Living for the BestMcClure, James G. K. (James Gore King)
Religion
Living for the Best
McClure, James G. K. (James Gore King)
Christian life; Spiritual life
It sometimes seems as though even intelligent people had not
comprehended these facts. They talk of the foolishness of casting pearls
before swine. But the woes of humanity are not the woes of swine. They
are the woes of men and women in bondage to wrong--and pearls are none
too good to set before them that thereby the beauty of life may be seen
by them and thereby that earthly condition of society whose every gate
is one single pearl of purity, may be desired by them. If in a home we
cannot be a comfort to the sorrowful, or in a school be an inspiration
to the laggard, or in business be a cheer to the discouraged, without
giving the very best out of our hearts that we can give, how shall we
expect that the great mass of evil congested in dense centers and
compacted through ancient custom, will ever be purified, unless we take
the best resources we can command, in ourselves and in others, and bring
those best resources face to face, yes, heart to heart, to that mass of
evil. The world will never be saved until we offer our Isaacs upon the
altar of its needs.
That world _deserves_ our best. We never can repay to this world the
good this world has done us. The richest man on the earth is the most
heavily indebted to his fellows. All our knowledge, culture, and safety
are gifts from others. Our schools are the product of men who for a
hundred generations have thought and labored for us. "Every ship that
comes to America got its chart from Columbus. Every novel is a debtor to
Homer." The more of treasure any man has, the more of toil others have
borne for him. The best elements of our homes, our business, and our
civilization reach us through the tears and blood of others. Were the
man who has two hundred millions of dollars to attempt to meet his
indebtedness to the world by the expenditure of that sum in charities,
he would not _begin_ to discharge his indebtedness. Every single benefit
we enjoy cost many men their best.
The nobler our type of manhood the gladder we are to acknowledge this
indebtedness and the gladder we are in our present place and time to
give our best for others.
"Fame is what you have taken,
Character is what you give;
When to this truth you waken,
Then you begin to live."
Something of fineness and of greatness is lacking in the person who
thinks himself above his neighbors and their needs. The better and the
larger a man becomes, the readier he is to declare himself a brother to
suffering humanity and to feel that no sacrifice he can make of himself
is too costly if thereby he can elevate others. It is "angelic" to be a
ministering spirit sent forth to minister to those who may be made heirs
of salvation.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account