2. If you crave the grace of God, show works. But there may be still some one who will say with a certain rich young man: "All these things have I kept from my youth up, I did not steal—slay, commit adultery." And Christ said that it was not all, that he still lacked something. What was it? '*Go, and sell that thou hast," He said, "and give to the poor, and come and follow me" (Matthew, xix, 21). To follow Him means to imitate His works. What works? Loving your neighbor. And if a young man living in such abundance could refrain from distributing his riches among the poor, how could he say that he loved his neighbor? If love is strong, it must not be shown in words alone, but in deeds. And a rich man can show his love with deeds by giving up his riches.
3. He who has less than he desires must know that he has more than he deserves, Lichtenberg,
4. There are two ways to escape poverty: one is to increase your possessions, the other to teach yourself to
be content with little. To increase your possessions is not always feasible and rarely can be done honestly. To diminish your wishes is always in your power and always good for your soul.
5. The meanest thief is not he who takes what he needs, but he who clings to that which he does not need and which may be needful to others, without giving to others.
6. "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth." j John, Hi, 17-18.
And if the rich man would love not in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth, let him give to him who asks,—said Christ. And if he gave to those who ask, no matter how much wealth a man might have, he would soon cease to be rich. And as soon as he ceases to be rich, he will be in the position of the rich young man to whom Christ spoke, there will then be nothing to hinder him from following Christ.
7. Wise men of China said: "Though it be wrong, still it is pardonable for a poor man to envy the rich, but it is unpardonable for a rich man to boast of his riches and to refuse to share them with the poor."
8. Mercy is only then genuine, when that which you give you have torn from yourself. Only then he who receives a material gift, receives also a spiritual gift.
But if the gift be no sacrifice, merely a superfluity, it only irritates the recipient.
9. Munificent rich ignore the fact that their benefac-
tions to the poor are merely things they have snaicned from the hands of still poorer people.
10. "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
You will either work for your earthly life, or for God.
"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall ptU on."
Is not your life worth move than -neat and raiment, and did not God give it to you ?
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, and God feeds them. Man is not worse than a fowl. If God has given life to man, he will know how to feed him. And you know in your own heart that labor as you might, you can do nothing for yourselves. You cannot increase your time by one hour. And why take thought for raiment? The flowers of the fields do not toil or spin, yet even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like them. If God so clothe the grass, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cut down, will He not clothe you?
Therefore, take no thought of what ye shall eat and wear. All men need these things, and God knows your need. Neither take thought of the future. Live in the present. Take only thought how to do the will of your Father. Seek the one thing needful, the other things will come of themselves. Seek only to do the will of your Father. Take no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Thus taught Jesus, and the truth of these words every man can test for himself in his own life.
ANGER
ANGER I.
Wherein is the Sin of Uncharitableness
1. "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time: Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment." Matthew, v, 21-22.
2. If you feel a pain in your body, you know something is wrong. You have either done what you ought not to have done, or you have failed to do what you ought to have done. Even so in the spiritual life. If you feel gloomy or irritable, you may know that something is wrong; you either love that which you ought not to love or do not love that which you ought to love.
3. The sins of overeating, idleness, lust are evil in themselves. But the particular bad feature of these sins is that they lead to the worst sin—^uncharitableness, or hatred of others.
4. It is not the robberies, the murders, the executions that are terrible. What is a robbery ? Passing of property from one person to another. Such things have always been and always will be, and there is nothing dreadful in that. What are murders, executions? Passing from life to death. This has always been and always will be nor is there anything dreadful in that. The most dreadful thing is not in the robberies and murders themselves, but dreadful are the feelings of men who hate one another, dreadful is the hatred of men causing them to rob, slay and execute.
II. The Seaseleeeneee of Anger
1. Buddhists say that all sins come from folly. This is true of all sins, but particularly of uncharitableness. The fisherman or the fowler is angry with the fish or bird that escapes him, and I am angry because a man has done that which he finds needful for himself, and not what I want him to do. Is it not equally foolish ?
2. A man has done you an injury, and you become angry. The thing is past, but malice against this man has settled in your heart, and whenever you think of him, you are angry. It is as though the devil had been standing watch at the door of your heart, and taking advantage of the moment you let malice enter therein, had stolen into your heart and gained the mastery of it. Drive him out. And be careful in the future not to unlock the door that he might reenter.
3. There was once a foolish little girl who had lost her eyesight through illness and could not realize that she was blind. She was ang^ because wherever she went things were in her way. She did not think that she stumbled against things, but imagined that the things pushed against her.
The same thing happens to people who become spiritually blind. They imagine that whatever happens to them is done against them with evil intent, and they are angry with people, failing to realize, even as the foolish child, that their woes are not due to other people, but due to their spiritual blindness and their living for their body.
4. The higher a man's opinion of himself, the more easily he is annoyed with people. The humbler a man, the more kindly he is and less prone to anger.
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THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 175
5. Do not think that virtue is in courage or strength; if you can rise above anger, if you can forgive and learn to love him who has injured you, you are doing the highest thing that a man can aspire to. Persian wisdom,
6. You may be unable to refrain from anger when offended or insulted; but you can always refrain from showing what is in your heart in word or deed.
7. Malice is always the child of impotence.
8. If a man scold or insult thee, do not give in to him, refuse to enter the path whereon he would have thee stray, do not do as he is doing. Marcus Aurelius.
III.
Anger Against Fellow Men is Irrational Because the