The broad ax. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1895-19??, 1923-06-02
BE NOT WEARY IN WELL DO
ING

Let US not be weary in we'll doing;
for in due season we shall reap if we
faint not Gal 90.
In recent years the Negro is losing
his smile. The disposition grows upon
him to think more of his sorrows than
his joys; more of the stumbling blocks
to his progress than of the stepping
stones to success; more Of the people
who hinder than Of those who help.
More and more he forgets the counsel
Of the good hymn, Count your bless
ings, name them one by one" 1t
seems well therefore that we reflect
upon Paul's advice to the Galatians
quoted above. We need to study it
for the purpose of getting reasons for
continued optimism. For be assured
that the only people who have made
progress in the past, and the only ones
who viii advance in the future, are
those who keep hopeful. Everything
depends upon our facing the future
with the smile of hope, and the only
way to do this is to heed the injunc-
ton Of the text-@Be not weary in
well doing"
To the Negroes of America this
means: Compare the present with the
past and see the evidence that the race
has done well. And if it has, do not
grow bitterly impatient because there
are many privileges still denied us.
/ have long since decided that the Ne
gro is not being hurt by race preju-
dice. Unpleasant as it is, it serves as
discipline in throwing off slavery's
greatest handicap-treac one to-
ward another. The stripes on the Ne
gro's back are not the most cruel
marks Of slavery. Far more cruel are
those divisive marks which are man
Tested in lack of confidence Of one
Negro in another and in the unwill-
ingness to pull together for the good
of all concerned To stand well with
~O1e Massa" In the days of slavery,
Negroes would betray one another's
plans and secrets. This practice for
two and half centuries made disloy-
atty to his race the Negroes second
nature. The seed was SO deeply root
ed that nothing would develop race
consciousness so effectively and speed
lily as the conditions prevailing in this
country since the emancipation.
Therefore, instead of losing our smile,
let US see in the very injustices which
race prejudice has occasioned, the steps
by which we climb to race solidarity.
If we watch our upward march, we
shall not grow weary in we'll doing"
The text has promise that should
keep us hoping. For in DUE season
ye shall reap" ''In DUE season." this
means not when man THINKS 50,
but when God KNOWS we have ac-
quired enough racial solidarity to
make the splendid history He intends
shall be ours.
That brings the question, what shall
that splendid history be? What is the
big thing God intends the Negro shall
do? In consideration Of his tradi-
tional optimism and ability to forgive
and forget, ! am convinced that God
made him to teach the world its great
est and most necessary lesson-uni-
versal brotherhood. plead with you,
men and women of my race, not to
allow the nursing Of injuries to 50 en-
bitter your souls as to unfit the race
to perform work without which this
old world shall never be turned right
side up and without which the life and
Of Jesus Christ shall come to
naught. In due season ye shall reap,
is the promise upon which we can
safely base our hope.
Why? Because ~ God says so.
We cannot look into the history Of
mankind nor the laws Of nature with
out getting abundant proof that God
can and will keep His promises to the
Of men, ~ > Because seed
planted viii grow. A recent traveller
found seed which had been shut up in
the catacombs Of Rome for eighteen
centuries. They were planted and to
everybody's amazement, terminated
and grew into most beautiful foliage
and flowers. If natural seed did not
lose their vitality IN eighteen hundred
years. what may we not expect Oft
moral and spiritual seed preserved and
magnihed BY the Holy Spirit?
IF We faint not is the one condi-
ton upon which the realization Of this
promise depends. If we viii continue
the habit which has kept Us hopeful
III the past, we shall not faint. We