The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-02-15
A SATURDAY SERMON.

Therefore all things whatsoever We
would that men should do unto you, do
We even So to them: for this Is the law
and the prophets. st. Matthew VII II.
OF course, this, the Golden Rule, is
trite. In every country and In every
CLINE where Christianity is known, all
men are familiar with it. But no great
truth ever becomes too stale for repe-
tition. And this takes its place among
the greatest of the many that were
given life by Jesus of Nazareth, the
most remarkable teacher that the world
has ever known. 1t is, indeed, the key
stone of a righteous civilization.
Perhaps, the very fact that almost all
men know of the rule of doing unto
others as they would be done by, and
appreciate it's reasonableness and sig
nificance, if they give it a moments
thought, is the reason why so many
it. 1t has become SO commonplace
that it is generally forgotten as soon
as it is thought of or heard. And
this condition of affairs also presents
the reason why the preachers and the
teachers, and the leaders among men.
should shout it from the housetops,
occasions. For only through it's prac-
tice, is to be found a permanent solu-
ton of most of the vexing problems,
economical and sociological, that are
pressing for solution these days, in
this and other lands.
Too often the ends thus sought are
pursued through wars with their bloody
strife, or through the force of law,
which while made for all of a people,
is seldom enforced impartially because,
in the main, of the frailties in human
nature. No government of a people,
in which they have any sort of a voice,
can exist without laws and many of
them, until, at least, that rather
chimerical period, more Familiarity
known as the millennium, arrives. 1t
is extremely doubtful, though, if that
halcyon day will be fastened on its
way in this or any other nation by any
system of laws that the mind of man
is able to conceive. And this is true
in one way because most of the pro-
posed reforms by law are urged, unfor-
tunately, by men who are obsessed
with Interior motives that are selfish.
They want the honor and the glory,
and often the emo1uments, as WELL that
are accorded to those in high and pow
erful stations. Notoriety, prominence
in the public arena-these are the
things, and the things alone that sa-
tiate their ambitions. And these are
the things, also, that have dragged
proud and happy nations into the mire
of a distressing decay.
Laws are needed for the orderly adj |
of the affairs of state; |
and to protect the weak from the
avaricious and ruthless strong until the |
latter come to see the error of their |
ways. But man-made laws that at
tempt to legislate morals into a people |
are almost wholly futile. A mans |
morals are what he makes them him.
self in a large measure, although en-
always plays no small part |
And until more men are disposed to
obey the laws of God, the simple but |
Decalogue that Moses pro-
duced on the tablets of stone, and
which are the basis of the wonderful !
teachings of Christ-until more men /
begin to love God above all else and
their neighbors as themselves. then
and not till then will civilization begin
to make the progress that it should.
Therefore all things whatsoever We
would that 7 en- should do to you, do
We even so to them: for this is the law
and the prophets