Pocahontas star herald., 1923-06-15
NE Dime on the ColIection PIate

The Dime on the Collection Plate
The old custom of passing the col
lection plate at church services still
obtains.
Skeptics profess to get great deal
of amusement our of what they term
passing the hat" But it doesn't take
much to amuse some people. Babies,
for instance. win find entertainment
for hours at time in 10-cent toy.
Church-going folks, however, seem
not at all purturbed by quips of the
skeptic. Their only feeling for him
is that of sympathy. They know that
solitary confinement is not conducive
to development
An idea, for illustration, Is some
times so unfortunate as to lodge in
the head of man whose Uranium is
incapable of harboring more than
one mental image at a time. Thus
the idea is doomed TO solitary con
finement. Deprived of association
with other ideas, it shrivels and dies.
That is why the charitable so often
pity instead of condemn.
The collection plate, considered by
itself, is not interesting. 1t matters
not whether it be of silver, of wood
or of other material. 1t is merely
utensil used for purpose.
The interest is centered in that
which is found on the plate--not in the
total. as is generally believed, but in
the individual contributions and the
motive behind each.
If all the circumstances could be
ascertained, the amount placed on the
collection plate would prove unerring-
ly the character of the contributor,
and the character would often belle
the reputation. Reputation is what
one is believed to be; character is
what one really is.
A dime on the collection plate will
make the devil either laugh or weep.
II depends altogether ON the financial
circumstances Of the giver. II may be
smaller than mustard seed or larger
than the plate on which it is laid.
1t must be very amusing, indeed, to
the devil to find prosperous tight
wad trying to buy his way into heaven
on a dime. Sometimes a fellow with
a or in lie hot
appear misshapen will fish around in
another pocket for a 10-cent piece, and
/. after dep0siting 1t on the plate lean
back and sing How Firm a Founda-
tion" with as much fervor as if he
had built and paid for the church edi-
fee. A dime is rather a fragile foun-
dation for a rich man to stand on.
In consideration is the spirit Of the
poor man who walks to and from
church that he may have an offering,
however small 1t may seem, or of the
poor woman who has sacrificed dur
ing week days that she may add her
pittance to the contributions of those
with whom fate has dealt more gently.
If there are dimes laid on the collec-
tion plate that bring smile to the
devils face, there are others that wipe
out the smile and substitute frown.
The dimes of the poor are like the
mite given by the widow, of whom it
was said:
This poor widow hath cast in more
than they all"
Seldom, perhaps, Is the gold and
silver dropped on the plate from Jew
eled fingers as acceptable as the dimes
that fall from the horny hands. The
one may represent duty alone: the
other embraces both duty and sacri-
flee.
In their charities men and women
are actuated by different motives
Some contribute their dollars as the
purchase price of a salve for con
science, others merely for show We
doubt If in either case the recording
angel makes an entry of the contrl-
button
Some give From a sense Of duty and
always there Is a certain feeling of
satisfaction that comes from duty
wen performed, whether IN the nature
Of gift or deed
But others give because of their
love for the cause TO which they give.
And it is these who have held aloft
the torch that has lighted the path
way of men throughout the ages.
The collection plate is often re.
Election Of the hearts Of men. and the
dimes thereon are always more inter
esting than the dollars.-Co Commercial