DECEMBER 1, 1914 



957 



A. L 



OUK MOME 



Why belioldest thou the mote that is in thy bro- 

 ther's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in 

 thine own eye? — Matt. 7:3. 



And Elijah said, I have been very jealous for the 

 Lord God of hosts ; for the children of Israel have 

 forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, 

 and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even 

 I only, am left ; and they seek my life to take it 

 away. — I. Kings 19:10. 



Some weeks ago I listened to a sermon 

 that has impressed me a great deal ever 

 since. The minister suggested that Elijah 

 was headlong and vehement in his crusade 

 against the prevailing wickedness and in- 

 fidelity. He gave it as his opinion that 

 Elijah put to death the priests of Baal on 

 his own responsibility. God answered his 

 prayers, sent down the fire from heaven, 

 and afterward sent the rain; but God did 

 not, so to speak, the speaker claimed, give 

 him any command to put to death those 

 deluded and perhaps to some extent inno- 

 cent prophets of Baal. As a consequence 

 of Elijah's folly, the Holy Spirit deserted 

 liim for the time being, and poor Elijah 

 '' got the blues." He tells Jehovah that he 

 has got tired of fighting all alone. He even 

 says, " And I, even I only, am left." He 

 takes it for granted, like some reformers of 

 the present day, that he was almost the 

 only good man left; yet Jehovah tells him, 

 in the 18th verse of the same chapter, " I 

 have left me seven thousand in Israel, all 

 the knees which have not bowed unto 

 Baal." Elijah was perfectly ignorant, like 

 some people just now, of the good men and 

 women in our several States and nations 

 who are going to block the way and prevent 

 every^ thing from " going to the dogs." Let 

 me digress a little. 



A year ago I told you about the little 

 church up amid the hills in Leelanau Co., 

 Mich. A devoted Christian woman who has 

 been the main prop of the church and Sun- 

 day-school for many a long yeai said to me 

 that socialism was breaking up the church, 

 or would break it up if something could not 

 be done to stop it. I know, dear friends, I 

 am in danger of getting into "a hornets' 

 nest " if I fight socialism here on these 

 pages ; and it would be out of my province 

 to go into polities and these many " isms." 

 I am sure God has not called me to give 

 space to very much along this line. But 

 let me say briefly that I am a friend of the 

 laborer. I have labored all my life with 

 hoe and spade. I am doing it now every 

 day, or perhaps T should say a small part 

 of every day — enough to give an old man 

 like myself sufiQeient exercise; and it is no 



make-believe, either. If you could see the 

 stuff 1 carry around to the neighbors as the 

 product of my toil, you would have to ad- 

 mit my work " bears fruit." And I am 

 glad to see the working people (especially 

 those who work outdoors) band themselves 

 together to prevent extortion and injustice; 

 and when the pay that is offered those who 

 work for wages is not what the laborer 

 thinks it ought to be, I am glad to see him 

 ask for more; and if his employer or the 

 company of employers decide they cannot 

 pay more, it certainly is his privilege to 

 quit. But there ought to be a Christian 

 spirit on both sides in settling this matter 

 as to the amount of pay. Thus far I think 

 we are all agreed, or at least fairly so. But 

 the man who gives up his place because the 

 pay (as he sees it) is insufficient, has he 

 any right to demand that nobody else shall 

 take his place? Has he any right to block 

 the way to prevent some other needy soul 

 from taking the job he has already given 

 up? 



Right here in our nation of peace and 

 good will we have come pretty near civil 

 war in several instances. Just recently 

 United States troops have been called on 

 because the State militia could not handle 

 the insurrection or rebellion, and I am 

 afraid the matter is not yet entirely settled 

 while I write.* Let us now go back for a 

 moment to that little church among the hills 

 where I (years ago) helped to establish a 

 Sunday-school. 



The good brother who carried me over to 

 catch the train argued quite at length to 

 convince me that it is contrary to Bible 

 teachings, and wrong, to receive interest for 

 the use of monej'. He maintained that the 

 man who has more money than he can use 

 profitably should let his neighbor have the 

 use of it without interest. I tried in vain 

 to convince him he should pay something 

 for the use of money, exactly as he would 

 ]iay rent, either in cash or a part of the 

 crop for the use of the land. 



From what I have seen of socialism the 

 promoters of it are not happy people. I 

 maintain that every son and daughter in the 

 United States has a right to he happy. We 

 should present a smiling face to our friends 

 and neighbors, esneciallv those whom we 



* After the above was in type I find in Our 

 Com>nonivealtk an article from F. O. Burdick, M. 

 •D., President of the Associated Charities of Boul- 

 der, Colo., from which I clip the followinsj: "They 

 are not only determined not to work themselves, but 

 they are equally determined no one else shall mine 

 the coal so essential to the public welfare." 



