
his return after tho resurrection not
single rebuke, only new joy, only as
surance, only love.
Such was the love of Christ. It is
commanded that we shall love men thus
In vital ways; that we shall not love
them merely in sentimental ways. We
shall love one another thus in our busi-
ness relations, in our social relations, in
our political relations.
INHUMAN1rY OF SIN.
On what was this divine love based2
On the intrinsic divinity and nobility of
human life, that it belongs to God, is the
utterance of Gods life and is in that
sense an incarnation of the divine. Ev-
erything that is not pure and noble is
essentially inhuman. It belongs to the
lower nature, to the soil. Jesus Christ
saw in the vilest Of the vile this element
of the divine. Hence the love which en-
wrapped his soul and was the main
spring Of his mission. He loved the thief
on the cross not for what the thief was,
but for what the aspiration Of his soul
declared him to be capable of. Not for
what he had attained, but for what he
might attain. Not for his actual char
acter, but for the image of God, in whose
form he was fashioned.
THE WEAK.
So we are commanded to love the
weak, and the criminal, and the helpless,
and the improvident, and the despair
ing; so we are TO bear their burdens in
a boundless love that shall include the
race; so we should love with mothers
undying hope. And, if humanity cam
not reach this ideal human life must be-
come starless, orphaned one. The ca
pacity of the heart is the measure Of the
depth Of human need. The object may
be all unworthy, but love loves on. So
Jesus loved the unworthy. So he min
istered unto them. So he lived for them
and died for them.
THE POOR ALWAYS WITH US.
It is this principle that must solve the
| problem of the poor, who will always BE
with us. 1t is this divine aspect of love
that makes life as worthy as we find it
today even in the midst Of sin and Of
shame and Of sorrow. Bill Sykes could
slay the woman who had given every
thing for him, and yet while he slays
| her, whilehe brutally beats her from day
| to day, she crawls back to his den, faith
| full to that higher, to that holier instinct,
which calls in love for sacrifce-sacri-
flee at all hazards. Love suffereth long
and is kind because Of the greatness Of
| the heart.
If we could only infuse this great
thought into the heart of the race, the
| problem is solved A mother recently
| petitioned the governor of q state for the
| pardon of q boy. The boy was guilty of
| the crime for which he was serving the
sentence. It was q case of most aggra-
waiting circumstances. But the mother
was so persistent in her appeals, so elo-
quent in her expressions of love, that her
indescribable devotion so moved the
heart of the governor that he wrote out
the pardon for the boy. And when the
boy came into his presence ho said to
him: "Young man, you do not deserve
the pardon. Your crime is without ex.
cuse. But for the sake Of this mother and
for the matchless love she bears for you,
and the possibility of that love working
your salvation, give to you this par.
don."
A DRUNKEN MOTHER.
Such love is the power unto salvation
both for the individual and for society
A mother was arraigned in a police
court charged with drunkenness. She
was guilty. The judge fined her So, in
default of which she was to go to the
island. A little ragged urchin stood by
and heard the sentence. He cried to the
Judge, "Wait a minute, judge, I'll gel
the money" He rushed out to all the
places of business where he was known
He seen red from all his friends all thu
none possible. He told them of hi
mothers difficulty; that she was to e.
to the island. He secured $685. HI
came back and poured the money out OF
the judges desk and then said bravely
to him, cts all could get now, judge
but If you will send me to the island fol
her Pm not SO large, but I'll stay longel
and work out the balance"
The poor woman, overwhelmed by thi
evidence of her child's devotion, rose anC
natched him to her heart, while sh,
cried between her sobs and tears tina;
she would be a better woman from tina
day for the boys sake. The judge re
mitted the fine, and from that hour sh,
was a changed woman.
A child's passionate love for mothei
had lifted her from the ditch.
Love is the fulfillment of the law.
is the power that fulflls its negations, III
positive commands. 1t is the power this
opens the new heaven to humanity, Will
its divine possibilities. So we must low,
as Christ loved And if we are to solvt
the great and solemn problems that con
front humanity today we are to solv'
them in learning the lessons Of Jesus
Only those who strive to fulfill his com
mand are Christ's children. That nation
is only real Christian nation that as
pires to fulfill it and that will never rest
content until the struggle for fulfllment
has taken shape in incarnated life.
Until the church shall learn this deeI
lesson of fraternity-of love for the race
there must grow up outside tho walls
of the church o larger church. Such 9
church is growing today, and its basis
is the love of man and the service Of
man. They do not call themselves mem
bers of the church, but from many OF
them fear we must learn some of the
deepest lessons of true Christianity. As
| the CITY must increase its corporate linn