The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-12-09

not have depicted disturbing suspicion in a more powerful way. There was a mans face with a curling lip of scorn. His eye had a doubters look, his arms were raised | in an attitude of rebuke and protest | while to the right of the picture stretched forth simply open hand, which in mute appeal seemed to say: Brother | come and trust me, and l will help you. | Let us be friends" Nay. nay' seemed to say that curling lip. q will trust no | one, not even thee." Ah that picture of | the suspicious man is the photograph of | many here today. We have been lied | about; we have been cheated: we have | had our loving condolences betrayed. The result is we think the whole human flock bad because a few of the sheep are black. We distrust all people because a few have proved false to their profession. | Now. I pray God that at the coming Christmas I may have my faith in man | kind re-esta bished and my faith in hu- manity renewed. I would also have my faith in Gods love and goodness verified.
 Faith in Mankind.
 And why should we not make this Christmas request of God? Do not faith in God and faith in man go hand in hand? Are not the goodness and kind ness of man manifest on every hand? Did the spirit of honesty and love and self-sacrihce pass away when your mother died? Are not your sisters and
 
 what your parents once did for you? l believe the reason we take such de- pressed view of the human race today is not because all people are bad. We sim ply refuse to open our eyes and see the good qualities of people who are every where around us. Satan has placed binding cataract over our eyes. May we | be able to make the prayer today which poor Bartimaeus made many years ago
 Thou son of David have mercy" and | when Christ said unto him, What wilt l thou that I should do unto. thee?" the blind man answered, Lord, that I might | receive my sight" Thus may We make a request for this coming Christmas. May | we say, Lord, open our eyes that we !, may see thy goodness as well as the l goodness of our fellow men," Oh how | happy the next Christmas would be if we could only see the good in mankind rath- | CT than the faults of our brothers and sis | tersi A merry, merry Christmas truly | would then be our next Christmas holi- | day.
 But next to faith in God and faith in l our fellow men there is another desire tugging at my heart. That is to make | something out of my own life. And when l I speak thus I am making a Christmas request inspired by a purely selfish mo- l tive. I am not coming to God and say l ing, 70 God, make me a great man in order that other men may fall down | upon their knees and worship mel" but am saying, 70 God, let me fill a position of usefulness in order that I may be of i service to my fellow men and help them | on in the struggle of life" That is just | and holy request to make of Jesus for | a coming Christmas present.
 Let me illustrate by a simple story am a young man. l have a wealthy fa-
 ther, who is great merchant I go to
 that parent and say Father, give me
 some money that l may live and sup
 w..sE d, father gives to me ten fifty, a hundred
 thousand dollars. You say that is a mo-
 ble request. I do not think so. That is
 the request of the loafer, the idler, the
 good for nothing deadbeat. But if I go
 to my father and say, Father do not give me money, but give me a position
 where I can earn honest wages and give
 a full return in labor for the money that
 I receive" then I call that noble re-
 quest The soldier who returns from the
 war when he is disabled may feel grate- full to the king who gives him a pension
 to support him during the years of help | lessness, but the soldier who is strong physically ought not to want a pension. l He should be glad to have had the op- portunity to go forth to fight the battles of his country and his king. So the strong Christian should not desire from } his God place of ease, but a place of
 labor. Today, for this coming Christmas, cannot we say to God: 70 God, give to me a place of active service. Give to me
 q place to labor in thy kingdom" This
 is not foolish request to make.
 Always Out of Work.
 Have you never noticed how many men
 and women there are who seem to be most of the time out of employment? These unfortunates always seem to be square pegs trying to be fitted to round 1 holes. They work, and they work hard
 They seem to have all the mental and
 physical and spiritual qualifications for
 positions of influence if they could only , find their right positions. Poor old Sam uel Johnson's life was a. battle against , diversity. Edmund Burke's speeches are read by posterlty, but they were spoken to empty benches when he was alive. Carlyle had such long, bitter fight for success in life that when he did acquire
 it he was an old man. prematurely aged by troubles, with a disposition soured and , d nature made cynical by perpetual vex- ation. So it is with these unfortunates | whom we see around Us and who are out , of their proper sphere in life. It is all , important to have the right field of use , | fitness open to a man before he can
 amount to much. So at this Christmas , time do not say to God: 70 Father, . | give me moneyi Give me as a Christmas present an easy sinecure." But do say: , 70 Father, give me place in which I may labor for thee! Give me a blessed opportunity in which I may be able to work for my daily bread and support my ' dear ones and accomplish something for
 my fellow men!' This is one of my de- sires for the coming Christmas Is it ; yours? Is the opportunity for labor a Christmas request which is pressing upon i, | your heart and pleading from your lips?
 It is right and proper for every one to , have a healthy ambition Every man, , woman and child, no matter how humble their sphere, should strive to make the most out of life. But though I should , come to God today and make this prayer. , 70 God. give me a position of usefulness, where I may do something for thy glory!" I should also circumscribe that
 prayer with another prayer. should , say, 70 God, do not give me position of , earthly influence greater than that which
 my mental and physical and spiritual . pabilitles are able to fill" But where there are fifty men who are ready con- , scientiously to make the first prayer
 there is hardly ready to make the
 second prayer, When we come to God to
 ask for a Christmas gift we want that gift just as large possible. And yet, ] my friends. do you not know there are , scores of men absolutely miserable be- cause they are trying to fill too big place in life? They are trying to do more than God ever meant their brains or their hearts to do
 Their Places Too Big.
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