The Penn's Grove record., 1903-03-06

being" Wealth shouts: 81 have" but
poverty whispers, II am" Poverty comes
to know that only spiritual appropriation
gives real ownership. This is one of .he
messages of the old Eden story of Genesis,
for God placed Adam in the garden as q
poor worker. He was to till and to keep
the place and only to enjoy SO much Of il
his position was that through toll he was
able to look upon God and the good and
make them his own. In his sin he filed
his heart with substitutes for God, and
thus shut Him out of his soul. Thu feturn
TO Eden is the~return to simplicity and re- :
captivity. 1t is the becoming sensitive
once more to the good and the taking in Of
truth, beauty, holiness.
1t is a false theory which assumes that
the activity of poverty is due to reckless
ness, that the poor may choose any course
of action, disregard any existing order, be-
cause they have nothing to lose" Even
for the poor it is true that "life is more
than meat and the body than raiment." The
true cause for the activity Of poverty is
found in the rugged strength developed by
adversely. in the constant need for adapta-
ton to the demands of the passing days,
and, finally. in the undying belief cherished
that there is "a good time coming" in The
golden future.
1t Is the tendency of wealth to be sat
lSHeO Win Things as LleV are, muuSLIidtty,
socially, morally. Truths cartoon, AN
English Board Meeting" is startlingly sug-
g%estive when applied to morals, as well as
when applied to money. "Why." the aged
and wealthy directors Of the great railway
are made to ask, why must the public in
terfere with our business? Why must in
~ventors suggest new devices? What's the
good of these innovations2"
The great labor saving ideas of The age
have come into the minds of the poor; they
nave been developed amid suffering and
stress, and they have been forced upon q
reluctant world by men who cared more
for progress than for ease. So it is with
the men and women who, hungering and
| thirsting after righteousness, have become
possessed of great moral ideas. The grasp
of these ideas upon their own souls rem
ders them unrestingly eager to see them
enthroned in the heart of the race. They
are willing to fight seemingly hopeless Rat
ties, to champion despised principles, to
advocate unwelcome truths. They know
what they have believed, and their knowl-
edge gives them willingness to utilize their
hard earned strength for the education and
advancement of mankind. and these cham
pions of the principles of piety have been
from the DAYS of Jesus and from the apos
tolic times the sons of poverty. When In
the days of primitive Christianity the gos.
pei spread from Jerusalem, it was carried
1 Dy IL pOOIJ WHICH i y ldlu oiCsC " VI
lands, poverty fought for it; when it grew
corrupt through the Vaccinations of a
| wicked priesthood, poor men purified 1t,
| when in these last days it has become
ready for world conquest. humble servants
of the King have been called to carry it.
But we nave said that piety has as one
of its important elements the recognition
of love as the great animating and sustain.
ing principle; this recognition poverty glad.
Iy accoids. When we are told in the text
that the poor had the gospel preached tc
| them, we have, as has been said, more than
a mere statement Of fact that Jesus de
livered sermons to multitudes of the
needy; we have the implied declaration OF
a condition of understanding of sympathy,
between His soul and theirs. Men Who
were dominated by selfish principles did
not understand Him, for they were incapa-
BILE Of recognizing love as the supreme mo
tive of a SOU. Action, for them, was al
ways dictated by policy, and they suspected
a hidden motive behind the activity OF
Jesus.
The Master declared that for a rich man
to enter the kingdom is difficult. What
did He mean? He doubtless considered the
increasing danger of basing action upon
false motive. He knew that it is the tend.
ency of wealth to render action mechani'
cal, careless, and, too frequently, heartless,
that the rich man may give his gold to
cQdTlJy, Wulc HIS ucdIb Il q . ttut tAo1
he may support the gospel with his money
while his heart feels no joy in its message,
But he knew that poverty rightly. con:
ceiyed tends to keep the life normal and
true to the true springs of action. he
knew that the poor who heard Him when
they gave their mites gave them because
of love, for no other power could cause
that to be sacrificed which represented
bread, shelter, life. He knew that they
were familiar with the ministry oil
poverty to poverty, and that they
were able to grasp the sigpaicancs
of a ministry based upon simple. I'M
selfish love. So He preached to them,
unfolding His conception Of the approach
ing Kingdom of God, the kingdom of love.
Calmly He revealed to them "a life which
needed for its realization neither might
nor money. Sweetly He discoursed to them
of the inward nature of the kingdom, OF
the hunger, the thirst, the meekness, the
poverty necessary in order that men might
possess it, and they understood.