Hidden from the Prudent: The 7th William Penn Lecture, May 8, 1921Jones, Paul
Religion
Hidden from the Prudent: The 7th William Penn Lecture, May 8, 1921
Jones, Paul
Christian life
The next day, when his uncle asked him how he had made out, the boy
replied: "You know I thought about what you said, about getting even, so
I told him we wanted him to pitch for us; and he not only played a dandy
game, but he said he would get me a new ball." The boy had found the
divine way of getting even.
I am not concerned to apply this principle to the many corporate and
social evils of our time; for if only I can succeed in making clear how
true and how vital it is as a key to human relationships, and how
central it was in Jesus' teaching, its wider application can safely be
left to you. Creative love is the healing spirit most needed in the
world today.
If, in presenting those aspects of Jesus' message which reached the
hearts of the simple with a vitalizing power, giving them a new grip on
life and a sense of at-homeness in God's world, I have conveyed the
impression that here is a safe and easy way out of life's difficulties,
I have failed in my task. Because a view of the world is true and
because a method of approach is the only ultimately successful one, it
by no means follows that it is always a safe method for the individual.
Indeed Jesus abundantly reminded His followers that they need not
expect less of opposition, antagonism and persecution than He Himself
had received. The following of the way of love would make for division
and strife even in that place where it would be hardest to see it
arise--in one's own home. It could not be expected that evil corporately
and socially entrenched would always give way before the power of
redemptive love glowing in the life of one individual. It might mean
that the lives and labors of many would have to be spent to the utmost
before love would achieve its victory.
It is indeed in the light of such a possibility that the social
character of the gospel is doubly emphasized. The kingdom has a meaning
only when we realize that far beyond the individual triumphs for love
that may be achieved, there is a field that can be won only by the
corporate faithfulness to the ideal of the group. The individual may
lose by all the worldly standards, and his life may seem an ineffectual
protest or gesture, but it is the type of losing in which the soul is
found and which sooner or later wins out for the group over the
entrenched evil of ages.
In a decade in which, following a more imperfect, yes, even a sadly
futile ideal, millions of men have been content to give their lives, we
have no cause to feel that men will not be ready to pay the price. They
are even too ready to sell themselves for that which is worthless. If
they but knew, to adapt our Lord's words, if they but knew the things
that belong unto their peace, but now they are hid from their eyes!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account