Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-01-10

M
we belong to that old-fashioned crowd
which believes that anything in de-
cency which will arouse the conscience
ana induce men to quit their mean
ness and abandon their sins, even
though with the somewhat question
able motive Of personal gain, is prob
ably great deal better than nothing.
II a man will only behave himself and
DO the square thing, should we not be
willing to have him do SO. even though
the supreme motive be to escape hell
and get into heaven some time in the
future? But the time-honored use Of
thls remarkable utterance Of the Mas
ter mas been far away from the lesson
evidently intended.
The disciples, just like / few people
OF the present century, were very ear
nestly engaged in the occupation Of
looking out for number one" If they
were not actually doing it on this occa-
sion they had been doing it, and this
was in their hearts. A new kingdom
was to be set up, and every one want
ed to get up pretty near the throne.
Peter may have expected to be secre-
tary of state, Matthew would feel that
he was fitted for a good position in
the custom house; John may have had
secret long1ngs to be secretary of war,
and Judas, of course, would expect to
be the national treasurer. Every one
wanted good position, and all were
seeking to find out which place was the
highest and the best.
How many thousands Of people there
are in the city of Los Angeles today.
and how many millions in this country
who manifest precisely the same spirit!
II they can occupy the supreme DO
sition-if they can ride in the high
places; If they can have the best that
is to be had, they have little or no re-
gard for the means or the method by
which they attain their hearts desire
nor how many will have to be over
stepped that they may rise to the top
There is a success which brings sue
cess and we'll being to Others but too
many achieve success through the fall
ure or the loss Of others.
This spirit the great Teacher re-
buked in his followers at the time, and
his truth and his spirit have rebuked
1T ever since. Jesus taught the great
lesson which his disciples finally came
to learn, and which his followers since
have often been so slow to learn. in a
very beautiful and graphic manner. He
did considerably different than the
most of US preachers do today. He did
not quote from one of the old prophets.
He did not draw a historical parallel
ism between the lives of great philoso-
piers, poets and warriors. He did not
indulge in an eloquent and scholarly
disquisition on the fundamental essen
tfals of greatness. He simply beckoned
to his side some rosy-cheeked little boy
or girl innocently playing on the street
and probably said: 'Here you have the
supreme example of greatness - Verify
say unto you, except We be converted
and become as little children, YOU will
not even get into the kingdom of
heaven, to say nothing about getting
some great and influential position
there. But since you are DESTROYS Of
knowing who is the greatest in the
becomes like this little child-he is the
greatest"
If the nature Of the kingdom which
the greatest Teacher of all the ages
came to establish has not materially
changed since those days when he
walked the earth, there is need and
great need that the lesson taught on
that occasion should be earnestly incul-
Gated and faithfully learned today.
Heaven is not some place where peo-
pie walk along streets of gold. play
on harps, fly with wings and wear
crowns, a sort of an unlimited South
ern California, in which all our widest
speculatt0nS make US rich and we all
live in mansions whose velvet lawns
have perpetual care, and no bills to be
paid for the service. At least this is
not the sort of kingdom Of which
Jesus was evidently speaking and
thinking on this occasion. He had very
little to say about some sphere Of ex-
aggerated self-complacency and I'M
earned ease which figures so extensive
ly in the prevailing ideas Of heaven
He was not forever telling the world
how it's inhabitants might by hook or
crook manage to get into an existence
by and by where there would be moth
ing but good time throughout the
amending ages of eternity. He had a
strong, clear and beautiful conscious
ness of the life which is eternal-of the
life which is beyond" He did not
cling with feverish anxiety to this Wis
ible life as most of us do, but he was
intensely interested in life as he saw
it and as we see 1t, and taught us how
it should be lived. Take Marks beau
tiful little account of that life, read
it through and notice how very much
of it has reference to things that are to
be done and sentiments which are to
be cherished here in this life and amid
its scenes and activities. How great a
part of his life was given to relieving
human sufferingi Love for neighbor.
kindness to parents, consideration for
the weak, service to those who need
US, surrender of the things which we
might possess for the good of those
about us-these were the things which
seemed to be uppermost in his mind
and which were to be the stepping
stone to that ideal society here in this
world which he referred to as the king
dom of God or the kingdom Of heaven.
Almost all the things which men have
supposed to be desirable and which
have been accounted as powerful in
building up the kingdom Of this world
are not only out of harmony with the
kingdom which Christ came to estab-
fish, but utterly at variance with it,
Force, self-seeking, cruelty, life-sap-
ping Journalism and conservatism
hidebound laws, class distinctions. dis
regard of the rights and the happiness
of others, the supremacy Of material
possessions over the value and develop
ment Of human life, adulation Of the
masses for individuals or for certain
classes-all these have done something
and many Of them have done much to
blight and hinder the kingdom which
Jesus came to establish. Very few Of
these things have any place in the heart
or the life of the child. Children are
natural. They have no regard for class
distinctions. They are eager to learn.
They trample on all conventions and
traditions. They are unselfsh, or
would be had they not inherited the
selfishness of thousands of years. They
are loving and tender. They are only
happy when those about them are
happy. They do not rob others of life
that they may save something for the
future" They are trustful and unsus-
picious. They use sweet tones until
they come to initiate ours. They are
full Of wonder at the great world in
which they are, and prefer to enjoy it
with others rather than to seek to put
n fence about If for their own exc111-