The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-09-10
PEOPLES PULPIT.
The Value
Of Toll.
Text, "In the sweat of thy
face shalt thou eat bread (Gen-
esis iii, 19).

eSlS Ill, ~.
one side, and 1t VIII require another One
Thousand Years, the Millennium Of
Christ's reign, to teach Mother Eve
and her family the other part Of the
great lesson, namely, the knowledge
of Good. BY the conclusion Of the Mil
lennium the entire race of Adam will
know both Good and Evil experiment.
ally and, we trust, the majority Of
them will have learned the lesson SO
thoroughly that they will be fully out
of accord with sin in its every phase.
But while acknowledging that the eat
ing OF that fruit has become the chan
mel OF these lessons in evil, as in good,
we can see that these same lessons
might have been much more readily
1nculcated otherwise, had our first
parents rejected the temptation and
proven loyal to their Creator.
Many misunderstood these words,
Cursed is the EARTH" to signify that
our Creator put a special blight upon
the fruitful and beautiful earth. On
the contrary, while he could have
brought the entire earth to full per-
lection before mans creation, he did
not do so, but left the greater part
Of 1t in condition accursed or unfit
for human use and habitation even
while man was in harmony with God.
God merely Prepared the Garden
10 md in,
testing, the proving of our first par
ents, because he knew what would be
the result of that trial. He knew the
end from the beginning. Divine fore
knowledge is the basis of the state
ment, Cursed is the earth for thy
sake;;" it is thus unfit for you, in your
own interest, because I foreknew your
transgression and what conditions
would be most favorable for you, that
your death sentence might bring you
the largest degree of knowledge and
the largest degree Of experience in the
most helpful manner.
Is it asked how the unfitness Of the
earth could inure to mans advantage
as a sinner and why the Lord placed
the cherub with flaming sword to keep
the way to the Tree of Life? We re-
ply that all Of the experiences of the
wisest of mankind corroborate the
Divine decision that it was wisest
and for the best interests Of Adam
and his children that the curse, the
sentence, should affect him in all of
his relationships of life and particular
ly in respect to his earthly home.
Cursed is the earth for thy sake.
Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth
unto thee"
Greed-Seifishness
The battle for bread which started
when our first parents were thrust out
of the Garden Of Eden and obliged to
labor for their sustenance is battle
which has kept up ever since. 1t has
had the effect of developing more and
more in the human mind that evil
quality called greed and selfshness. It
has had the effect of making our race
ignoble, mean. Father Adam, as the
bread-winner of the family, surely had
noble and generous qualities of heart
and great love for Mother Eve; yet,
one could imagine that, as age adj
vanced upon him and he became six or
seven hundred years old, the toll con-
nected with his battle with the thOrns
and thistles was the more severe and
that this would, Of necessity, make
him the more careful, the more frugal,
even, perhaps, to the extent of parsi-
mOny and meanneSS. Similar expert
ences cultivated the same quality in
all Of his children, and the habit so
grows upon us that, not merely are
those who have the barest of necessi-
ties fmpelled to be stingy and close,
but even those who come into posses
sion Of fabulous wealth have this par
simony ingrained in their very being.
We may indeed see blessing in the
Divine provision Of this condition Of
things. Were it not for selfish ambi-
ton and pride what would become Of
the race, under the reign of. the Prince
Of this world"? If every man, upon
obtaining a competence, were to sit
down and be satisfied, where would be
the worlds progress? How could it
carry on the great projects of life-the
public utilities, the public charities?
Some motive is necessary to keep in
operation the great human machine
we call civilization. Our Socialist
friends may tell us that Love and,
Benevolence should actuate the human
mind to all these things for the public
benefit. We are ready to admit that
such would be very ideal condition,
so far as the rich are concerned. But
why should we expect more of the
rich than Of the poor, as respects love
and willingness to lay down life and
pleasure and wealth and comfort for
their fellow-men? Our Lord puts the
matter the other way, saying, He that
is faithful in that which is least would
be faithful also in the greater things.
The poor man or woman who is found
to be very generous and very helpful
to his friends and neighbors is thus
attesting that If he were wealthy he
would probably use his wealth for the
public benefit. But, alas! we find COM
paratively little of unselfish love, either
in the poor or the rich. And this being
true, love could not be the motive
power of the world under present con.
ditions.