The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-06
say, at the close of his pathetic story:


Thoughts unexpressed may sometimes
fall back dead;
But God himself can't kill them when
they're said.
Be kinder in your criticism of
others actions. How easy it is to
misjudge. A little deed is done in
moment of weakness, little word is
uttered, little bad thought is crys-
tallized At once we pounce upon it.
If upon the string of life, which is
covered with diamond deeds, pearly
thoughts, golden words, one defective
stone can be found, one ugly pebble
with mire and filth clinging to it,
we let, ofttimes, the one imperfect
jewel hide all the beauty of the
others. We let one imperfection
when found, overbalance multitude
of we'll nigh perfect qualities. We
even thank God that we are not like
those whose acts we harshlY Judge.
Are we self-righteous in our thanks?
Perhaps a combination of circum
stances, over which the guilty one
had no control, is the indirect cause,
at least, of the guilt. If those cir
cumstances had combined in our life,
we too might be guilty. Judge not
lest We be Judged"
You, who look contemptuously
down upon him who violates the pre-
cepts Of genteel society, remember
that you, too, would not be so polite
and cultured had you been reared
amidst his surroundings; and that
the rough exterior may cover a heart
as warm and sympathetic as that
beneath the most polished etiquette.
Or, when you meet with some weak
nature which gives way to the slight
est temptation, who is dishonest or
immoral, harsh and unkind, deceit
full or cruel, remember that you know
not all the circumstances which have
combined to embitter that life and
to weaken it's will; which like circum-
stances might have robbed you Of
that which you deem most dear.
Or, when you hear of the revolving
and damning deeds, which appall
you, causing the blood to run cold
in the veins, and the heart to almost
cease beating in its horror, remem
Der that he who committed those
heinous acts is your brother; "child
of the self-same God" His nature
is like your nature; his soul is like
your soul. Different circumstances
from yours have surrounded him;
different temptations assaulted him;
different blood coursed through his
veins, blood surcharged with the her.
editary faint of murder and of lust.
The causes of those acts have been
operating through generations.
We are not to palliate sin, excuse
wrong, make light of crime. We
should hate sin with an everlasting
hate; the sinner should be loved with
an eternal love! Love him, not for
his sins, but in spite of them. Love
him for thegood that there is in him,
for it is worth loving.
God loves the sinner but detests
the sin. He will utterly destroy the
sin, but save the sinner, with kind
ness. "The way of the ungodly shall
perish" but the ungodly himself will
be redeemed through love. This is
the supreme victory of kindness.
If, as has been demonstrated time
and time again, the feeble minded and
vicious, children and the wild beasts,
we ourselves and humanity in every
phase of life are best governed by
kindness; if we keep the friend and
gain the enemy by this gentleness of
spirit; if we are to be kind to all we
meet in the social sphere, business
world, home life, in order to gain the
victory over all hearts; will not and
should not Almighty God, the Father
of all rational beings, gain the victory
over his children, over the evil, over
the dark forces, the degrading inAu-
ences and the lowering tendencies of
the world, through kindness and love?
If this is the better plan of man, is it
not the best plan for Coda
Nothing can be good in him
Which evil is in me.
The glowing kindness" of God is
mentioned more than thirty times in
the Bible, in such passages as:
''Quicken me after thy loving kindness;
So shall l observe thee testimony of thy
mouth" 119Ss).
81 will give thanks unto thy name for thy
loving kindness and for thy truth. "
-Ps. 1881
eve have thought on thy loving kindness,
o, God,
In the midst of thy temple "-(Ps. 4S:9.)
The prophet makes Jehovah say, 81
have loved thee with an everlasting
love; therefore with loving kindness
have | drawn thee" DER. 81: 81. And
Gnollu mo raad IN To.ac,so l. A.