Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1907-10-11

aAI
A2iGN
STRONG SHOULD HELP WEAK,
By Rev. William c. stinson

It,
not to please oursclves.-I;omans l5l
Here is an easy classification Of men.
Some are strong, the few comparative
ly. The majority are weak. And the
strength or weakness here referred to
is o 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 it simply for their W good,
but they must expend it in behalf of
men who are s4ora of power or advan-
tage. To put it concreteIy, 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 lifc's ailments those whose
wealth has made them men and wom-
en- of leisure, give their surplus means
and unemployed days to beneficent
ministries among the destitute poor.
Thus shall life be redeemed out Of
much of its want and voc and sin.
But the reply comes back: Let each
Atstfi NsiA hio WI StiSiA tii'Ni' NS
his duty, each man be faithful and
true, then the fidelity of each will Gre
ate q paradise for all. There would
be no sorrows in the world ave those
of Il 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
&C thnTr. fall f1t,n LOT thnSn WOO L. nnnS
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 his is the alternative which
the strong man. and especially if he is
a Christian man, is called upon to
meet.
Is it not true that society and law
are perpetually taxing the faithful, or
derry and intelligent to discharge the
arrears of the vicious, the unscrupu-
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 penitentiaries? Are they
not maintained by 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
to repair the mischiefs of the bad and
unjust 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 it any
way you please, society is u joint stock
company, where the strong have to
bear the infrmities of the weak.
We are confronted in these days
with an exaggerated, overgrown indi-
yfdualism. We notice at times the pa
thetic spectacle of classes of men ris-
ing to do battle in behalf Of the happi-
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 opiou
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 owe
In my hand. I shall put weakness un-
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 a
form of worship without, but sympa-
thetic. self-sacrifcing h~elpfulness, be-
tokens the Christian life. He is the
Christian man who, in e~ndeavoring to
cleanse his own soul as a temple. to
free 1t from all egotfsm 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.
THE RELIGIOUS MAN.
By Henry F. Cope.
Lord b shall abide in thy taber-
nacie! VINO snaii dwell in thy holy
hill?-Psalm 10 4.
Who is the religious man in our day?
What is 1t to be religious? why do
many good man haste to plead not
guilty to the charge of being religious?
If good men are ashamed of being
known as religious, why do we con-
tinue to maintain institutions Of re
ligfon and assert that religion Is nee
essary to fullness of life?
So long as we continue to Judge re-
1igion by its exceptions, and allow the
weakling. the coward and the hypocrite
to stand as the opponents and samples
OF piety. the honest and worthy will