Orange County observer., 1903-04-09

you out and say, "Come, serve me. I need
you: Go to ork in my shop, or my vine
yard; take up your residence in my house:
what is mine shall be yours, and it shall
fel want" If you really believed in that
man and trusted him, there could be no
further anxiety on your part. Only as far
as you disbeieved in him, only as far as
you distrusted his honor or his generosity
could you be anxious. Now the richest
being in the universe, God who owns it
all, has laid Himself under obligation to us
by bringing us into the world. God has
duties, as every moral being must have.
If father or a mother has duties toward
an % offspring M God Go must must have m duties duties to- to-
live in His house, yea, has BROUGHT US here
whether we would or not, and He has said
in effect that if we will do as well as We
can He will care for us. It is only as far
as we distrust the providence of God. Or
disbelieye in His providence. that anxiety
anxious?" asked Jesus. ssIf God clothes
the grass of the field and cares for the
birds of the air. shall He not much more
care for you, 0 ye of little faith?"
But this is only one-half of Paul's secret.
He had learned how to be abased but he
had also learned how to abound. He had
he had also learned to face prosperity. We
must all have known people who came un-
scathed through adversely, and were after
ward ruined by prosperity. Under the in
fuence of good fortune they become con-
ceited, arrogant and selfish. More people
erty. I have come to feel that no greater
evil can befall young man or woman
than to be rich through the effort of father
or grandfather, and so be freed from the
blessed necessity OF winning ones own way.
Those who struggle from poverty to affiu-
Ixy 1DCv Eoxrr + I<o oIooC0 Of
terward learn how to abound. But those
who begin in abundance are frequently
spoiled by possessing without effort what
we are apt to call the blessings Of life
Wealth may be a blessing but poverty IS
oftener So Jesus said- BLESSED are the
cause he is poor. If that were SO how easy
for any one of us to secure blessedness.
But poverty urges to effort and effort opens
the door to large attainment
How, then, may one cultivate and pre-
serve such admirable qualities Of charac-
ing prosperity?
son in humility. We are apt to say of a
wealthy man, s@He is independent. - It is
a false saying. No man who lives in civ
ilized community is independent. The only
really independent being is the savage man
who lives by himself in the wilderness,
dressing III tue SKInS VI wiz DedSIS dHU
eating roots The moment he exchanges
his bear skin for blanket he places HIM
self under obligation to the man who raises
the sheep, the man who cuts the wool, the
man who spins the, yarn, the man who
weaves the blanket. The moment he ex-
changes his diet of roots for one OF bread
he places himself under obligation to the
farmer who raises the wheat, the reaper
who cuts it, the miller who grinds it, and
to thousands of others whose busy brains
and hands have constructed the lnstru-
ments which make these processes possible
This truth is extremely far reaching. Not
only for material wealth are we under OBJ
legations to our fellows, but also for our in
tellectual wealth. Others have labored and
we have entered into their labors. 1t Is
creditable for man to study and possess
the wisdom Of the ages. But let him tenn
per his pride in the abundance Of his intel
lectual possession with the thought that
covered by another. Our abundance OF in
tellectual riches has been dug out of the
solid rock by the men of the past who la
bored with bleeding hands.
And this is just as true of those spiritual
riches which we value. Liberty OF thought,
mighty courage of men who have long since
gone to their reward? The environment OF
our lives which conduces to purity OF heart,
how much did it cost in the struggle OF our
ancestors out of beastly state into de-
cency of living? Let US not be wise in our
own conceit, but in the midst OF our abund-
ance let us think humbly, soberly, accord
ing as God has given unto US, through the
ministry of our fellow men, the measure
of all things which we possess.
f2) Then as we face abundance, even as
when we face want, let us endeavor to ap-
! preciate the relation OF values. Is the man
| who possesses wealth better than the man
| who possesses nothing? Perhaps. But not
because he possesses wealth. Is the univer-
sity graduate, the man who possesses intel
| lectua1 riches, better than the man who has
| never been to school? May be. But not
| because he is university graduate The
| man who possesses much and Is stlngy ls
| worse than the man who possesses little
and is stingy, because there may be an ex-
| cuse for the stinginess of the man who has
| only crust and faces starvation, but there
| is no excuse for the man who goes on add
| ing barn to barn or thousands of dollars to
! other thousands, while his neighbors hum
ger. There may be excuse for the ignor-
ant man for not trying to advance the IN
| tellectual standards of the community IN
which he lives. He has nothing to give, no
| capital to work with. But there is no ex-
cuse to be made by the man who has had
| all the advantages that the colleges afford,
| for doing nothing for the world. He has
power and should use It.
| The only riches worth while are in the
character Use your abundant possessions
| to help build the kingdom of God, as the
workman uses his tools to construct a
wall or to build bridge. So shall your
dollars be transformed into character, and
your intellectual achievements minister to
ethical attainments.
(3) Finally learn to face prosperity by
continually acknowledging that what you
seem to possess you do not really possess
at ALL You are only a trustee of portion
Of the estate which belongs to God. l
possess so many golden dollars: How bea''-
tiful they are, how substantial, how en-
during. See me clutch them. They are
mine I will hold them. Nothing shall
rob me of them. Nothing? Wait. Shortly
this hand of mire which clutches so firmly
shall be palsied in death and later crumbie
to dust The grasp upon the gold shall De
loosened Mine? It was never mine Gut
| Of Gods earth it came. In Gods earth no
human power can prevent its ultimately
returning. NAKED came ] into the world,
and naked shall ] depart thithar;;, To-
night, may be, that Journey shall com
mence How absurd, then, to talk OF my
possessing wealth. 49,,
But there is one possession, which, we
shall keep. and which shall endure as long
as we endure Character shall endure, oe-
cause INV character is myself. II one has
| Llo4 ,>bo11 oIido p7lrlfy of