The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-04-03

AAft N".AHHN "sttAtNAH H'HN'''htNA HtNtfNaH AAHNN
typical are they, as with bowed heads they
stand, Of the succeeding generations oi
Gods poor, as, amid toll and tribuIationl
they seek 10 find the good 90 know Cod
The CONSTITUENCIES Oi honest poverty ]
rec IL In the little children of tbc rabh'c as
they followed Jesus through the streets OF
Jerusalem and / see it n the children who
to-day clutch the flowers carried into %,
homes of the poor by sweet charity. / see
It In the zeal, the devotion OF the slaves
who FIRST heard the Gospel message and
zee it IN the enthusiasm OF the multitude,
who caught the inspiration of the Reuais
tauce. ] see It ia the faces Of the Common
people. who heard Him gladly" anil /
see lt n tle faces OF the lowiy as they De-.
ten TO e. Chrysnstum or n Moody.
Disguise u az we may. deny ii II we win,
the soul of poverty has been the one at
tuned to catch the messages sent from
heaven out OF the heart of God. Wealth
can do no more than furnish the m1tcrial
for an Angelo; it can only create the ur-
portunlty for u Savonarola; it can but pro-
vide Jesus with The stage for His sublime
activity
Again, Is it not apparent that poverty
tends 10 the development Of the mower Of
receptivity2 Rightly understood poverty
is n wonderful AID to clear vision enabling
man to distinguish between the essential
and the unnecessary. II enables its nosses-
sor mot its victiml TO develop self rather
than to collect things" 1t enables him
10 see the difference between having" and
being" Wealth shouts: 81 have" but
poverty whispers. Il 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 a
poor worker He was to tin and 10 keen
the, place and only to enjoy so much of it
as he made his own. The supreme ioy Of
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. The return
to Eden is the return to simplicity and re-
captivity. Ii is the becoming sensitive
once more to the good and the taking in Of
truth, beauty, holiness.
It Is 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 1t 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 undvng belief cherished
| that there is "a good time coming IN The
/ golden future
1t IS the tendency Of wealth to be sat-
/ isfed with things as they are industrial}y,
socially, morally. Truths cartoon. An
! English Board Meeting" is startlinglv sug-
| gestive when applied to morals, as we'll 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 innovations"
The great labor saving ideas Of The age
have come into the minds of the poor; they
have been developed amid suffering and
stress, and they have been forced upon a
i reluctant world by men who cared ITore
for progress than for ease. So it is with
the men and women who, hungeriug 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 hat
ties, to champion despised principles, 10
advocate unweicome truths. They know
what they have believed, and their huOWl-
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 Cos
pei spread from Jerusalem it was carried
by the poor; when it laid siege to hostile
lands poverty fought for it; when it grew
corrupt through the Vaccinations OF a
wicked priesthood, poor men purified it,
when in these last days it has become
Id ,,,ov1I hun, ,lo mi "a
of the King have been called to carry 1t.
But we have said that piety has rs one
of its important elements the recognition
of love as the great animating and sustain
ing principle; this recognition poverty glad
lv accoTds When we are told in the text
that the poor had the gospel preached to
them, we have, as has been said, more than
a mere statement of fact that Jesus de-
livered sermons to multtudes of the
needy; we have the implied declaration Of
condition of understanding of sympathy,
between His soul and theirs Men who
were dominated by selfish principles cid
not understand Him, for they we're incapa-
BILE of recognizing love as the supreme mo-
tive of a soul Action, for them, was al
ways dictated by policy and they suspected
hidden motive behind the activity OF
Jesus.
The Master declared that for a rich nan
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 mechanic
cal, careless and too frequently. heart ,ess,
that the rich man may give his god to
Charity" while his heart is as flint; that
he may support the gospel with his money
while his heart feels no joy in its message.
But he knew that poverty rightly con-
ceived 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