The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1902-11-27
The Best Gifts.

There has been an attempt Of late TO
prove that love is not the supreme pas
sion; that hatred, averice, envy, covetous-
ness, pride, revenge, fear or veneration
may become Just as great as love. Some
have even striven to demonstrate this by
writing a novel with the love left out en-
deavoring to make it as interesting to the
reader as the. story of love. For. they say,
love has too long occupied the best ground
OF the novelist.
But while some of these master attempts
have been read with interest, they have
not been lauded to the skies, and the
world still continues TO turn to the love
stories for its rest. its comfort or its ex-
citement. And after all, what desolate
desert it is for setting Of any life story,
a place without lovel
Strange that there should ever be any
such discussion. The Bible has never left
any doubt about the matter. Writer after
writer speaks out plainly, above all
things" Christ when He came put love
even above the law. which at that time
stood sternly frowning above all else. To
quote from Henry Drummond's Greatest
Thing in the World" "In those days men
were working their passage to heaven by
keeping the Ten Commandments, and the
hundred and ten other commandments
which they mad manufactured out of them.
Christ said. | will show you a more sim
pie way. Ii you do one thing, you will do
thinking about them. If YOU love YOU
will unconsciously fulfill the whole law"
But though this has been known for
hundreds OF years. the ohurch--some mem
bers of it, continue. to forget it. They
still long, ~ they did then for the more
excellent gifts;" they want to preach, they
want to teach, they desire to be wise. and
TO be great accordingly just as they did
in those deys when Paul was writing TO
the Corint thians. Here is man who
might be Of service TO the Lord, md n cor
ner wherein he might fit. but he desires
most ardently to be the, Superintendent of
! the Sunday-sehool, and because he does
not seem to be the one for that place he
sulks at home and refuses to teach that
Sunday-school class. His own little son
is influenced by this and stays at home.
too. and hears his father say hard things
about the pride OF those who do not count
| him as good as themselves or see that he
is Just the one for the superintendency
And he forgets that he must first bring to
life the love in his heart that God put
| there toward Himself and his fellow man.
| For if, indeed. he loved God he would be
so glad to do ANYTHING for Him that he
would not have time to see whether him
self were being honored or not. and thus
would he well on the way toward being the
kind of person n good Sunday-school Su-
perintendent could be made Of. Here again
is another Christian. we win say Chris
tlan Endeavorer, who Is offended because
he was not made president at the last
election, or because he was not selected
to lead a meeting at which strangers from
! another society were to be present. or be-
cause he was not made the chairman of
that prominent committee, counting his
| own gifts as unworthily employed in any
but a most important office Such men go
| about like tombstones wherPon is en-
graved that all may read: Herein lieth
dead the thirteenth chapter of First Co.
rinthians.'
The greatest thing" it is said. "a man
can do for his heavenly Father is to be
kind to some of His other children
If this be true-and who can doubt it,
then. the poorest of Gods children. the
humble worker in the kitchen, the un-
learned laborer at his task. the most un.
noticed member Of an unimportant com.
mttee has in his power as great a gift to
exercise for his God as the wise professor
| or the great learned orator. It has been
said that n missionary can begin TO exer.
else this gift OF love the moment his feet
touch the foreign shore, but the Gift Of
| tongues requires long study now. and oven
with the knowledge of the language OF n
strange country q missionary might as well
| stay at home, even with all his elouuenee
| If he carries not with him love.
This chapter is not careful ANALYSIS Of
love. BY looking into the fine qualities
we may discover if we have really chosen
to have impaired TO us the best gift
Grace Livingston Hill, in the Mail and
Express.