The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-06-09
Mary Austin on the Teachings of Jesus


Jesus is still the most power
full personality that has passed
across our world. He Is the man t=s
history and the man OF mystery.
Whatever is said OF him by strong
mind has vivid interest fo- It's. So
/ quote with pleasure the following
paragraphs from new volume.
Christ in Italy" written by Mary
Austin. OF California. She is speak
ing of Italy:
Il shouldn't have been able in
this underfed. most Christian coun-
try, to sustain myself without the
recollection which here took on the
proportions of revelation. that
Christ nowhere said it Is good to
be half-starved and overworked and
! Ill and INTENDED, nor that anguish
and loss and incompleteness and
lame legs and leprosy are blessings
in disguise; that He never turned
away anybody that applied to Him
for relief on the ground that it was
good for their spiritual develop
ment to suffer these things.
"V'hat He did come promising
| vas the kingdom of Heaven at hand;
and whatever elGe the kingdom
meant to the Hebraic imagination,
il didn't mean a modern manufac-
turing town. nor Whitechapel. nor
the Tenderloin: for 1t Is expressly
stated that there should be none
hurt there. none hungry nor afraid.
nor in pain, nor crying any more
And the first qualification for citi
zenship should be a concern to have
everybody get as much as you
wanted for yourself.
He didn't say you could get out
OF it on the ground that your neigh
Dor needed misery as spiritual cor
receive; he hadn't, in fact, put 1t at
any time tina, misery was the evil
dence OF anything but the iuiquity of
those in authority; and it wouldn't
be accepted that You couldn't see
your way to that and the existing
social order and the economic
status.
SO far as He put Himself on
record as to the economic status. II
WASH com supplementary and -se-fae
as He cared. you could have knocked
the social order to .smithereens. pro-
vided you evened up.
Christ never said OF man that
his riches signified the degree of his
competency; II riches were a sign OF
anything. 1t was most likely a sign
he would go to hell For the Car
penter believed thaving practiced
poverty in His person. that chief of
the conditions that bred 1t is free
dom for the unlimited accumulation
OF goods. .-1--
ITO be rich assumed your con-
sent to your neighbor being poor
and to all the social waste il en-
tailed. 1t wasn't going to help you
to explain that you wanted wealth
not for its own sake, but because
you could do 10 much good with 1t.
Merely to be caught with 1t in your
possession was the witness of your
completely. And he called the lead
ing business men of his time a
generation Of vipers.'
II have looked a long time in
such unclear accounts OF Him as
are left to us, to see IL He expressed
an preference for soup kitchens,
Eumuid6c o6iCs,s 6Au 0OAh6 WitAouI
butter to save psunies for the mis-.
sionary box. as means of estab.
fishing the kingdom with justice and
with Judgment forever; for you
might think in view OF the wide
spread employment OF these means
that they had been specially recon-
mended. But there isn't word to
say that it is degree more Chris
tiau to take up collection than to
pass eight hour and living wage and
prohibitive child labor laws.
$50 far as there is anything in
His teaching to the contrary, you
could establish the Kingdom OF
Heaven by an act OF Congress il you
thought it could be done that way;
for it's salient characteristic is tie
reorganization of society on the oasis
of your neighbor being you. And
when they asked Him. He gave
them very practical calculation OF
the futility OF pretending that the
reorganiratiop 10 already effected. 20