Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1910-04-14

w.
N.Y. crest not the beszn thrt Is
-. in thine own eye.-iIatt
In these words Jesus nrfs fault
with fault finding. criticises the eenso-
rious critic. Judges the seltc omplar
cent Judge. satirixcs the blind Dculiss
In the sermon en- the mount be re-
TO the last lie has condemned AMER.
lust. perjury. violence. hypocrisy GOV
etousuess and worry: but hisl final
censure Is spoken against the tcrime
81 the tongue" probably becau 20 Il Is
the most prevalent and poison nus OF
all sins
Fault finding Is as common as the
imperfections Of human natur,A But
We must discriminate. There isia cen
serious fault finding and there is a
Christian fault finding. Cen serious
fault finding Is a vice. Christie fault
finding Is virtJs. Censoriot fault
finding grows out Of a desire 10 de
stroy; Christian fault finding grows
out OF a desire 70 save. Csnsorious
fault finding is illustrated IN the Phar-
lsees slandering Jesus: Christian
fault finding is seen In Jesus point
ing out the sins Of the Ph urisees.
censorious Fault Finding Wrong.
Ccnsorious fault fnding aas certain
features by which It may be easily
recognized. Jesus says IL has beam
in its own eye while II is trying to
cast the mote out Of the other mans
eye. A man with a mote N his eye
may pass uudetected. but a man with
4 beam in bis eye Is marked. No
pious goggles can hideshis glaring ex-
crescence
The familiar figure az Uncle Sam.
as drawn by the cartopnists. canno.
be mistaken. Neither ,.an this man
as cartooned by the Master The
beam is always there. II Is the beam
OF self-complaceut pride. pious ego
tism. harsh criticism. malicious Sian
der. The censo-ious critic denounces
while be himself is in
toxicated with pride. condemns lar
ceny while he hirnself steals and de-
stroys good repueations. reprimands
lying while be himself Is a walking
lie. Faul Hnding is no accident with
him: IL is his business. and II he can
not find faults be will create them
and peddle them like smugglers who
deal in contraband e DDS.
The field OF fault finding Is large
one Things and oranions and per
sons offer 4 wide Opportunity. II 4
man belongs 70 this class OF critics
there is hardly a thing in heaven or
earth that he will not criticise.
II Is something like this that Jesus
means when he says. With what |
Judgment ye Judge. We shall Do
Judged. and With what MEASURE ye
mete it shall be measured 20 you /
again" When Shakespeare said:
VINO steals my p,E-e steals t-ash
But De that niehss from No my g0ei .
name.
Takes that which rpt e1rshes HIN
And makes me POOR Indeed
he uttered a great truth but there Is /
an additional truth. not expressed BY /
Shakespeare. viz. thH the inevitable +
resgl, Of faux fading trspoveri.hes
and emhittsrs the man who finds
fault II is. therefore. the most mex
cusahie folly.
The bitter Judgment has, an echo.
the cruel criticism has a slndow. the
slandsrous word 10 boomerang
Whatsoever a man soweth shat shall
he also reap" Sow 4 crop OF pretu-
dices and you will surely reap them.
measure out libel and Il viii not fail
TO be measured back to yea. invest
in fslsehocd and it will be paid back
to you with interest compounded.
Christian Fault Finding HaptuI.
Christian fault finding is character.
tied by three qualities. viz: 1t begins
at home. it is tempered with mercy.
IL aims to save. The only man who
is qualified TO Judge others is the
man who has first rightly iud yed him
self Self-iudgment which is just and
thorough is the most difficult kind of
judgment 1t is hard to get an indict-
ment against ourselves and harder TO
get a conviction
But in the case OF the. other man
the fault Is the only thing else we
see There is a profound philosophy
back OF this selfiudgment.
He sees his own unhappy plight.
Corrscts his own defective sight.
Then tries TO set his brother right
IN tender mood.
No posing attitude he takes
While pointing out friends mistakes.
The evil news he gently breaks.
And seeks the good
n spot upon the sun appears.
II diScord in the song he hears.
II calm is killed by ugly fears.
Or rumors Wild.
He secs the light. the shadows fly.
He hears the music. discoris die.
Falts brings the heavenly Father nigh
To guard his child.
And 50 he grows from day TO day.
Not blind to errors devious way.
Nor lost in some ethereal ray
To sins deep pain.
He finds the flaw describes the cure.
Reveals the faults TO make them fewer.
He seeks with goodness to allure.
And cleanse the stain.
This Is verstied description Of the
only man who is qualified to find fault
What beautiful world this would be |
II this spirit could be substituted for I
the evil genius Of censorious fault
finding. When Jesus found fault with |
the Pharisees there were tears in his /
eyes. Judgment is Gods strange /
work. Let IL be ours and IL we must |
point out the faults let IL be done 1