Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-11-12
SARAH D. LOWRLE,S
SATURDAY EVENING TALK
10 BE Really Gentle Is to Be More A,are Of AnoterS Needs
Than Worried About Your O,vn

ASKED young chap that / have
"A known since he was a child, who was
lunching with us the other day. why he
was going into the ministry. OF course,
y knew he would not give me any very
deep reason off hand that way. but ]
was interested to know what answer he
had on the tip of his tongue for casual
persons who did not expect him to be
very serious.
He smiled ingenuously and said
well, no one expects clergyman
% make money, you see! And as
never could, just thought l could be
poor all my life as n minister and never
disappoint the family by being failure
because l wasn't rich.
i asked him where he was going to
study, and found that he was quite at
sea as TO which of the many theological
eeminarics available could in my way
give him what he wanted. One wGs
noted for It's orthodoxy, and another
for its broad system of ethics One
prided itself on the experience It gave in
social service. and another was evan
gelical-that Is. it encouraged its stu.
dents to make a popular appeal TO tie
masses.
The boy said rather gloomily thu. he
rather thought he would go down TO
in the South they did not insist So
much on doctrine rs on manners. Il
would be easier going about one = bust
ness as clergyman with decent man
ners than with the other sort. lie
seemed to think that there were great
many of tho other sort getting
trained into gentlemen by rather hard
experience.
7 WAS surprised at his stand, for this
- generation of Young men do not las
much stress on manners and are not
fond of that word "gentleman, or any
or its derivatives, gcmtlemnnly" or
genteel being specially ObnoX ou5.
But l discovered that TO this boy. nt
least, the term "gcntlcman" meant
simply man who, by virtue Of his own
imaginative sympathy, could put himself
enough In the other man point of view
TO hnd an approach to him.
What he meant by manners was evil
GENTLY that kind of courtesy which
makes its pOsScSsor never Mt n loss AS
TO what to do next. because. actually,
ne IS more aware Of the oth"r person c
needs or pOtcntial!ticS than he is cxi-
gent about his own.
DO not know what would actuatc Il 4
- mans choosing the ministry for a
life profession unless he was lust that
more aware OF another's needs than OK
tgent about his own. And | suppose +
what made the boy impatient of the
few men he saw who were splf-con
scious, or crude. or insiStcnt or tim.
idly initiative, or unctuously nuthorita-
tive. was that they were in the one pro-
fessiOn in the world wncrc serenity and
quiet command and creative force and
patient gentlencsS were needed. lie
felt that to start in, lacking those quail. I
ties, was TO court failure
The boy probably guessed that con-
gregatiOnS are not kindly tutors. and
that ms teachers Of manners they are
seldom successful.
Fortunately, the men who dedicate
their lives to the service of their fell /
low men in their particular calling have I
another and n better chance TO teach /.
themselves the great art of being gen Z
tlemen by the mere reiteration Of their :
impressions of Christ
There was no situation to which lie
was not intellectually and intuitively
equal because of that very Quality in
Him of being more aware of the needs
of those about Him than he was exi-
gent about His own Added to the
awarCness of others needs was the
power He possessed to fl! them.
T SOMETIMES wonder il they teach
l. in any seminary that power to read
mems hearts. One need not lessen
Christ's greatness in any way If one
takes IL for granted that II il a uouor