The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1957-06-28


kind Joseph was
the kind Of great - -
man Americans DIR. Foreman
love to honor. Hewas an immigrant,
for one thing, a poor boy. with
nothing but the clothes he wore,
when he first crossed the border of
Egypt. He was man who rose
through all the layers OF society,
against very great odds. He was
the big executive" type, and i'm
mensely rich besides. Now it is not
true that such men are always
hailed and honored. Sometimes
they are no more loved than Gen
eral Bullmoose. But when such
men do give their fellow citizens
a lift OF pride. il is because Of that
something Extra which we call
greatness.
The High Soul
Every truly great man or woman
has some qualities or gifts which
are unique in him, and are partly
brought out by his own special
circumstances The greatness Of an
Abraham Lincoln. for instance, is
not that of Dwight l., Moody and
neither OF these is quite like Helen
Keller But there are some features
to be found in all persons who de-
serve the word great" Joseph in
Egypt is a good example of these.
First OF all is what can be called
the High Soul. His house OF life is
open to the sky. He is guided by
his faith in God To such man.
faith is not a thing to be analyzed.
or talked about 1t is something to
be lived. and lived by Every single
important step in Josephs life is
connected by his biographer with
God. and Joseph himself shows
that he was conscious Of Gods
guidance. Even that decisive mo-
ment when he was' being sold TO
Midianite slave-traders.- mo-
ment which just then he would
hardly have connected with God.
he later saw was an act Of God.
1T was not you who sent me here.
but God said he to his brothers
later What will God think Of this?
was not an afterthought with him,
but il entered into his decisions
beforehand
The Open Mind
Great men have their preJudices,
no doubt; what human being is
entirely free of them? But a great
man is capable Of living above his
prejudices He can revise his opii1-
ions. Neither the man who is for
ever changing his mind, nor the
man who can never change it, is
likely to achieve greatness. When
Joseph's first son was born, he
called him by name which means
making -to-forg get. God" said
he, has made me forget all
my fathers house Joseph at that
time, and for years before and
after that time, had no eommuni-
cation with his home back in Pal
estine. To be sure, his family could
neither read nor write. but Joseph
could easily have sent a message
telling them he was alive and do
ing very well indeed On the con-
trary, he seems to have been quite
content to be cut off from home.
Very likely he thought TIE less he
had to do with his rascally broth
ers. the better But when the
famine time came. he got &C
quainted with his brothers again:
discovered in one of them, at least,
a noble spirit; and he SO far re
vised his attitude that he invited
the whole family into Egypt near
hiua
The Wide Hsart
Joseph's treatment OF his broth
ers showed more than a willing
ness to reconsider his prejudices.
He had a heart willing to forget
the past, willing to return good for
evil. To men who had been as
mean to him as they could possibly
be, he was as good and generous
as he could possibly be Most of
us think we are mighty virtuous if
in return for dirty deal we do
just tiny grudging act of kind
ness. That is better than vengeance
and mean dealing in return: but
the great man is far above meas
uring what he gives by what has
been given him. True greatness
includes more than justice: it in
cludes forgiveness and mercy.
Voltaire used to say about God,
He will rgive-that's his bust
ness
Based en- Outlines copyrighted the
Division Of Christian Education. Ma
ticnaI Council o. the Churches of Christ
the L S. A. Released by Com m unity
r-ss Serrire.A