The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-03-11
THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
DR.. N. MCGEE WATERS.
Subject: Joy in Work.

sermons on "The Choice of a Pro-
fession," the Rev. Dr.. N. MCGEE
Waters, pastor of the Tompkins Ave-
hue Congregational Church, Sunday
preached on How a Young Man
May Find Joy in His Work" He
said in the course of his sermon:
The story of labor is a checkered
one. 1t is only in our highest civiliza-
In his savage state man is the lazy
for any animal to work, save as it
is driven to it by the whip of neces-
sity. This is the view of work we
find embodied in the old Genesis
story, where labor is set down as a
punishment for Adams sin, where
he is told, as he is driven from the
Garden, Thou shalt eat thy bread
by the sweat of thy brow" This is
not only a very uninspired part Of
the Bible; but this sentiment certifes
that it is a very old part.
How labor was despised received
its most signal illustration from the
life Of Christ. You remember how
over the multitudes who heard Him,
He cast a spell. All the people said
that no man spake as He spake. The
loftiest spirits pressed about Him and
asked Him If He were the Messiah.
Yet they scarcely could believe for
Joy. And what was the basis of their
doubt? Their skepticism was all in
that question Of theirs, "Is not this
the carpenters SOM" How could
a workman be the real Saviour? They
marveled at His wisdom. They con-
fessed that He spoke with authority.
They followed Him as sheep follow
a shepherd. But He vas a carpen-
ter, and so the high and mighty set
Him down for a fraud. 1t was be-
cause their eyes were holden that
they mistook the dignity of toll for
a disgrace.
In some parts of the world that is
still true. But increasingly the world
Is coming to honor the toiler,
whether he works in a profession or
a trade, and is correspondingly COM
ing to despise the idler, whether he
be rich or poor. How much the
United States has done with it's
democracy to bring this about, and
with its great men, almost all Of
them coming from the cabin and the
pillow, we may know. Certain
it is that New England was the first
country since the land Of the ancient
Jews in which it was counted respec-
table to earn ones living.
Little do we think, or have taken
tine to find out, how much our work
contributes to u happiness.
Work is a great character builder.
I suppose most of us work in order
to eat. T suppose if we were gener-
ally asked, we would say that the
first requirement we made of Il
labor was that it should clothe us,
and feed us, and house us. That is
the first requirement and the lowest.
The second and greatest require
ment a man makes of his work,
whether he knows it or not, is that
1t shall make a man of him. Your
work must bring you bread, but no
less it must bring you culture. Some
how or other we are always plying
the boy who is born poor. or the
young man who fails at college. 1t
Is a hardship and sometimes a pity.
There is one man, however, more un-
fortunate than that young man, and
that is the young fellow who is born
In a silken nest and goes through COL
lege in an automobile. There is
nothing wrong about a silken nest,
and there is nothing bad about an
automobile, except it's trail. But you
cannot raise an eagle in eiderdown,
and it requires far more Of a man
to amount to anything in college who
goes through it in an automobile
instead of walking. We are so made
that we must have struggle. The
reason why rich mems sons rarely
amount to anything, IS because they
never develop their muscles. There
Is no teacher like work. 1t must
bring him bread, but no less it must
bring him culture. "The Man With
the Hoe"-he needs not so much pity.
Moses was a herdsman; David was
a shepherd; Jesus was a carpenter;
Benjamin Franklin knew no college
he was a printers devil; Robert
Burns knew no leisure-he was a
plowman; Abraham Lincoln wore no
soft raiment; but these are our stars
of the first magnitude. Even col
leges a give culture only through
work, and there are some things col
leges cannot teach. Literature and
history and the liberal arts are at
last the ornaments of life; even read
Ing and writing and the rule of three
are all named the ~"conveniences of
life"
But these are fundamentals-in-
iustry, thrift, courage, honesty,
truth, faith, hope, love. These arc
the threads which, woven together,
make the eternal life of man. If you
have forgotten these, though you
have gained the whole world, you
have lost your own SOUL" and these
may be had for the receiving in every
work and calling open to men. When
you stand before a task, look for a
teacher. If it offer thee not wisdom,
desp:se its wage. If thy calling
yield thee not culture for mind and
heart, 1t is but a coffin for thy better
nature. Demand of your life work
that it shall make a man out of. you.
Work is a great influence giver.
And here we come upon another
blunder. 1t is not the kind of work
you do that gives you influence so
much. That is what the world
thinks. 1t is the way you do it.
Quality counts for more than kind.
1t is true, of course, that there are
some vocations that in themselves
damn the worker. All labor that
makes merchandise out Of mems
vices is of that sort. 1t is true also
that certain kinds Of work give more
consideration than others.
The minister, because he is 4 min