The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1902-02-03
to critlcise and look down upon the isno-

sess IL, Is used not 20 help the weak, but
70 crush them. and then use them in the
Whatever these possessions may be or
whether they are used or not they all
selfish The end Of lie fhat reaches
out into the world 10 obtain merely for the
sake OF self-gratihcation. IL Is seeking
end sIe 70 poss ot from, nsi Is ,ne srgat nia,
Of view whether that possession Is money.
knowledge. power or salvation. one Is
Is selfish. what matters IL wheNler you
are seeking gold or grace. Such man =
horizon is no broader than his own soul
This means that his moral vision is As
limited as the eyesight or those men who
died In the Black Hole Of Calcutta. or
rotted away I'm the dismal dungeons OF
the splendid palace of the Doges in Ven
A mans III. does not consist I'm this
thing. Friendship does not consist In
this thing only isolation. There - no
true business life i'm such an atmosphere.
The life that looks no farther than mere
possession is doomed 10 die. Life does
not consist In IT, IL is staenation. Its
type Is the Desd sea. Into this basin the
Jordan pours it's waters. Here the WA
ters from thousand sparkling streams
nnd their rest. Round about Is an al
most limitl-ss waste, scarcely spear OF
grass. No clouds pour out their waters
10 redeem the arid soil. nor does this sea
give forth again the inhowing stream. ln
2 desert world, wherr all dies FOR water.
the great sea keeps its own. possesses IL.
Yet 10 pays the price. It's waters are
brackish. salt No vegetation grows on
It's banks The stream of the Jordan tina
irrgates and freshens above becomes
deadenng dTaught 10 all living things.
This Is the price II has paid FOR its Years
Of possession m only MI ~ hsa sveh e.. IGrnn hitl
ter waters would have been changed 10
sweet. Not life. but death. consistent In
With our yearning desires 20 achieve.
TO possess Il own. would that we could
grasp the truth OF our text, the thought
that there is no life in that. rather deaih
fruit. Would that We could be rich, could
he wise. could be filed with the grace
OF God vet to have All these thlnes, 10
merely possess them. would aot mean lie,
but death
PRovERTY VS.. POSSESSION.
However. II life does not consist i'm pos
session. IL does not consist In poverty.
The poor man is not necessarily man
OF a large life There Is no virtue in pow
erty. All else being equal. the man OF
worldly possessions IL better man than
the man who must beg. Property has us
ethical aspect man cannot realize
himself completely apart from II: Labor
Is Just the going forth OF the sell INTO the
object 20 complete itself and labor IS the
true source OF property.
No one can cisim there Is any virtue
I'm Ignorance Goodness itself is OF little
avail II IL has not intelligence TO direct
IT, The worst results ofttimes owe their
origin not 10 the bad man, but 10 the
weImeapns mAn waSIs Ssse. sGTengs S.s,senee
TO shape the forests into boats and sail
them. 10 mould the iron OF the earth into
engines and drive them TO cham me
so IN takes intelligence TO direct goodness
and make godliness profitable.
In the moral scale We must give the
benefit OF our Judgment 10 the well
meaning fool as opposed 20 the wise
knsve vet a society composed. entirely
OF the first class would be as Tar from
the ideal and more hopeless than So
ciety composed OF the second class.
No. there is nc advantage IN poverty.
or blessing in 1t; from the point or view view
Of material wealth or knowledge. Ger
tsinIv there can be no advantage from
want>of spiritual power;
Poverty means negation. II implies
somethinc we have not OF which We are
in want. Negation in itself has no bless
inss ir IT, The negative life means noth-
ing TO society. IL NAV be good W rs not
Christian Christianity has enthusiasm
and possession IN it. 1t IL an outflow
The curse of poverty In whatsoever
form II appears is its limitation, ~ dsSms ,iss
nearby. For the poor man his heaven
and earth meet at point almost withih
his reach Even material WeaItn leut-
ciousiy used gives better environment.
N nuts ma stsrpisces OF art on the walls,
puts books on the shelves IL brings the
resources Of China and Japan and many
isles OF the sea and enables us 10 I'VE III
foreign lands at home.
But how much more does the nlches OF
knowledge and the blessings OF COD en-
rich and widen life. When knowledge
comes man walks out Of his hut under
the heavens and sees nov world his
whims and fsncies give place 10 eternai
principles. His ideals are trans,tornlea formed
and arms longer than his own. LIS sor
rows are rsinbowed by hope and his sad
ness transformed into 4 deeper JOY. 4.
certainly death. A mans life may not
consist In the abundance Of the things he
pcssesseth. hut certainly Il does not con-
sist in the lack of those things.
In southern Arizona the wlse traveller
Journeys away from the beaten track and
directs his way 10 spot where one may
see the remains or perhaps the Oldest
eiyilization on the continent n Is un-
ouestionablv of Aztec origin There is
abundant evidence OF life that III many
respects approximated to ADVANCED Stages
the big house. Casa Crande. and one sees
the emhankments OF mighty reservoir,
where water was once stored ana 'here
One drives down into the hollow of tho
basin and in the fierce glare ~ the SUI,
secs In remote corner neautlina POO, p,,sd
mol vanishes: it was only n mirage. Ihe
reservoir Is dry. The waters OF the Dead
sea Kill: there is no life there. But here
Is death. The result Is the same In
neither case blessings. in neither case life.
CLASSES OF MEN ANALYZED.
There are two classes 81 men about us
represented by these two illustra tions. "A
class which is forever seeking and taking
IN the blessings OF this world. but whose
lives sre staenant, hrackish, salt like
the waters 81 the Dead sea The more
that they receive tke more worthless they
become. They take away from the world
and awe nothing back
They mean TO the social atmosphere
what the stagnsnt pool means TO the phy-
steal atmosphere. They breed mia sms aud
disease
The other class of. men. while their
lives may have little influence for evil
have no influence for good They arc
empty. They contain no resources. In
world cold and dark they give forth
neither heat nor light To live in n world
made up of such men would be like living
= Robinson Cfusoe existence IN the heart
~ the Sahara desert No hope IL 40 be
expscasd from such men IN TINS word.
,id consequently there r. no Nope for
them IN a world TO come.
Mary statements that are false are 81
bscsuse they are extreme over empha-