The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-09-26
THE VOICE OF THE PULPIT
CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH LABOR
ALWAYS PROVES A BLESSING.
short Sermon by Rev. Louis A. Banks
ID. D., Pastor First Methodist Epia-
cOpnI Church, Cleveland, o.

ana they seemed unto MIN q rev days. lOE
the love he had to her.-Genesis, xxx, %.
The labor of the righteous tendeth to hfeI
Prov. X, 16
In connection with the coal-nine trou-
bles, and with the recent labor celebra-
tons my theme has been suggested by
a little poem written by j. S. Cutler, the
opening lines of which run:
Three angels travel with me as I journey
Where far-off sunset mountains stand, to
guard the wales of rest;
Three angels-and l cannot tell which angel
is the best.
The first that came to share my lot, when
life was young and fair,
was he whom men call Labor, as they meet
him everywhere;
And he filed my life with strivIngs an1
the whole round world with care.
And then came Love, and all the earth grew
strangely bright and new;
And my first angel seemed more fair, mora
loyal, real and true;
For Love makes Labor lighter and the skies
more deeply blue.
Then last of all came Sorrow an unasked.
unwelcome guest;
And he walked along beside us, as we jour-
neyed to the west;
And Love grew strangely sweet and fair.
and Labor doubly blest.
l am sure that the poet is right and
that labor is meant to be an angel of light
and blessing, and wherever it is not 50
something is wrong. Good, honest work.
faithfully done, repaid by just wages and
buoyed up and blessed by the assurance
that the work itself is helpful to humanity,
IS a blessing to the man who performs it.
but to labor in such a spirit one must have
a good purpose In the work no is doing
That which makes tho toll OF so many
people only an unmeaning slavery is that
they have no purpose in it save to get It
off their hands and get money in return.
An American, a large employer OF labor,
who was travelling in England. was asked
by a young man in London what his pros
poets would be if he came to America.
He replied to the young mans question: "If
you come to America we will treat you
well. What can you offer me?' asked
the young man. What can you do?"
Anything" was the light reply 'grhen
we don't want you was the quick, good
humored retort. 1--WE have no use for peo-
pie who can do anything We want people
who can do something WE'LL"
The young man or the young woman who
selects the one thing each seems best fitted
to do. and apply themselves to it. though
they may have to do it in the little bits OF
overtime that others spend in rest or
amusement, until they can do that one
thing with grace and triumph. will find la-
Dor a benediction and a sacrament.
Every man who is doing honest work has
the right to lift up his head among men
everywhere and would hold himself in
honor as one Of the real nobility. The
Montreal shoemaker who has put over the
door of his shop, 1.-THE Williams's infirmary
for1refractory Shoes has the Eight spirit.
Paul was a tentmaker, and Jesus Christ
was a carpenter, and their fellow-craftsmen-
have a right to lift up their heads among
the highest if they do their work vel
I maintain that all honest work, under
proper conditions, should bring joy and
not pain ] noticed the title of a story the
other day, which was 1.-THE Sunbeams with
Needle and Thread and why shouldn't
there be sunbeams for the seamstress? Yet
there were no sunbeams for the starved
workers who inspired Hoods Song of the
Shirt" and alas. there are none for the
white slaves in the pestilential sweatshops
of modern times. But 1t is the avarice and
sin of the oppressor that shuts out the sun
beams.
just now the whole world is attracted
toward the pitiful struggle of the coal
miners for fairer wages for their hard toll.
God give wisdom and direction to these
poor stokers down in the hold OF the
worlds ship OF progress. DID you ever go
down into a coal mine? Down, down, down,
out of the daylight, until the sun is forgot
ten and the darkness only relieved now and
then by splash of light from a murky
torch. Did you ever follow you guide,
creeping along through the black under
ground alley, until the sound of a pick
smote on your ear, and you came upon q
poor, grimy ghost digging there hour after
hour, in the dirt and darkness. and go
q wa Tyif q hat 70 he.
cheer of your hearth that he dug his life
into that coal bank?
Surely, if any set of men IN the world
deserve just wages, and the kindly, even
generous treatment of modern civilization.
it is the men who mine coal; and the
fact that they are on the whole. perhaps,
the poorest paid and the worst treated OF
all our great tolling armies of to-day. is a
shame and an outrage. The press and the
pulpit, and the voice of every man and
woman should be heard in behalf Of Chris
tian justice for the grimy brothers who dig
the good cheer for all our fresides.
No man to-day has a loftier pulpit than
the business man who so dealsl with his
employees that their labor is an angel OF
JOY and blessing to them and thus max
ing his own labor an angel. uplifting and
comforting him, and leading him into fell
iowship with God. A distinguished English
minister now in this country preached a
sermon a few weeks before his departure
from home on Hypocrisy" A few days
after he received a letter from one Of his
members, the manager of large estab-
lishment. He said that latter nearing that
sermon he went home saying to himself,
Il am living the life of a hypocrite" He
sat down and wrote a letter to his en-
ployers to this effect: "Gentlemen-I am
conducting your business under your d.
rections on lines that are injuring my spir-
itual life, and l. hereby resign my position"
All day Monday he said the devil tainted
him with the folly he had committed,
throwing up his place with no prospects
for vito and children. Tuesday was also
dark, and Wednesday. but he said, II would
rather starve than be false to my God"
On Thursday morning a letter came from
his employers saying that his resignation
had been carefully considered they recog-
nized his value, and they requested him to
return and conduct their business in such
way as would be consistent with his
spiritual convictions.
What transformation would come over
the business world IL men everywhere
should suddenly determine that the golden
rule of Jesus Christ should seal every con-
hnfx lnJ.