Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-01-25
Let the Poor of the Earth Teach
The Prosperous How to Pray
. Blu Bishop Warren 4. Gambler

more important than any service the
classes can render the masses. From
IL follow most logically several con-
illusions of the utmost Importance.
Ii is obvious. for example. that a
Church i'm which the plain people
do not abound is doomed to cor
ruptiOu and decay. Such a Church
has no reservoir of ascending faith
TO save il from itself. Ii is likely
to dote on its culture and refinement
and social influence to the forgetting
of God and TO the qualifying, If not
to the utter rejection, of the sim
plicity of the Gospel.
The Opulent and well-to-do rob
themselves of the greatest spiritual
blessings when they fall out of touch
with plain people. and aria nge them
selves into exclusive sets and cir
cles. Their natural human sympa-
thies are hardened aud chilled by
such a process, and the courage Of
their faith perishes under the cor
roding influence of cowardly eau
ton.
There are societies in many con-
gregations of wealth, whose men,
bers talk much of their missions TO
uplifting the outcast;" but they will
do well TO remember that they have
more to gain from contact with the
poor than they have to give to the
objects of their pity. A woman of
fashion, or a man of fortune, can
learn more of God from the poor
people in their plain homes than
they can learn in drawing-rooms and
public assemblies where only people
of their own class are gathered to-
gether'
1t is doubtless true that family
worship is more common in cottages
than in palaces. They who wear soft
raiment and dwell in kings houses
are apt to become prayerless. They
rely so much on earthly support and
find such satisfaction in earthly
goods that many of them feel
they can do without God, and
that they have no need of family al
tars. This fact has been noted by
careful observers since the days of
Job. In the Book of Job we find a
description of such people. which
perfectly describes them today. There
it is written of them, They send
forth their little ones like a flock
and their children dance. They take
timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the
sound of the organ. They spend their
days in wealth, and in a moment go
down TO the grave. Therefore, they
say unto God, Depart from us, we
desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
What is the Almighty, that we should
serve him? and what profit should
We have, if we pray unto him?"
dob XXI: 11-15.)
One of the most lamentable signs
of the time is the decay of religion
in the family. Ir the Acts of the
Apostles We come repeatedly upon
charming pictures of households of
faith; but in these days of plenty
and prosperity we find few repro
auctions of those charming manifeS-
tations Of domestic piety. And the
family altar has disappeared in the
main from the homes where it is
most needed.
Ii burns brightly in the plain
homes-O Gods poor, but its fires
are. nearly gone out in the homes
OF =, the opulent 1t is pity
that, such lis the case, and the fact
hQdes, no good for the Church or the
nation, Even Robert Burns. who was
far removed from excessive piety,
perceived the relation of the family
altar to national greatness. In all
his writings there is nothing more
beautiful and true than the lines of
his "Cotter's Saturday Night" in
which after describing most tenderly
the family worship of a Scotch peas
ant, he says:
From scenes like these old SEQ
tia's grandeur springs,
That makes her loved at home,
revered abroad"
Let the poor teach the prosperous
how to pray. Both masses and class
es will be benefited thereby.