The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-03-14
By WuLIAMr. ELLIS.

Tim. 8: 1T-1e.
By WILLIAM T, ELLIS.
Recent months have been prolific Of
spoken and printed counsel upon the
use and abuse of money. and the short
comings Of the custodians Of the same.
A better bit of advice than any of these
preachments which have chanced to
come under my eye Is a paragraph in
letter, written some 1000 years ago by
q wise man of the world to a young
friend who had been called to a position
of responsibility. Here it is, a single
compact sentence: Charge them that
are rich in this present world. that they
be not high-minded, nor have their hope
set on the uncertainty OF riches, but on
God, who giveth US richly all things to
enjoy; that they do good, that they be
rich in good works, that they be ready
TO distribute, ready to sympathize; lay
ing up In store for themselves a good
that they may lay hold on the life which
n life indeed"
The writer Of that sentence was the
Apostle Paul, and It's recipient his be-
loved Timothy. The present ttmeliness
ct the counsel is almost startling
Charge them that are rich that they
be not high-minded" Why, that is the
very thing that has brought about the
present business calamittes. The rich
have been "high-minded." arrogant,
disdainful of the public thinking only
of themselves and apparently caring
not for either God or man. Now their
high-mindedness has been brought low.
Many of them. in the ruin and shame
which has overtaksn them. wish earn
estly that their eyes had not been SO
closed by their own fairness that they
gets above the need and obligation to
be brotherly and considerate. He who
win not think Of the poor in his pride
must think of them in his humiliation
Money is something useful. when pos
sessed for q season, to show men what
fools they may become by its abuse
=
The one thing certain about riches is
their uncertainty. There are plenty OF
living commentaries on that text to be
found haunting the offices of Wall
street brokers, sitting in corridors OF
the big hotels, or pouring out their tales
of woe into the ears Of whomever they
can buttonhole. There are men with
out a penny today who six months ago
were envied for their opulence. A gen
tleman was telling me last week of the
scandalous behavior OF certain group
of parsons who fondly believe that they
are Society" He pointed out that in
the next generation all the wealth that
gilds their vice will have passed into
other hands. The proverbial saying de-
erations from shirtsleeves to shirt
sleeves"
-
Riches do not last. nor can they buy
any of the better things that do last.
Iife's choicest possessions-health, love,
honor, usefulness-may belong to the
poorest man.
When a man becomes rich enough to
own an automobile he is likelier to ride
away from church than toward 1t. That
Is to say, wealth leads men to set their
hope on 'the uncertainty of riches"
rather than upon God. Prosperity Is
seldom conducive to spirituality. 1t is
when we are down that we look up.
The bulwark of religion has ever been
the poor people. And poverty, along
with peace with God, is more to be
coveted than all the wealth of a Rookie
Teller.
There is one kind of riches which
money can buy, and that is good
works. Undoubtedly the possession of
ties OF service. There are many no
bic. helpful deeds that money can do
ranging from the purchase of
wheel chair for a cripple to the erec-
ton of great hospitals and colleges.
Therefore Timothy was to exhort the
ready to distribute" ready to sym
pathise." The modern view of wealth
is that Its possession can be justified
only by q proportionate service to So
cdety.
Money IL a talent to be stewarded,
regardless of it's amount There are
probably more poor persons misusing
their income than there are rich.
Shiftlessness, waste, extravaganee,
selflshnese. as as possible on fifteen
dollar-a-week income as on a hun
dred times that amount Many of US
are exeusing our neglect of the needy.
our failure to economic and our dis
portionate expenditures by fatuous re-
marks about what we would do If
only we were rich. Whereas the only
true test of what we would do If we
were rich Is what we are doing now.
OF all things unlovely. the least
1ovable should be money. For it,
above all other objects of human af-
lection, has the quality of dwarflng
the souls of those who love it. The
Book of supreme wisdom does not
hesitate to declare. sweepingly and
unqualifedly. THE love of money is
the root of all evil" The possession
OF money is often dangerous; the love
of money Is always deadly.
Money Is not to be despised: it is
one of the most useful tools of civili-
cation. But 1t must be kept In its
become a master. We wisely speak of
money as means: that is all 1t is,
means to an end; not an end in itself.
We should seek to earn money not
for what 1t is but for what it will buy.
The man who owns money is often
fortunate; but the man who is owned
by money is always pitiable.
Many of llfe's debts may be paid
with money: but the greatest can be
paid only with life.
Everybody who has any money has
enough to share with a needier than
himself. IT may be written down un-
Cafaref1 Cannot Re Cured