Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1904-03-03
MONT FREDERICK COUNTY, MD. g. 1904.

yet from hovel, but from the workshop
of an artisan does Jesus of Nazareth make
common cause with all the people OF the
passing generations.
How surely our Lord condemns the sin.
fulness of Incidence, and how. sublimely
does His example urge the employment OF
our energies. He might have maintained
Himself without work, but to have done so
would have been to set the seal OF His
sanction upon the very spirit that prompts
the average individual to get through this
world with as little effort as possible-the
spirit that is plainly the spirit of the devil,
and that is the prolific cause OF crime and
woe. He who fed the crowds from a few
loaves and fishes might have wrought a
daily miracle for Himself, but never once
was His omnipotence eXerted in His own
behalf He accepted the very situation
which confronts us. Engaged with the oc'
cupations of His trade during so many
years, He exalts industry into a divine
virtue and brands slolh as deadly sin.
He has no favor for an ambition that longs
for absolute ease. 1t may not be necessary
for any one to be occupied with the bur-
dens of business. but we are all bound to
keep in personal touch with the life OF hu.
manity. There are other spheres of use
fulness than the field and the shop, the
Office or the counting room. The church
asks for thousands who are willing to fol-
low the example of splendid heroes who
have withdrawn from the haunts of trade
and from the hope of gain in order to de-
vote themselves exclusively to the ministry
of Christian laymen. Everywhere are char.
tiles calling loudly for encouragement and
service. Politics presents wide range for
the activities of patriotism and of the very
highest religion. There is something for
everybody to do and no one is justified in
living for himself in a seQuestered and at
tractive nook away from the demands that
sound from every quarter. Each indivld
ual should have some occupation, place
in the worlds vast factories. a work OF
some sort which shall tell for the happiness
OF others.
The Lord has a strong word for ahor:
He is the fellow and the champion OF all
toilcrs. He has meaning for all those
who work with their brain or with their
hands, for all such are w6rkingmen. He
has forever consecrated the everydayness
of life. He adopts the workaday world.
The Light OF Asia" which states beauti-
fully certain features OF the Buddhist rel'
gion, represents the incarnate Buddha. as a
| wandering beggar, asking food Jesus
Christ was no beggar. The mendicant, any
more than the pauper, receives not the ap-
proval OF His own practice. by which lie
,anctiiied labor until the end OF the world.
The Gall,can Carpenter was no less the
ncaruate son OF God during the years
which lie spent at Nazareth than He was
on the mountain Of the TRANSPORTATION or
on the first Easter Day. There are many
reasons why work is honorable, but it re-
| ceives its crowning glory from the eNper'
encr of the divine Christ during the long
period of which we know nothing save that
| lie was mechanic. He has endured all
To-, 4 hat M hInr short
OF our own dis,oyaty can possibly take
away. 1t matters not what ones daily
| tolls are, they are worthy OF fidelity and
energy, and they are as much part OF
| Gods service as the SAYING OF prayers and
| the receiving Of religious rites. The en-
pcror aud his hamblest subject, the prime
| minister and the street sweeper, the NH
| Iionarn aud his valet, all are included IN
| the spirit Of industry aud devotion wnlcn
Jesus manifested at the bench which stood
! in shop or perhaps, at times unner d
| huge tree at Nazareth He has halloWed
| all yocations by the conservation OF Ills
pprsonal industry. and they should be IN.
| terpreted and accepted as a sacred part OF
| the lie which now is.
| The Nazareth Carpenter teaches that
worldly place OF itself is nothing WORTH. a
| man may be a man wherever he Is. and
labor il honorable whatever it may he.
station or the lack of it does not make
! the man or his lie. The people oi lowIy
degree may likewise learn precious lessons
of the Galilean artisan. They become dts.
couraped because they fancy themselves to
be of no account, and they too often cher.
sh an unhappy contempt for their daily
| tolls. They deSpise the factory or the
, Office as necessary evils. Jesus has iesson
for them which He proEounccS from tine
| Nazareth shop. Long years lie spent III
ohscuritv. No murmurs escape Him, no
SIGNS oi impatcnCe, no evidences or
restless longing to be otherwise. no vulgar
and goddess disposition to try TO improve
upon the pan, OF divine providence. Quiet
| lv dav after dav lie was concerned with
the unimpressivc and unlntereStlng mat
| ters OF His business. and HIS only ann was
to be true to the state where lie was deS'
| tined to live until the time came Tor be-
| Ginning the public ministry. Wherever the
| Heavenly Father has placed us we, the
sons OF men. can be the sons Of God. The
| real things Of lie are not earthly and tenn
| poraI. and the true estimate OF ourselves .
not the pace--hc it lofty or lowiy-whIch
we hold among men. The divine Carpeen'
ter is comfort and an inspiration to all,
Amid the emp,oynent of His trade did
Jesus prepare Himself for His public life.
There He was made ready. at least IN part,
to exercise all those transcendentlv great
Qualities Of mind and heart which marked
! lis ministry. Eor three Years He gave
/ Himself up to His work as the world Re-
dcemer but for fifteen years and more. as
was probably the case. He was only a car
penter. Surely He did not spend all HIS
time and energy upon His daily tolls. Vi
ten did He devote Himself to eodIy eNer.
cjses Of prayer and contemplation, without
which no one can develop the traits OF
4 IL Rat He rppIIlSo,
He settled the truth once for all that the
| nlace for strong minded, stout. t.hearted folk
! 10 serve God is in the world: the arena tor
doing the Fathers will is right here: where
we have abundant opportunities Tor the
| culture OF holy graces and the practice on
| boly living. We need the benefits OF occs
sional solitude. Init we are bound to think
80 seriously of life and OF God Is cause as
to give no place to the mawkish sent'mch-
| talism which adores perpetual seciuSloh
and calls it the noblest type of religion
| The divine Carpenter hesitated not to
sncnl the wears upon which His future
work was founded amid the activities lnGl' Ii
dent to the daily interests OF mankind. lie
WAS winner, wage-earner:
Work is Gods ordinance. II it was
cr,se in the beginning. it is u blessing now.
| II is one of the best tonics. 1t Is scarcely
less than sacrament 1t may be dcDaSea'
even as may the sacrament oi tue "''dl III
which one may cat and drink damnatlon
to his soul, but it is something OF sacra,
ment which is intended, if used aright, TO
strengthen and uplift, and to further the
divine plans 1T is a sacred duty. 1t is the
privilege and the prerogatlye OF taxing
mart in the vast activities OF humanity. IL
| is an invitation to the market place TO as
nenge comforts, to have share IN the
worlds progress and the making OF ms
tory. it procams independence. it dlsc''
Mines Character, it schools the affections.
We We are only holy ground and are doing
holy things when we 60, with Christ's spirit
TO the daily round and the common task.
The founder of Christianity, the incarnate