Letters to the Clergy on the Lord's Prayer and the ChurchRuskin, John
Religion
Letters to the Clergy on the Lord's Prayer and the Church
Ruskin, John
Church of England -- Clergy; Lord's prayer; Ruskin, John, 1819-1900 -- Correspondence
The veil that hid the true Christ, as Mr. Ruskin has well remarked, was
removed in the breaking of bread with the disciples at Emmaus. As the
Master, so the true disciples. They too may be known both by the
spiritual breaking of the Bread of Life in the Holy Communion (though
the canting hypocrite too may be found polluting that holy rite); but
more especially in the union of the sacred ordinance with obedience to
the scarcely less sacred command of Christian love and charity to the
poor. There may be the empty profession, but there will be none of the
reality of the religion of the Gospel, unless we are partakers of the
bread broken at the Lord's Table, or unless we eat the bread earned by
the honest labour of our hands or of our brains, or share some of our
bread with those, the Lord's brethren, whom He has left for us to care
for in His name. The absence of either of these three essential
conditions just lays us open to the charge of flaunting before the world
a false and spurious Christianity. In the plain words of our friend, our
bread not being fairly got or fairly used, is stolen bread.
But I would willingly believe that it is only by a strong figure of
speech that we clergy are here again emphatically called upon to act the
part of inquisitors by pointedly demanding of every member of our flock
a precise account of the manner in which he earns his livelihood. Still,
if the answer was not a surprised and indignant stare, I believe the
great mass of men would probably be able to give an answer which should
abundantly satisfy themselves and us, until Mr. Ruskin threw his own
light upon the answer and demonstrated that the notions of modern
civilized society are not in accordance with the highest teaching.
According to our ideas, the artisan, the tradesman, the merchant, the
members of the learned and the military and naval professions, all those
engaged in the various departments of government work, from the cabinet
minister down to the last office clerk,--all these use the labour of
body or of mind, and in return receive the necessaries or the luxuries
of life for themselves and their households. Men who are, if they
please, exempt altogether from such labour, as large landed proprietors,
are certainly under a temptation to lead a life of ease and leisure. But
it is very seldom that we are offended with the sight of a landlord so
unmindful of social duties as to take no personal active interest in the
welfare and conduct of his tenants, or forgetful of the responsibilities
to his country imposed upon him by his rank and position.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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