Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1904-04-14
THE GREAT PARADOX.

Japan. Korea and China are mach in
the worlds thought these days. and sto-
[ries Of life and customs there are appear
ing generally in the papers. In many re-
spects they are the antipodes of America.
Their way of doing things is the reverse
of ours. A Chinaman wears white for
mourning. while we wear black: he shakes
his own hands instead of his friends; he
tries to execute vengeance upon his enc
mics by killing himself. So the illustra-
tons could be multiplied almost endlessly.
Great as are these contrasts between the
orient and the occident, however. there
are still greater to be found between the
laws of the world and the avs of Jesus.
He came to men bringing an utterly new
scheme of life. The old way. the natural
way, ne reversed. Men had been accus-
toned to love their friends n hate their
enemies: to push self interest and to as
sert self claims. Jesus astonished them
by declaring that they should love their
enemies. do good to those who hate
them. pray for their prosecutors, seek
the welfare of others %first-and. in a
word, to put unselfshness in the place of
ages of s~elfshness, to make love king.
These were upsetting standards but they
are prevailing. Slowly. steadily. i%rresist-
IDLY, they have made their way over the
earth, permeating human thought. To
day the p~aradoxical ideals of cultivated
JcSdS are NhC PIOlSSSCu iuCdiS Vi IL
waited people and civilized nations every
where. The paradox of the ages has be-
come commonplace teaching of the world.
Living n doubtful life," as that term
is commonly understood, Is treineudci;.iy
hard: in the long run It is Impossible.
Equally is one unable to conform to the
two standards set up by the world and by
Jesus: the person who tries to do so is Of
all men most miserable. The u~nhappiness
OF those who avowedly live for selfish and
worldly ends Is really not so great az of
the men and women who try to serve both
God and mammon.
Since man Is to live forever he should
live for those goals which last forever.
In the mint the assayer shows the Wis.,
itor a small quantity Of perfectly pure
gold. 1t is far superior to the gold of cur
rency. having been refined and refined
again until 1t has come to be the standard
by which all the golden output of the
mint is judged. Thus Jesus sets before
those who accept his teaching Il perfect
pattern. an ideal standard: Eye there
fore shall he perfect. as your heavenly
Father is perfect" There Is a command
and a phophecy-a command which calls
forth the deepest devotion and most earn
est endeavor at all times; while 1t also
gives assurance that we shall one day be
like our model. After earth's many re-
finings we hall attain unto the divine
perfection.
The very loftiness Of the standards set
by Christ evoke the heroism which Ia
latent In every human breast. Because
the goal il difficult 1t Is the better worth
trying to gain.
When laws clash the higher must be
obeyed. II a soldier receives conflicting
orders for his colonel and his corporal
he obeys his colonel. In the constant dis
agreement between the plain teachings OF
Jesus and the accepted practices Of the
world many persons are puzzled to which
they should follow. The simple and safe
rule here IL to obey the higher law. Christ
has real authority. and ultimately he
Unjust be reckoned with. The worlds au-
fthor.ty il largely pretense and its power
Ito punish is. after all, only slighr and
Temporary.
1t is easy to love ones friends. Most OF
Ius do that, and lave no thought of doing
anything else. This 10 no particular credit
to w: even the dumb brute will lick the
hand that careeses It. The harder law,
laid down by the Author of the great
Christian paradox, il hat we shall love
II the loveless-the mes who are personally
4 unattract.ve and ~uncongenial, ever ouI
open enentlcs. 1t 10 manifest that thu
the spirit Of love will be diffused as Il
could not be by the first method. Onl,
such ~unexpressed and lavish love. sucf
complete. self abnegating altruism. car
bring the day OF universal brotherhoot
and happiness.
The worlds law IL get" God law 4
give" Tho n makes . life that 4
!, constantly contracting n full of misery
while the other creates a life ever ex
banding until It reaches the ever-multi
plying Joy OF heaven.