The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1895-12-26

the temple, but only that thew sdi do issof
love mercy, and walk humblV }hu nsy,
God" Mother Mary loved ~ petor
poets OF her people, and she ouotsd
her eagerly listening boy the s,vo y
hymns that say: "The Lord sweet
ohepnerd l shall not want He leada ay
me beside the still waters" Or. e.SS man
earth is the Lords and tSe
tha1 SIS Thereon, the world anu md
"The law of the Lord is perfect again,
yerting the SOUL The statutes of r1n-
Lord are right, enlightening the ov .ne
more TO be desired are thew thar eyesi
sweeter also than honey in the beeuu,
comb Or, some times wbess
she, was not tired. She w wnSa
read to him from the old d %oua
OF Job, written by some great Hehra~r
shakespeare, of the steadfast hero VIM
though smitten, fallen and bereft. beIS
fast to his integrity and would NOT nr rau
fame the thought of his God. Or 1T p nv
time. would Mother Mary tell her darl;nuu
the fairy stories of her people-the beaps'
tiful legends of the creation, the Ada,r
and Eve story, the deluge story. the storu
of little Joseph and his shining coat ns
little Moses and his ark of bulrmsboUsi
and of all the great wanderings in tbs
wilderness. Such was the homely edu'
cation of the new Prophet. 1t was all
lie had, and it was enough His acod
envy was at His mothers side, and her %I hui
was His suficing university. Thus wos
kindled the holy light in the humble
| home at Nazareth. ''e
Little by little the Hero grows out oe
baby pulp. and the son of Mary becomoa
Son of Man. As the peasant bow Of
Nazareth, Who was the pride of His
mother the helper of His father, attain.
ed to mans estate, He left the home of
His infancy and the rustic work bench
where He had toled, and became an
itinerant teacher of the people. He was
now the Rabbi Jesus. He was no longer
the tribal Jew, or the mechanic or tbe
type of that century or age. He was the
| Universal Man. His heart pulsated with
| the blood of the race, and His love reach
ed out to all who suffered. "The well"
said he, need not physician, but those
who are ill.," He became the self-elected
missionary of the poor, the tramp-teach-
er, healer and moralst of Gallee. He
walked the dusty highways of the land,
talked with the wandering, homeless
groups of the penniless and wretched.
Les Miserables," for whom no one
thought or cared was one of them, and
in all things shared their lot He ate,
such chance food as was given Him, go
| ing hungry if none was offered; sleeping
under the shelter of hedge or tree at
night, or in the friendly hut of the peas
ant when such opened its door at His ap-
proach, taking no thought for the NOR
row. The poorest of the poor, He had
not where TO lay His head; even His
clothing was the gift of His friends. 1t
was His passion to teach those who had
no other teacher. and to befriend those
| who were otherwise friendless. He ney-
er entered rich mans house except by
invitation and such invitations were rare
ly given. 1t is written that ''seeing the
multitude, He was moved with compass
sion because they were scattered abroad
like sheep having no shepherd" The la
bor-serfs of Galilee knew their friend and
heard Him gladly. They recognized the
presence of man moving among them
brimfull and overlooking with those heav-
emily qualities that We're latent and sleep
ing in themselves.
What prodigies of Christian science. of
faith-cure, of mental healing! What
wealth and splendor of vitality as He
moved abroad among the simple people.
forgiving sins, eXpelling disease, battling
death, Staying fear, reviving hope, tramp
ling down the money-lust, and introduce
ing sympathy, helpfulness and love where
before the selfish greeds held masteryl
We see Him, as soon He appears in pub
lie life, pressed upon from every side by
the myriads of the diseased, opening the
rivers of His life into those halt, MANNED
blind. deaf, paralytic fever-stricken
crowds. His look, touch, voice, breath.
smile. command penetrated them with
forces of vital renewal and living emana-
tions of curative power. His
healing element was absorbed
by the furnishing bodies of the
sick as the desert drinks in rain. He
spoke words of such holy earnestness that
fishermen left their nets and followed
Him. The water-carriers at the public
wells stopped to ask Him questions.
The. tax collectors and politicians ceased
to Wrangle over party issues as they lis
tened to His moving words about kind
ness, love and duty. The higher dignita
ries of the church wondered at His au-
thority and power, but hearkened SPELL
bound, to His voice.
lie taught the people in simple stories.
lie saw the birds picking up the seeds
which farmer had sown in his field. He
saw a poor widow puttingt two pennies
into the contribution box, while right
after her was wealthy man who dropped
In handfulls of gold. A young man with
great riches came to Him, eagerly asking
what he should do that he might learn to
live such a life as Jesus lived. He heard
OF traveller who had fallen among
thieves, neglected by the priests avoided
by the clergy, passed by the church-mem-
beers, and helped by an inhdel And all
these incidents and a thousand such as
these He employed to teach the people the
enternal lesson of goodness. He taught
the difference between pretension and re-
atty. he taught them how to measure
the real value of deed by the motive
the intention, not merely by the accom-
plishment. The widows mite was worth
more to God, He said, than the rich mans
eagles, because she gave out of her needs
and her heart went with the gift. The in
hdel who took care of the wounded man,
and not the proud priests who passed him
by, was most acceptable to God Such
stories as these were told by a man who
was so unseltish and kind that the little
children clustered around Him. while
grieving, lonely, fallen women trusted
Him as their one true friend in all the
world. The great feared Him. the rich
hated Him, the politicians scOrned Him,
the religious class killed Him.
This is the oft-told, ever-new story of
the Christ Who was He? A poor, self
made, itenerant preacher teacher and
healer. What has He done? He has
guided the conscience, quickened the hope,
and led the evolution of the world. How
did he do it? BY making His own nature
divine, as we, following His lead, can
make ours divine. Emerson once said:
What look forward to is the time when