The Topeka state journal., 1909-01-23
RY WILLIAM 7. Ellis.

- BY WILLIAM I. ELLIS.
The practical banishment of the pro-
fessional beggar is one of the seldonl'
noted achievements of Christianity
The occasional mendicant met upon the
streets of a great city cannot be cIasseC
with the professional beggar whom tiie
Orient knows. The distressing suppll-
cants for aims that traveller meets ~
heather lands are without paralleI ~ ~
all Christendom. The very memory Vi
the sights and sounds is nightmare
am still haunted by the heart-rehQt1lIs u It =
cries of the abject creatures, 5 oLIeI
hideously MANNED whom l nave heaIu near.
and seen, especially in China and 1ndia.
These professional beggars are pupHc
characters even as was the lame ileH
by the beautiful gate of solomon
TempIe who cried to Peter and John
for aid He was as familiar spec
tacle to worshippers as the pillars OF
the magnificent colonnade ltselL- ne ne
lived by the small doles wnlcn "eIe
thrown to him; we in the west have no
coin small enough to express the SIZE
of the average bit Of money gwen 10
beggars in the Orient. Probably II
never occurred to worshippers In the
great +enpIe that the contrast between
this broken bit of humanity, ana llie
gorgeous architecture, had aught 10 40
with religion. 1t is a distinct eVloeIlce
of the advance made in our own tIIileS
that men shake their heads over lhe
juxtaposition of stately cathedrals ana
squalid tenements. There IS somethlLs
wrong when religion can rear maSnln-
cent structures alongside of the apoue9
of direst suffering. Today 1t Is the
recognized business of the church to do
for all the poor and suffering what
Peter did for the lame man at the
gate, when he stretched forth his hand
and bade him arise.
Unemployed and Idle.
The beggar sat at the Beautiful Gate:
Every door of ascent has alongside OF
it a waiting opportunity. There is
need everywhere. The young persons
who lament that they have no
chance" would more truly express the
situation If they bemoaned their lack
of wit and of impulse. No sphere is
too narrow to afford a person an oppor-
tunity for the expression of his largest
and highest powers There is work on
every hand, in the form of occasions
for human ministry.
Great Britain is Witnessing at pres
ent heart-sickening professions of the
unemployed. The churches there are
doing much to meet the eXigencies or
this extraordinary condition; and 1t IS
no palliatiOn of the neglect of Chris
tian civilization, or of the Inequalities
of a social order which permits this
state of affairs, to say that the unem-
ployed should not also be wholly idle.
There is work even when there are no
wages. It is a strange fact that most
men and women when they lose posi-
tions, give themselves to idleness eX-
cept as they may seek work instead of
embracing the opportunity for self-im- /
provement and aItruistic usefulness.
No matter how hard ones own lot,
there is a neighbor whose lot is worse
The salvation of society is to come by
everybody's having in his heart the i'm ,
lame beggar.
Religion for All of a Man.
Nowadays it is no new doctrine that
the church has business not only with
all men, but with all of man. Her realm
is no longer confined to the strictly
spiritual Whatever serves mans body
or spirit is a legitimate office for re-
ligion. The problem of poverty is, it
is true a problem OF the state; but be-
fore that 1t is a problem of the church.
That so much of the socialized thought
of our day is outside of the realm of
organized Christianity IS a reflection
upon the latter; even though the So
cialStic impulse is born directly of the
new spirit which Christ has brought
into the world.
Peter looked upon the lame man by
the gate, and said, Silver and gold
have I none. but what I have. that give
I thee" 1t is better to have pity in the
heart than gold in the hand. A sense
of fellowship with the suffering of the
world is a heritage from the Christ who
himself suffered. If Christianity is not
compassionate it is not Christlike
You see, the church can no longer
say like Peter Silver and gold have L
none" boasted Innocent " to Thomas
Aquinas. and that great philosopher
remarked In his turn, Nor can she
say. Rise up and walk " The church
today commands the wealth of the
world. She is master Of the resources
of civilization. All the material needs
Of all the world she can do more to
meet than any other agency. Whether
she still has, to apostolic degree the |
impulse of self-sacrifice and of concern |
for human veal which animated Peter. |
is not so clear. AsSuredly, the trend of
the day is toward a fresh realization of
the church's responsibility for the
of the worlds needs. This re-
sponsibility is to be met both by gifts |
of gold and by the outstretched hand of |
brotherliness and helpfulness.
Asking Little and Getting Much.
After all. money is the least valuable |
thing that a man can give toward |
meeting the worlds needs. The beggar
who sought aims of the apostles want |
ed only such trifiing dole as the
Orient is accustomed to give to pro-
fessional mendicantS- He knew full /
well that what men gave to him cost |
them little. There is seldom the throb- |
bling heart Of pity in the breast of those |
who give to the poor ito ACQUIRE |
merit" as the religious phrase of the |
Orient has it The beggar asked little; /
he got much. He sought money: he !
found health and holiness and newness
of life. Peters hand was empty, but he /
gave the hand.
Like his Master, he reached out and |
touched the suffering one. Today the |
church is getting back her healing /
touch upon mems suffering bodies All /
the skill of medical science is proper
for her to use but this has limitations
which must be supplemented by the al /
leviating, ameliorating. soothing con-
touch OF the hand of /