The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-08-05
The Cost Of Economy.

And King David said to Ornan.
Nay; but ] will buy it, of thee for the
full price,. Chronicles 21:24.
Thus did one man decline to take
advantage of what the world would
call a bargain" Such refusal, how
ever, might be little better than quis-
otto. One needs a good reason when
he persists in making things costly
to himself. David evidently thought
he had such reason.
He had gone up to Ornan's thresh-
ing floor for the purpose of there
erecting an altar at his own expense.
The shame of his recent crime was
so keen that he was willing to pay
any reasonable price for e~xpiation.
Judge then his surprise to be Of
fered the property without cost to
himself. What a chance to econo-
mize!
But David knew a thing that we
sometimes forget. The souls pro-
cesses can never be cheapened. To
shave the cost of ones altar Is to
cheat oneself. Life has no real short
cuts to triumph. God appoints no
bargain days on which the shrewd
trader may enrich himself at the
expense of the Almighty. To attempt
the payment of ones spiritual debts
in the property of another, to offer
the sacrifices of a contrite heart with.
out personal drain, is a specious
fraud. =
What is the "spoiling'' of a child!
What but the payment by parents OF
the price which the child ought to
pay? my child does not know the
meaning of s~elf-denial," said a moth.
er overload. Pity such a child! Miss.
ing the meaning of self-denial, he
will miss all the real prizes of life.
I knew a young Ia who made a
hit" at his first public venture. But
that first hit was his last; he has
never found the range since. Easy
success ruined him. The short cut
was a blind alley. The sorriest thing
that ever happened to Coleridge was
when. his friends guaranteed him
against a rainy day. His muse sick.
ened with the absence of bracing airs.
Hardship had kept his soul awake,
but ease drugged him. Oh, the cheats
we practice against ourselves by our
economies!
The last place for a man to save
money is on his gifts. Let him wear
the old overcoat another season, II
need be; let him reduce the length
of his bill of fare, let him not shave
the cost of those affairs which love
builds. The dearest economies we
e practice are those, which touch
our benefactions. Our l:ss is great.
er than that Of the cause we refuse
to help. Charity can better stand my
withholding of help than I can stand
Withholding it. To let another do
my giving is to let him have my
blessing. If Oman builds my altar
for me he also takes my joy.
That man who asks how much he
must give up in order to be a good
man has gotten hold of the wrong
end of the matter. The question is
rather how good he wants to be. A
disciple who finds that his path In.
cludes' no crosses may we'll pause to
ask which master he is following
Life's real affairs represent the shed.
ding of blood. To repeat, then, Da-
vid's great remuneration at Ornan's
threshing floor, to hold bravely to
the sacriicial quality Of human life
at its best, to refuse all ignoble light.
ening of loads, to bleed that we may
bless-in spite Of all complacent
voices to the contrary-this is one
of the rich truths Of life.-George
Clarke Peck, St. Andrews M. E.
Church, in the New York Sunday
Herald.