The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-09-09

a glutton. Greed is a gormand. Greed
| is a huge monster with voraelous APP
petite, and the more you feed him the
larger he will grow, and the greater
will become his desire for food. He Will
swallow down a mans religion. He VIII
keep on swallowing down houses and
banks and lands, and still this demoniac
monster greed will keep crying: II am
| hungry; give me more to eat More to
eat, | say. Give me morel Aye, give me
more than you have and still l can eat 1t
| and not be satisfied. | am growing big
ger all the TIME. Food food! ! must have
more food for my omniVorous appetite"
That Is only another way Illustrating
the Biblical truth of my text which
says, He that loveth silver shall not be
satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth
abundance with increase"
| You never saw a person who selfish
/ ly lived for what he could get who was
satisfied with what he had. More, more"
Is always the slogan of greed. Give me
/ more. Give me more" do you see that
sofa?" said a gentleman some years ago
to a friend. 'Wel that one sofa almost
/ ruined me. 1t took me years to recover
myself | have always kept that sofa as
an object lesson for my children. When
l was a young man We were living in
humble street and in a small but COM
/
my way along and would in time have
come out all right. But one day my wife
was at an auction sale, and she was able
| to buy that sofa very cheap. She bought
/ 1t but no sooner did she put 1t in our
parlor than It made all the rest of the
furniture look shabby. Then we decided
to get new parlor set to match the sofa.
No sooner did we fix up the parlor than
we had TO buy new furniture for the dim
ing room, and so we went on fixing the
house Then after we had refurnished
/ the house. we decided that the house it.
/ self was not good enough for the furni-
! ture, so we moved into a larger house on
a better street. Then, when we moved
j into the better street. we found out that
we had to have better clothes. Thus we
went on increasing our expenses and our
outgo, While our income remained the
same Then the first thing l knew the
bills kept piing up, and | was a financial
; wreck" ''Ah yes" l said to myself,
when | heard that story, ''how true
that Is about the unsatisfying result of
sehshly living for what we can get!
When we live for self the more we have
the more we want. Greed has an omniyo-
| rous appetite. Greed Is a glutton. Greed
keeps crying: More more. Give me
more. | must have morel' My friend, Is
not this the personal history of your
greedy life?
My brother, how old are you? Forty"
How are you getting along in business?
on you say "splendidly, splendidlyi
My business was never better than now"
Are you making any money outside Of
your business? YES" you say. ~ do not
tell this to everybody but | will to you.
| Last week | closed one deal alone where
by made on one piece of land a net profit
of $4,000" Indeed | suppose you inher-
ng1 laa. of, Ga
Their to start in business? Inherited In
deed, | did not Why father never had
anything to speak of. | was brought up
| ON farm | made my own way alone.
| Why when / first came to the city my
wife and ! used to live in two rooms
Then often said to her: If the time ever
comes when We have an annual income or
$3.50 and a little home of our own we will!
be satisfied Then you laugh to your
self and say, THANK God, we have a
good deal more than our little home now
/ and $500 a year income" Is that SO, my
friend? Then | suppose, as your money
] Is Increasing, you are giving more and
more TO God and to your fellow men.
suppose, as your capital enlarges you do
not grind your clerks down to mere
pittance and that you give them more
time off for rest. ! suppose that every
year, as your financial income enlarges.
your benevolences enlarge also. You look
| at me a moment. Then you drop your
eyes as you slowly say: NO; ] ought to
do this, but | do not give as much now
9s did twenty years ago. The strange
fact is that financial success Inevitably.
encourages selhshness. The more | get
the more I want and the less / give in
| proportion to my success. This Is n self
ish world and I am each year like most
rich men. becoming more and more self
! ish.' God pity You o Christian migrate,
! God pity YOU. | say again. because as you
! grow weather. you do less and less for
others. | know one fact is true-the more
you get the less enjoyment YOU derive out
of your own selfish successes. "fIe that
loveth silver shall not be satisfied with
silver, nor he that loveth abundance with
Increase
/ But | take a step further in my subject
and declare that greed is an omnivorous
demon, which is not satisfied in feeding in
| our own pasture lands alone, but he wants
i us to collect his fodder from the pastures
of our neghbors also This sin of greed is
| like all other sins 1t will SO warp and
twist our natures that before we know it
We will be looking at the world through
| false spectacles, and own open palms will
be itching after other mems goods And
what is worse, our covetous hands ton
/ often will grasp those things which belong
J to our neighbors. ""What." You say. do
YOU mean to affirm that our rich men, as
| a class, are thieves and robbers?" NoSI
| will not go as far as that. I will not say
| that as pickpockets they will grab your
purse and run. But l will say this; If
man will allow the evil worm of greed
to gnaw at his heart long enough he may
be willing. and he often is willing, to do
| that which in the sight of man as we'll as
! of God is morally wrong. although by