The Omaha guide., 1933-08-19

should prove a marvellous drawing
card for other young people. Be-
cause, friends. it must be such an ex-
ample if the "A M. E. Church is to
have a church of tomorrow, if this
race Of ours is to have a stalwart
conscientious men and women. For
the power Of any race Of people has
its source in the Church. through the
realm Of the spiritual.
These men and women and these
young people who have undertaken
various tasks in your church cannot
succeed very well without your help
You, their parents, officers and
members of this church, brothers and
sisters, and their friends, love to e
them active for your church and COM
munity. You love them, for they are
your own people, but many times you
are so Indifferent You don't care
how they get along And yet you
complain about your young people
not having any opportunities Oppor-
tunities are knocking at theirs and
your doors every day, but you are too
Indifferent to be conscious Of them.
1t isn't your money they want
chiefly, that is just means to an end.
Of course, they must have financial
help for expenditures, but more than
anything else, they need your pres
ence at their meetings Show some
interest. No matter how little. |
can't find words to tell you how en-
couraging your presence is to meet
ings of any nature; save to say it
would be like it is this afternoon with
everyone happy and interested
And if you have any love for your
people, show it now Work together
unselfishly and above all things,
learn to Overlook personal preju-
dices, personal grudges. You must
realize that as a race Of people, it is
you, you yourself who must break
down the barriers Of discrimination.
The majority of US have yet to learn
that in order to get ahead in any en-
deavor. whether it is within our race
proper or to make an opening through
our white brethren, we must forget
selfish motives, and strive for the
ultimate good another step ahead
for the Negro.
You, have a better chance for the
development Of your race than the
white. Why do I say this? Because
in the first place you do not have any
great governmental responsibilities
and can therefore concentrate all Of
your nergies toward making your
race economically safe, and toward
the development of the spiritual, in
tellectual and cultural angles.
Most white people do not expect
their Christianity to do them any
great or immediate good They have
their noble buildings and their stately
service, they have their affairs and
their sermons, their doctrines and
their ~corroding skepticism, but their
faith in God and in the things Of the
spirit that makes lie a job and q
blessing, they have not. On some
stretch of it long presence with them.
Christianity lost many Of the precious
treasures committed to it by Christ,
chiefly the Gospel of a Saviors love,
and the religion Of spirit and power
with its great sense of Human bro
therhood Their Christianity has ac-
cumulated such things as Jesus warn
ed his Disciples against when he first
sent them out-wordly pride and a
passion for riches, organization which
becomes necessary when the living
organism is dead, and many theo-
logies, which look upon through and
freedom as its enemies. Such Christ
ianity lacks that great magnetic
power that draws, transforms, and
energies the sad souls of men and
women. Money and number appear
to constitute the highest ambition of
many of our white churches.
And I'm sorry to say some of our
Negro churches are trembling. I say
trembling because they have been
stressing the same things and have
been neglecting the souls of men and
women-of men and women who
need to be guided because they are at
sea struggling in a world of doubt
and turmoil.
1t is all right to follow our white
brethren in their culture and comm
unity life, but we as a race cannot
afford to substitute their religion for
ours. We have too much at stake.
We as a ace are just an embryo
we are still in the making.
Christianity began its nilsson on
earth as q religion Of health and Joy
Neither doctorine nor superstitution
had any place in the mind of Jesus
Light, was the symbol which best
expressed the quality of His spirit. In
Him there is no darkness ar no
gloom. It is all faith and courage,