News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1903-02-25

I every guinea tnat goes into q theater
or museum there ought to be some
twin guinea pledged for truth or fly
ing on some errand of mercy in city
so crowded with misery as this. Then
we have right to our amusements.
Otherwise we have no right to them,
but are liable every moment to i'm
: parchment in the court Of righteous
ness and charity for our treachery to
heaven and our race
Rather strong, Ell? But not too
strong when you consider that the
earth is the Lords; the gold, the silver,
the time, are all his. And when look
over my list of church members and
then read the society or business col
umns, which tell of their uses Of mon
ey for luxury and amusement. is it any
wonder that | ask, Where is the Chris
tian discipleship that gives so out of
! proportion to its own qualification com
pared with it's duty to great causes
and social needs? Lowells verse
haunts me:
God bends from out the deep and says:
1 gave thee of my seed to sow:
Bringest thou me my hundredfold%
Can ! look up with face aglow
And answer, Father, here is gold? E."
Il am afraid the celestial record book
viii not show a very heavy deposit on
the part of the luxury loving Chris
| tians of this day and generation"
Then you consider that one of the
indictments against the church Of to-
day" Gordon asked as Falmouth
raised his head and sorrowfulIy gazed
at picture of the crucifxion that
hung over his desk.
Yes, that and a lack of willingness
to bear personal burdens, to carry
crosses, to walk humbly, to apply
Jesus teaching to business, politics and
amusements. There is a striking in
consistency between the church men,
bers' vows and their daily lives. espe-
cially in the business and money max
ing world. The Christians in our
churches are not making their money
as they ought, many of them, and they
are not giving a tenth part as much as
they ought to help Gods kingdom"
That is sweeping charge, Mr.. Fal-
mouth. Yet you remain in the church
and continue to preach and act under
these conditions"
II love the church." Falmouth spoke
slowly, again sinking into reverie. MY
father and his were ministers. Ny
mother is d saint if there ever was
one, and her heart would almost break
if She heard what have said today, for
she believes the church is Gods leayen
in sinful world. SO do l, but | see its
need of regenerative cleansing so clear
ly that l am torn between remaining
where l am to preach the truth from
the inside and going out to do my work
apart from the church as an institution.
Yet where shall / go? There are no
other institutions that are more Christ
like than the church. The labor orders
are as selfish as the church. The or
CARNATIONS that do not profess any re-
ligious creed are no more hopeful places
for a man to stand than the place
where l am now. l could lead a very
quiet, easy life here if | were content
to go softly in and out, preach sermons
that would satisfy the intellectual or
aesthetic demands of my congregation
and let these problems of humanity
alone. But, Gordon'-he turned his
face to the visitor, and the intense pas
sion OF the man shone through the
habitunl gravity and culture that 9th
erwise distinguished him-'I am, I'M
happily, shall say ?-no, providentially
caught up in the social whirlwind of
the age, and | cannot-I cannot let these
questions rest. Woe is me if | preach
not a whole gospel! And in order to
preach it l must go the entire length
of proclaiming Christs Golden Rule
and self denying discipleship, knowing
fully that my people will grow restless
under it, knowing that they are not
willing to take up the cross daily in
order to follow their Master. And vet
there is a faithful handful There are
some who have not bowed the knee to
Mammon. Perhaps more than l have
known. God forgive me if l have been
unjust or erred in my judgment of the
church in this age
Gordon did not venture to breai the
silence that followed When Falmouth
again raised his head, he said With
rare smile:
Il envy you, Gordon. I would al
most like to change places with you.
You seem to be doing work that needs
to be done. You are doing things. l
am writing about them. Some day
He stopped abruptly and then asked:
eff you were in my place, what
course would you take with the mon
eyed business men in this church to
touch them with a sense of their re-
sponsibtIity and privilege as stewards
Of Gods wealth.
Gordon answered instantly:
Get as many of them as possible to |
go down into Bowen street and see
how the other half lives"
Falmouth's eyes CLEANED.
81 doubt if they will go. I'll try it. |
have never been there myself, But |
see your point. YoT think the men |
and woman of thiS t.itV do not know