Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-04-26

emotion. The priest and the Levite re-
fused to help a fellow man in distress
They count for nothing and they stand
for those who count for nothing in the
service Of man: for those who compress
all their kindness into high-sounding
phrases; their religion into mere mat
ter Of intellectual belief. But what
ever may have been his defects, this
Good Samaritan knew an unfortunate
human being when he saw him; he knew,
when he heard it, the divine call of HUI
mainly; he knew, when he stumbled upon
1t there in the Jericho Road, his one OPP
portunity to come down through the
ages as an example Of God in the heart
Of man.
But all the details Of this story are but
the settings which enclose one great les
son-the lesson Of Friendship, the gos-
pei of the human touch. To the lawyers
question. Jesus replies that the test of
friendship is in the quality. the adapta-
ton Of ones self to the circumstances.
the continuity Of friendly service.
What he found there by the roadside
was what modern charity would lass a
cease" A stranger whom nobody knows.
falf dead. and in need of friend.
Neither the Priest nor the Levite are to
be considered brutal in one sense; they
hurry by because they know that the
friendship that this case demands
means an expenditure of more time and
effort and trouble than they think they
can afford. They are on their way to
important duties. They would doubtless
be glad to report the lease" to the
proper authorities, but their own time
and their own personal service is pre-
cisely the one thing that they cannot
spare, and SO they pass by on the other
sire, that not having Investigated, their
knowledge will not bring sense of their
responsibilities so heavily upon them. We
have people. good people, too, of just this
variety at the present day.
But the Samaritan is also in haste;
he also has business of his own upon
which he is intent. Up that hot and
shadeless valley he is driving his
beasts laden with oil and win for the
Jerusalem markets. He sees the poor
stranger. Doubtless the same thoughts
concerning his own affairs go through
his mind as went through the minds of
the Priest and Levite. But he stops;
he dresses the wounds of the stranger
with the oil he is taking to market: he
puts him on his own beast and plod-
ding along in the dust by it's side, he
holds the weak and swaying stranger
in the saddle as he pushes ahead to
the nearest wayside inn. Once there
ne does not Immediately turn him over
to the strange landlord. The poor
man needs physical attention, but he
needs more: he needs a friend beside
him when he wakens from delerium.
SO the Samaritan watches by him. and
when at last the poor, beaten, batter
ed victim starts up with a shrek of
terror, living over again the expert
ences of the Jericho Road, he finds a
brothers. hand to grasp his own and
a brothers arm to support him as he
sinks back upon the pillow. Mean
while the days profits have vanished
into thin air. swallowed up in the
glory Of the humane deed. And
through the night he doubtless catches
only maps as the hours go by, for We
are told that not till 1.-The morrow he
to the host and said Take care Of
him and whatsoever thou spendest
more. I. when cbme back again, will
repay thee" ,!sT's
The fundamentals of human nature
change little with the passage of the
years, and the chief obstacle Of today.
as it was then, to the administering
Of Christian charity, is the preoccupa-
ton of the individual with his own af-
fairs
The method of this man of great
heart and deep sense of brotherhood.
who found time from his own profit
and pursuits to extend friendship and
assistance to the wounded stranger.
has always been the ideal Of Odd
Fellowship. Like him, our Order
strives to extend real friendship, 4
practical assistance, coupled with the
eff1fficiency Of man of business. BY
this l mean brother of the Order
does his share for himself and others.
and if the vfcissitudes of the Jericho
Road happen to overtake him. he may
look upon material assistance as his
right, but there is never lacking the
life giving bond of friendship which Is
above price, which cannot be bought
in any market. 1t is charity which
is not charity. and yet it is charity
which is a great deal more than char
ity.
But let us not become too inflat I'D
with a sense of our innate goodness.
for we may as we'll acknowledge tina
there are some who by no means en-
body all the noble traits which have
been pointed out as significant of the
Good Samaritan. Odd Fellows or not,
we are still human. Our initiation
does not change US from the stature
of manhood. but it does introduce us
to a lofty ideal in manner that is
vivid and impressive. With us, as
with all human institutions, there are
those to whom the loaves and fishes
are the chef attraction. But the
most powerful influence in a mans life
Is the power of lofty ideal; and the
of our members cherish this
ideal very sincerely. We do not set
ourselves up as teacher of religion.
neither do we offer a substitute for the
Christian Code. We revere religion,
and all men are welcome to our num-
Der regardless of creed.
system of morals or philosophy
which is enforced and put into prac-
tice, is worth a Thousand theories