The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1914-06-11
SATURDAY NIGHT
zEz\SERhoNs
>W-A@ BY
=, REYSAMUEL
:, WpUPvISDl
THE POOR IN SPIRIT.

light Ihe emperor Jnilan mocklhSiy
said, - will confiscate the property of
the Christians so that as poor men
they may enter into their Kingdom of
But one can be as poor as
Jobs turkey. yet proud as Lucifer.
Nor is it poverty in mental faculties
and gifts Often the most ignorant are
the most presumptuous. Nor is it Uriah
Keeps umbleness" The proud are
those who compare themselves with
themselves or with those who seem
less than themselves. II am as good
as the hypocrites in the church. said
the man | was trying TO help. God
help you, poor fellow. that You should
choose us your standard the poorest in
my church." was all that could an
swer The man poor in spirit has a
humble estimate Of himself when he
measures himself with the character
of Christ No; we must not forever
keep putting ourselves at il discount
or bringing like spanielS-must not as
sumo the horizontal plane of animals.
hut the erect walk of sons of God. No
pride is so intense as the pride of hui
miIity have lived among my friends
the ''Quakers' and the plain people
of Pennsylvania No Miss Fashion
Plate on Fifth avenue was more proud
OF the correctness of raiment than
these dear souls of their garb
S, "i'm So 'Umbie"
There are those who fear to call their
souls their own. They baptize their
souls in holy water. name it poverty
of spirit and trelnble lest the Spirit OF
God shall baptiZe them with fire They
are not blessed" they have creeping
paralysis They are never prosecuted
for righteousness sake: they are toE.
turetl from within. Polonius sees only
what he thinks Hamlet would have
him see-cloud. camel or weasels pack.
In politics lie is Il denagogue. in soci
ETY. time server. a hereto or pillar
of orthodoxy, according to his calcula
ton of who rules or is likely ito rule in
Denmark Fear not" is the Bibles
constant admonition Who are the
poor in spirit:" We are not left to
conjecture this important thing Christ
thought his meaning so vital that.
though he repeated the words in va
ried forms, he did not trust it to words
alone lest they might be twisted and
misconstrued. but he gave an illustra-
ton which signifies to us precisely
what it signified to those who saw him
give it. When the disciples disputed
among themselves and asked Jesus
who was greatest in the kingdom Of
heaven he set a little child in the
midst Of them and said none could en-
ter the kingdom except such as had
the child 'spirit-"Of such is the king
dom of heaven"
The Kingdom Of Childhood
BY the poor in spirit | understand
our Lord to mean those who retain the
spirit of little children Childlike-not
childish-are the opposites of those we
ordinarily call poor Spirits the men
who are tricky, cxpedient. sharp eyed
along the low horizon of earth. who
walk by the street lamp and never
steer by the stars Little children new
er think Of policy. expediency, deeep-
ton. We make them towards. There
are no unchildlike children. We try to
make them become like us when we
ought to become like them. And they
become creatures Of religious cant.
piOus little Pharisees in pinafores and
knickerbOckers. as full of worltllinesS
rs we are. There are not many sadder
sights than that I've known them Mt
dancing schools when they should have
been ut dolls, sitting with loud dresses
listening to women at gossip. It's CON
temptible business, robbing children of
childhood The child finds joy in least
things as in greatest. daisy. kitten OF
new toy He feels no anxiety for to
morrow his father will see that he is
fed and clothed He has only to trust
and obey. The way we look back t.
childhood as Eve looked back to para
disc is the evidence that we have tast
ed and in our folly thrown away that
fruit that Christ himself lived on. We
know the children are in the kingdom
and we make blessed and Inconsistent
efforts to keep them in.
"of Such Is the Kingdom"
We expect children to obey this Ser
mon on the Mount We do not think OF
Obeying it ourselves nor expect other
grown folks Ii Rob eats. all the ap
pie and gives Ruth only the core we
are distressed We feel instinctively
that he shouldn't have done it and art
not satisfied until we have made Rot
agree with us. But when Mr. Blanf
took all the gold in the mine and left
me only beautiful certificate | fel,
differently about it, ! ,lalf expected ht
would do that When Tommy ans
Charley quarrel Mt marbles, if Tomm,
strikes and Charley hits back, we art
shocked and grow eloquent on how
wrong il is. But when employee.
strike and employers lock them out tn,
striker hurls brick and the state mi
iitia shoots him-we expect that W.
know that Tommy and Charley are II
the kingdom and ought not to break it,
laws. Just what kind Of kingdom th,
rest of us are in and to what king ".
owe allegiance might disturb us IL W,
were to inquire The child kingdom
rules today. We would go through fire
snow and water for our child, We lool
for the millennium when the chill,
shall lead the lion. Children are God
police. More. they are ambassadors
representatives of his kingdom.
The Other Side.
You shouldn't he dissatisfied !" said