Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1900-03-15

the best both for the individual and
society, this ia the only way we can
discover what man is, we then find
what is latent. We can never know
the real man SO long as we look on him
with the eye of suspicion, he hides his
deepest and best self from those who
doubt him and behave to him as if he
were not worthy. Act on the unjust
and cruel principle of treating men as
rOugeS until you have proved them
honest and you will see dishonesty
everywhere, you help to bring the
worst side of life into prominence.
Look at people through the doctrine
of total depravity and treat them as
if life had no redeeming feature and |
it is likely you will have convincing |
evidence that it is very bad; but take
higher estimate of man, realize the |
SacrednesS and value Of his life, treat
him as a man who has some Self-re-
spect-SOme idea of right-a sense OF
honor and you VIII appeal to another
side of his nature and he will reveal |
Capacities and qualities which show I
him to be worthy Of your trISt. - |
. All the developments Of intelligence |
moral improvement and national |
freedom are the result Of this faith IN |
/ man.
What do YOU say to the teacher
when you take your boy to school: DO |
you tell him the boy is a william and a
fool and that he must keep that fact |
constantly in mind through all his
efforts to make the boy wise man? If
you did, then you might as we'll take |
him home again. No, you say, here is |
little fellow with. some dullneSs and |
mischief in him, but beneath his |
ignorance aud mischievOus spirit there |
is capacity to learn and better
nature in which ] want you to have
faith and work away at his education. |
1t is the same with the moral
nature. We do not pronounce man
absolutely and completely wicked: we
do not say that all his powers are
epraved-that he has no capacity for
virtue, no idea of truth, no desire to
do right: we do not regard him as
irredeemably bad; no, we recognize
there are noble possibilities in every |
man and this fact has been the inSpi--
ration OF every effort to help him to a
better life. -.~
This was the view Jesus had of
human nature. He has given to the
world this lofty and elevating thought
of it. He saw into the depths of life
what was there and would come forth
and rise into supremacy. He taught
that man was child of God, born to 1
the highest destiny. He looked on
the ignorant and: straying zmultitudes
with the compassion OF brother but
never with q doubt as to their future;
| he saw the infinite worth of the lowest
| and poorest life, he saw the germs Of
goodness in the most sinful; he identi-
| lied himself with the leaSt-With such
as had no one to care for them; he
stopped to pity and pardon the
abandoned sinner, he Spake to the
Slumbering soul and called man to-.
come forth from the grave Of his own
| bound him and bid him 60 forth free
man to find the fulneSS of life. In the
call to become perfect as the Father
in heaven is perfect he gave the
sublimeSt conception OF the posi-
bilitieS Of human life; they reveal
Gods faith in mantle faith OF his
Creator who knows perfectly what he
! may become.
And what powerful influence this
| faith of Jesus has had, it has made
men conscious of themselves, of the
| greatness and worth of life, it has
awakened self respect, inspired noble
ambitions. aroused the dormant
| powers to strenuous and worthy
action: when men found that Jesus
believed in them they began to believe
in themselves, they were sure he saw
something worth caring for or he
would not have given all his life to
help them, he gave them higher
thought of life, made them feel it was
worth while to strive to enter his
kingdom, though weak and imperfect,
beSet by many temptations, yet they
conquered evil and climbed the heights
| of excellence.
And the example of Jesus has been
| followed by all who have helped their
fellows upward. Those of you who
have had the privilege of reading
| David Harum VIII remember how he
began to rise into manhood: after he
had wiped out the debt of poor Mrs.
CullOm'S mortgage and made her
heart rejoice by that unexpected deed
of generosity, he tells her the secret
of his success in life that what he had
done for her was only the payment of
a debt he owed to her husband for
kindness which made man Of him.
Your husband was the first man that
ever treated me humanity up to that
time. | was poor, miserable, Scairt-
| tO-death, fOrlOrn creature, put upon
and Snbbed till had come to believe
myself what was rubbed into me-the
| whole time-that | was the most all
! round, no account animal that was
ever made out of dust and never likely
to be any different, your husband gave
me the most enjoyable time | ever
had, he spent money on me and gave
me money to spend when | had not a
cent of my own, be took me by the
| hand and talked to me and gave me
the first notion l ever had that | was
not the scum of the earth as | had
been taught to believe, and that day
was the turning point of my life"
That is the story of mans deliver
ance from his evilS-the way he has
| been lifted up from the lowest con-
ditiOnS and set in the highest places Of
service and honor, someone with a
human heart, looking through all the
outer coverings, beyond poverty and
| ignorance to the immortal spirit-the
divine endowment-the noble posi-
| bilitieS within, has had faith that
some day they would unfold, and has
helped their growth by the sunny
atmosphere of kindness. Those who
have isolated themselves from their
fellows, spoken sceptically and con-
temptuouSly Of them have never put
anyone single step forward along the
path to greatness, they have often
cast down and thrown backward the
/ struggling, aspiring life. He who
helps another to rise and be a man