The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-04-24

thing ag no much refuse n only he could
ieel that he possessed a true honest Christ
like character
o. But that "a not the whole Of the re-.
cret. Listen. II have learned the secret
both e be tled and to be hungry both 20
abound and 90 be IN want" How? r..
cause ] have discovered that 81 can do an
things In Him that strengtheneth me-" To
the person who really believes In God
that God watches over him aud loves him.
there can be really no such thing as advcr.
sitY. IL come man Of immense wealth and
proved generosity some man In whose
honor YOU implicitly believe. were to seek
won out and say Come serve me. need
Won Go tu work IN mv shop. or my vlne-
yard; take mp your residence IN my house;
| what Is mine shall be yours. and 1t shall
be my care that you and yours do not suf-
f., want" If YOU really believed in that
| man and trusted him, there could be no
! further anxiety on your part Only rs Tar
as Won dshelieved In him, only az far as
YOU distrusted his honor or his generosity
| could YOU be anxious Now the richest
| being in the universe, God who owns 10
| an, has laid Himself under obligation TO me-
| by bringing MS into the world. God has
| duties, as every moral being must have,
| If a father or a mother has duties toward
an offspring God must have duties to-
/ ward US. He has invited us to come and
! live in His house. yea. has brought us here
| whether we would or not. and Tie has said
| in effect that IL we viii do as well as we
can He will care for us. IL is only as fan
as we distrust the providence OF God. or
| disbelieve in His providence, that anxiety
can find q place in our lives. why are, We
| anxious" asked Jesus. of God clothes
/ the grass Of the field and cares for the
] birds Of the air, shall He not much more
/ care for you, o We Of little faith"
! But this is only one-half of Paups secret.
/ He had learned how to be abesed, but be
| had also learned how TO abound. BE had
learned to face adverse circumstances, and
he had also learned to face prosperity. We
must all have known people who came I'M
scathed through adversely, and were after
ward ruined by prosperity. Under the in-
huence Of good fortune they become con-
| ceited. arrogant and selfish More people
have been spoiled by wealth than by pow
ertv. I have come to feel that no greater
! evil can befall a 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 attlu-
ence by learning first how TO be aOased al
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
poor" Now a poor man is not blessed be-
cause he is poor. If that were so how easy
for any one OF us to secure b'essedness.
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-
ter, the true riches of the soul, while fac
ing prosperity?
a. Let him in the nrst Place take ies-
sen in humility We are apt to say Of
wealthy man, "He is INDEPENDENT" 1t is
a false saying. No man who lives in a CIV
ilized community is independent. The only
really independent being is the savage man
who lives by himself in the wilderness,
dressing IN the skins of wild beasts and
eating roots The moment he exchanges
his bear skin for a 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 eS-
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 instru-
ments which make these processes possible.
This truth is extremely tar reaching. Not
only for material wealth are we under OBJ
Ggations to our fellows. but also for our in
tellectual wealth Others have labored and
we have entered into their labors. 1t IS
, creditabe for a 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
, every great truth he learns has been dis
covered by another. Our abundance OF in
N,,t Of 10
solid rock bv the men of the past who la
bored with bleeding hands.
, And this is Just as true Of those spiritual
T riches which we value. Liberty OF thought,
} how much has it cost in the suffering and
, 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 ont Of beastly state into de-
cency of living? Let us not be wise in our
: own conceit, but in the midst of our abund'
a ance let US think humblv, soberly, accord
q ing as God has given unto us, through the
J.. ministry of our fellow men. the measure
of all things which we possess.
(2) Then as we face abundance, even as
: when we face want, let US endearor to an
precate the relation of values Is the NAV
! who possesses wealth better than the ma
q who possesses nothing? Perhaps. But not
' because he possesses wealth. Is the univer
4 sity graduate, the man who possesses intel
+ lectual riches, better thar the man who has
i never been to school? May be. But not
!. because he is a university graduate. The
= man who possesses much and is stincv !;
:, worse than the man who possesses little
= and is stingy, because there may be an ex
a cuse for the stinginess Of the man who has
: only crust and faces starvation, but there
a is no excuse for the man who goes on add
>. ing barn to barn or thousands Of dollars tC
/ other thousands. while his neighhors hun
!, ger. There may be excuse for the ignor
y ant man for not trying to advance the in
y L.lI.a4...I .tanLa-aa nE he ..o-.-nuni-- ~