Los Angeles herald., 1906-11-26
TELLS HOW To
OWN THE EARTH
PLEASURE OF POOR WEIGHED
AGAINST RICHES
Rev. Robert j. Burdette Says That the
Message "AlI Things Are Yours"
Was Not Written for
Standard Oil

At the Temple Baptist church yes
terday morning Pastor Robert j. Bur-
dette preached on the topic "a Great
Monopoly" taking for his text l Cor
inthians, 3:21-"All things are yours"
"That's a mighty monopoly. All
things! And the assurance wasn't
written to the Standard Oil company
nor to Pierpont Morgan, nor Charles
Schwab; but to the poorest Christian
man or woman. in this congregation.
The man, sick in body and poor in
purse who robs his minutes of rest
to add to the hours of his toll, in the
struggle to keep the home-roof over
the heads of the wife and little ones.
The woman whose fingers smart and
burn this morning with the wounds of
the needle that earns her daily bread.
To those who have nothing and pray
as the rich man cannot, Give us this
day our daily bread To the children
of God, who hunger and thirst and
then come without money and without
price to buy and eat that which is
good.
"'All things are yours The faculty
of acquisition is as strong in man as
| it is in jack-daw. Every generation
| has had it's man or group of men who
wanted to own the earth and who tried
| by all means, fair. and foul, to get 1t.
But they never dTned it, and there
have been men and women who didn't
care for it. And they owned it. You
can't own thing that is care to
you. II owns you. What does a man
want with time, who is heir to etern-
! ity? What does a man care for hoard
| ed gold to keep and to guard, when he
expects to walk on it some day?
Childish Treasures
"A child peeps into a drawer of my
desk and sees treasure that excites
desire. May 1 have that? Yes To
keep Yes, forever; take it home
with YOU The glad eyes shine with
delight, and 1 am overpaid by the shy
pressure of little velvet cheek against
my face that makes my heart rich be-
yond measure. What was it? A bit
of worthless trash; a broken lock; an
old watch spring, cheap paperweight
that | have been trying to lose. | used
to work, and scheme, and trade and
cajole to secure such "splendors.' Now
1 only keep them for the children.
"'When 1 was a boy said Thackeray,
L liked toffee, but 1T cost sixpence
and l hadn't a penny. Now l have
pocket full of sixpences. but 1 don't
care for toffee.'
He hasn't lost anything. man
with a pocket full of money doesn't
care for candy. And when he finds
something worth more than money he
won't care for money There are some
things in this world that you can't
buy for money, because they belong
to the happy monopolists who own all
things There is way, then, where
by you can gain the whole world and
keep your own soul. When you gain
the world in the name of Christ; when
you win it by sacrifice and love, and
service; when you make 1t better and
purer, stronger and cleaner A con-
tented man owns everything he sees.
He doesn't want to keep all his pos
sessions, but he owns them. Conse-
quently he feels no pang when he
chooses to throw some of them away
as not worth keeping.
81 know a woman who Is owned by
a dog. She can't go away for day
unless the comfort and safety of the
dog is arranged for. She walks long,
weary distances because the conduc-
tors won't allow the fat, lazy brute on
the trolley cars. He makes her carry
him when he is tired. He makes her
chase away the fiercer dogs who would
devour him.
Automobile Owns Man
"And L know man who belongs to
an automobile. just as much as the
tires and carburetters do. His chauf-
feur own the machine, although the
man paid for it. And l know another
man who is owned by a shot gun. 1t
regulates his outings and controls all
his leisure time There are only a few
men in the world who own things. 1
know a candidate who is owned by a
committee. He used TO have mind of
his own and 1t was a good enc, too,
when he was poor and independent and
owned himself. But now before he
speaks he goes to a campaign COM
mittee and asks them what he is to
say. And / know a woman who lives
in Jail rather than in home A good
honest, faithful, loving woman. She
used to own her home, but for some
singular reason she quit using 1t as
home and turned 1t into a Jail. She
cleans 1t and sweeps IT,, and dusts 1t.
and slaves In one room and another
and doesn't get half as much comfort
out of 1t as the ordinary tramp does
out of a county jail. either. And when
she traded her home for this jail she
didn't get anything for her home. She
traded eyen-or rather she gave big
boot for the Jail She gave up comfort