Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1907-10-12
STRONG SHOULD HELP wEAK.
By Rev. William O stir.,

bear the infrmities of the weak and
not to please ourselves.-Romans Is 4
Here is an easy classification OF men.
Some are strong, the few comparative
". The majority are weak. And the
strength or weakness here referred to
is not physical, but social, intellectual.
moral, spiritual.
The Scripture enjoins that men with
such strength are not here to please
themselves. to nurse their strength, to
husband 1t simply for their own good,
but they must expend . 1t in behalf of
men who are shorn of power or advan-
tage. To put 1t concretely, broad shout
ders should stoop to bear the burdens
that break the bending backs Of the
weak. Let those whom God has blessed
with health go to the aid of those fet-
tered with life's ailments those whose
wealth has made them men and wom-
en- of leisure, give their surplus means
and unemployed days to benefcent
ministries among the destitute poor.
Thus shall life be redeemed out Of
much Of its want and woe and sin.
But the reply comes back: Let each
man bear his own burden, each man do
his duty. each man be faithful and
true, then the fidelity of each will Gre
ate a paradise for all. There would
be no sorrows In the world save those
of lighter kind. We frequently ar
que: Do not saddle burdens or moral
delinquents upon good, punctual souls
who pay the debts of conscience as fast
as they fall due; let these weak ones,
these spendthrifts and insolent sinners,
| bear the burdens of their own social
or moral bankruptcy. That sounds
well. 1t has the ring of individual re-
sponsibility. This virtue is greatly
needed. But every man, for various
reasons, does not take care of him
self, and this is the alternative which
| the strong man, and especially IL he is
a Christian man, Is called upon to
meet.
| Is 1t not true that society and law
are perpetually taxing the faithful, or
derly and Intelligent to discharge the
arrears Of the vicious, the unscrupu-
I lous, the idle and the ignorant?
! Whence come the revenues of the State
to prosecute great criminal trials?
Who support courts of justice, schools
asylums and penitentiaries2 Are they
not maintained BIZ the industrious, vir-
tuous, well-to-do classes of society?
One-half Of the machinery and work
of all government is but the combined
effort and outlay of good and just men
unjust and to afford In our various
| public institutions. the court, the pris.
on, the school, the board of health, and
| even the church, wholesale substitutes
| for individual fidelity. Look at 1t any
| way you please, society is joint stock
| company, where the strong have to
bear the lnflrmities of the weak.
| We are confronted In these days
| with an exaggerated, overgrown indl-
| vidualism. We notice at times the pa
| thetlc spectacle of classes of men ris-
ing to do battle in behalf of the happl-
ness and advantage of the less fortu-
nate, only to withdraw from the CON
test when they shall have achieved
| greater advantage for themselves. But
not all are that way. Many, an ever
increasing number, are making their
hearts great magazines of kindness,
using their surplus means and leisure
| for Gods weak, weary and worn chill
| dren, pouring out their health their
wealth, their mind and soul In copious
| beneficence for the enrichment of our
common life. Men of strength are
needing this word of John Ruskin:
"Shall one by breadth of sweep and
sight gather some branch Of commerce
of the country into one great cobweb Of
which he Is himself to be the master
spider. making every thread vIbrate
with the points Of his claws and COM
handing every avenue with the facets
OF his eyes? Shall the Industrial or
political giant say, Here Is the power
In my hand. / shall put weakness I'M
| der contribution to my advantage
Rather let the great mind become also
the great heart and stretch out the
scepter of power over the head of the
people and say: Let me help you sub
due the obstacles that baffied your IA.
theirs and put away the plaques that
consume your children
To bear the burden of the weak is
the very core OF the Christian life.
Not an Intellectual belief within, not
form of worship without, but sympa-
thetic. self-sacrificlng helpfulness, be-
tokens the Christian life. He is the
Christian man who, in endeavoring to
cleanse his own soul as temple, to
free 1t from all egotism and selfish
ness, makes the most of his faculties
and resources. and then. seeking out
the most urgent needs of his fellow
men, applies his powers and advan-
tages to the satisfaction of those needs.
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