Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1902-08-13
UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD.
BY Rev. j. ~ Barrett. Pm ID.

ton both God and man have participated.
| God has been seeking to reveal himself
| in his true nature and character. and this
| effort has been met and seconded by man
| reaching out after him an1 responding to
| him. 1t has been slow process, but it
has gone steadilyon increasing in breadth
| and significance as the centuries have
| come and gone.
The cry of the human heart throughout
| the ages has been after God: "Oh. that
| knew where l might find him." But it
was not till Jesus came that any soul had
any adequate conception of his nature
and character.
The fundamental proposition Of the
kingdom that Jesus established is the
universal fatherhood of God By MIN all
partition walls have been broken down,
and all dividing lines removed, SO that all
men everywhere may now look up TO him
and say, Our father who art in heav-
en-
The coordinate proposition is the uni
versal brotherhood of man. God is the
Father of all and IF one is our Father,
even God, then all we are brethren"
| Most men are ready to concede this fact
| in a general way, but when we come to
make a practical specific application Of
| it, we discover that IL is scarcely more
| than a theory. We say that we believe
| it. hut we are hardly ready to practice it.
| We are quite ready to recognize as our
brethren those who are living on the same
plane as we are--those whose tastes and
| habits are in common with ours: and also
| quite ready to recognize that those above
| US are our brethren. and that they have
| certain obligations towarL US which we
are very anxious to have lem recognize
and fulfill; but we are not sure about
| those who are below us. Many refuse
| to recognize these as brethren. They are
| our brethren, however, even though we
| do not like to recognize them. The linn
| its Of human brotherhood reach from the
| highest to the lowest. from the richest to
| the poorest, from the most worthy to
the most unworthy. To all of these we
are indebted, for the measure of obliga-
ton reaches as far as the limits of broth
erhood; and we need to keep asking our
selves the questions How much owest
| thou?'
First, there is our debt to the past. The
| limits of our brotherhood reach a,k to
| the very beginning. Every man who has
| lived before us has contributed TO what
we have and are. Every sin of the past
| is seen and felt in the present And what
is true of the evil is just as true Of the
| good. We stand upon the shoulders of all
the past and enjoy the blessings for
which they have lived and labored and
| died.
| And we ought to be grateful to them
for what they have made it possible for
us to do. This is our debt to them. and
we can pay it only as we live such lives
as not to lose all this for which these
noble souls have lived aud died, and by
making our best contributions to the end
that not only ourselves but the race as
well shall be made perfect.
Second, there is our debt 70 the pres
| ent. We are brothers not only to the
past, but also to the present generation.
| The relation of man TO man is a mutual
relation. The spirit of Jesus is that if
any man has in his possession anything
that makes his life easier and better, it
| is his duty to impart this to others as far
as possible, so as to make this world. and
this life, as beautiful and helpful to all
| as we can.
The most widely separated peoples are
| linked together by the ties of brother
| hood, and we shall never live our best life
| till we have come to recognize this fact
and to order our lives in accord with ii.
All wrongs shall be righted and all OPP
preston cease when men once learn that
| they are brethren.
Third. there is our debt to the future.
Even though we recognize that every
man who has lived in the past, and that
every one who is living to-day, is our
brother, and try to fulfill our duties and
obligations toward them all, still we have
not yet reached the limits of human
brotherhood or the measure of our obi
CATION. We are brothers as well to all
future generations. If it is true that
every good and every evil of the past is
| seen and felt in the present, it is equally
true that every good and evil of the pres
ent will be seen and felt in the future.
Gods law is whatsoever a man sow
eth. that shall he also reap"
Our debt TO the future, like frat to the
past and present, is twofold; what we
get and what we have to give. We are
not in the world to get al we can out
of it for ourselves. We are not in it even
to get all We can out of it for the present
into the account as we'll The man who
lives for the present only does not live
the best life. The man lives to-day on
what he has to earn tomorrow is not liv-
ing the right kind of life. He is using
that which does not belong to him as yet,
and that which may never belong to him
at all.
And what is true of the individual is
true of the generation. Generations, too
must learn to live within their means if
they are to live the best life. If we are
living to-day on what must be produced
by the next generation, we are doing a
great injustice to them. and to ourselves
as we'll We are making life easy to our
selves at the expense Of somebody else
1t is true that we all have to live more or
less for the future We must make our
plans for to-day large enough to include
the future. but we must not borrow from
the future We must be careful not To
bind any burdens upon them that will be
heavy to bear and that il viii be impos-
sble for them 10 throw off.
Illustrations of this are seen and will
be felt in the long time franchises that
are granted to pubIic-service corpora
ti0us. Many cities are tied up. and 9th
efs are continuing to be tied up for years
TO come their councils and board Of
public NO IS. who seem TO think that
they have a good thing for the present
or what IS too frequently true. because
these corporations are willing 10 give
them few thousand dollars for their
Vte. without any thought Of the people