The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1893-07-06
To Labor is to Pray.
From the New York Herald.


[ work.-John S, II
The conception of God which
Christianity insists upon as>the only
correct one is both unique and start
ling. No. teacherlwho was uninspired
could possibly have given it to the
world.
Not only are we told that the Su-
preme Being illustrates the dignity
of labor in His own person, but that
He has toll compelling purpose in
view which is closely related to the
welfare of the human race. His prov
idence over human affairs is constant,
and so watchful is it that we say SIT
neither slumbers nor sleeps"
The Jehovah of the Jews is repre-
sented throughout the pages of the
Old Testament as in daily communi-
cation with the leaders of the people
He not only pities their forlorn con-
dition under the Egyptian despot but
promises sudden emancipation, fur
nishes them with the strategy of es-
cape and interferes in their behalf
when they are hard pressed.
That same idea, refined and devel-
oped, is found everywhere in the New
Testament The Monarch becomes
the Heavenly Father, and instead of
communicating through certain chos-
en- prophets He declares His willing
ness to hold communion with every
individual by means of prayer, thus
giving the humblest of His creatures
access to His presence at all times
when the emergency calls for it.
The important fact, and the one in
which most of us are interested, is
that labor is not regarded by our
religion either as degrading or as a
necessary evil; on the other hand,
it is accounted a divinely ordained
means of physical, mental and spiritu-
al development. The only requisition
which the Almighty makes is that
whatever is done shall be well and
honestly done. Every sphere of
labor, from that of the shoemaker to
that of the statesman, is important,
and should be controlled by skill and
integrity. Perhaps we might even
say that the vocations which men
look upon as humble and beneath
their notice are equally important
with those by means of which men
acquire fame and excite envy; that
it is just as important to dig post
holes so they will hold the post, OF
to lay brick with sufficient mortar
to make the structure firm and stable,
as to write poem or to preside over
nation. In illustration it is safe to
declare that the minutest cogwheel
in watch is just as much bound tc
be perfect and to do it's work thor.
oughly as is the watch spring itself
on which the value of the timepiece
apparently depends. If the spring
is weak the watch fails to its purpose
but so also it fails to its purpose, and
equally fails, if a single cog is broken
on any wheel in the entire mechanism
| What is impressed upon us is the
truth which has never been acknowl
edged except by our modern civiliza
tion-namely, that labor is honorable
and uplifting; that the indolent man
whether be is tramp or millionaire
is the only unit who can die and not
be missed !; that the classes who are
made noble by the favor of ruling
sovereign. and whose nobility con
sists chiefly of laziness, are the most
ignoble and useless folk in the world
and that in everything that goes tc
make progress the carpenter and
mason, the farmer and, mechanic are
very much their superiors.
IF we light up our imaginations
and send their rays like those of ar
electric lamp into the mysterious flu
ture we find it impossible conceive
OF heaven of Incidence. Lazy an
Egels are worth no more in the Other
fife than lazy men are in this life
Heaven is a very busy place. or IT. ISM