Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1905-03-02
A UA.LY BREAD problem

A UA.LY BREAD PnOeLEM
The breaG-and-butter question is the
uppcrlnost concern of nearly every
body. Sometimes men rebel at having
to spend their best powers merely for
the physical maintenance of themselves
and families. yet no amount of philos-
ophiZing can place us beyond the nee
essity for eating. drinking and wearing
clothes Indeed. the great Teacher
never despised this phase of life, as so
many lesser teachers have done. He
Was tebukel by the pharisaical be-
cause he came eating and drinking;
but it is this very humanness of Jesus
which accounts for His sympathetic
nearness To plain people.
In the present instance. 1t was
the plebian hunger of a rabble of Inn
provident people which evoked one Of
the greatest miracles of Christ's min
istry. The followers of Jesus We're
rather disdainful toward this curious
multitude. they would have thrown
them back on their own resources, let
ting them pay for their heedlessness
by the pangs of hunger. Not so with
Jesus. He takes people as they are.
His teachings are not based on a mere
Hypothetical state of society. an i'm
aginary ideal. Just as He finds men,
with all their sin and folly and weak
ness, He accepts them and gently tries
to conform them to His own standards.
a newspaper the other day quoted the
text: He is kind to the %unthankful
! and to the evil" but. by II printers
error. 1t was rendered, He is kind to
the ~unthoughful." The newspaper ver-
sion of the scripture is Illustrated by
this miracle.
Close to tho Maddin~ Crowd.
Goniuses are generally believed to
be e"sily annoyed by people. i have
seen Paderewski greet cheering. fran
tic audiences, eagerly demanding en-
cores, with "A bow and "a smile in which
1 could read nothing but disdain II
cynicism. Not SO witt the Teacher Of
the gentle heart, whose wonders caused
the mob to pursue Him even into His
retreat across the sea of Galilee. He
sought rest and seclusion. but they
would not permit 1t. Did the weary
Christ complain? Knowing the idle
and cheap motives that moved them;
lie He express the contempt for pOpu-
lar clamor that has been heard from
the lips of so many leaders of men?
Far from 1t. His only sentiment was
compassion. To Him they were like
sheep without a shepherd; and as n
woman with a mothers heart wants
to take to her arms every baby she
meets. so Jesus longed to comfort and
help these needy ones.
The phenomena of the crowd Is an
interesting study. Whom do men fol-
low? Why does n preacher fill the
very aisles of his church, while an
othe: breaches to empty pews? Why
is one girl always the center Of "a
company; one young man the leader
of his fellows? Jesus attracted crowds:
usually, it is true. they were but crowds
of the happy-go-lucky common people.
who. as in this case. followed him as
small boys follow a circus parade,
without thought of the inevitable
hunger or of the journey home again.
Accounting for the Crowds.
Three reasons may be given for the
multitude which attended the Master.
First. He brought things to pass. 1t
was the miracles that created the fol-
lowing. The social lion of today is the
man or woman who has lone things
won a football game. explored a jun
gle. written a book, made new music.
or fought brave battles. The ever-true
recipe for recognition. to be commend
ed to all who think themselves unap-
preciated. is simply to- do something.
The. busy ministering church gets the
people.
Jesus had something to give. 1t is
the givers. and not the getters, whom
the world follows. A man must make
himself bread. as food for his fellows
II he is to do the world service. Who
lUllOMS III tuc tIdlU u AITlSI IHuS(
be prepared to offer himself as a sac
rifice to the selfish and the unthankful
for The Son of man came not TIC be
ministered unto. but to minister"
The crowd is always hungry; that
is the third reason. All the restless
moving to and fro Of the multitude
today agog over 1.-The Simple Life:'
tomorrow enrapt by jui-jiutsu," simpl,
betokens the deep, in~articulate desire
of humanity for something which II
has not. This Is the real explanation
CT the success of all the queer crazes
and cults which a W their day anf
disappear: the world il rit-hungry;
1t wants the bread Of heaven, which
alone will satisfy.
A Good Partner.
One OF the standing heads in ever,
newspaper Office ia Dissolution q
Partnership" Men find 1t hard to pull
together: ability to work with othel
persons Is one of the most dificult o
arts. The tactful Jesus possessed 1t
When He saw the scrape into which
this hungry rabble had got itself. HI
did not issue orders right and left, re.
gardless. He called his disciples int,
counsels. though He Himself knew
what He would do" He did not neet
the conference, but they did. 4
So the men began to speak up. Phil
Up. the cautious, far-seeing. cam!
: helper-would that every ph%ilanthropi,
enterprise hal a Philip-counted vi
the cost Of feeding this hungry mob
and showed the utter im%posaibility O
the task. He VAS an Indispensable
member Of the company: a brake upon
say. the impulslve Peter and tn,
i dreamy. Impractical" John.
i Then spoke up the humble, difiden
Andrew. h was content always +
play he part Of a connecting link, blu
4 whose faith was mighty. He truste,
!. Jesus wonderfully. So he brought tn
h report, after mingling with the crowd
that there was present a small bo,
r with five barley lOaves and two smaj
fishes. He did not exactly see IN
bearing Of this fact upon the genera
> problem: still. It was his way trust
: fully to turn over everything to tn
.