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Show ! RELIGIOUS ECONOMY. lie sild unto his disciples dather up the frsgmenis that remain that nothing be lost John vl 1 There Is n place nt the close of tho mightiest miracle for the exercise of cconom Though Christ held the kes to the grinarles of heaven, he discouraged discour-aged waste nnd cxtnvaBancc There was a place In his way of Ufa for tho minor moralities Clods providence was never meant to teach his children Improvidence Im-providence Again there Is a place for the natural nat-ural close up ngalnt the supcrnaturnl There Is such n thing as the economic use of the miraculous such n thing as a matter of.fact acceptance of the unexpected un-expected and a wise recognition that such conditions are exceptional. Do not waste what I have given ou Though ou do not need It toll, you ma need It tomorrow. My provldenco was not meant lo encourago Improvidence Improvi-dence my miracles to supplant the natural course of things (lather up the fragments that nothing may bo loot What 0U have todii Is nil sou can be sine of tomorrow. Such I take It, was the meaning of those words of Jesus The words nro still pertinent Wc too have been favored by providence, on in health, another ln wealth another an-other ln education or training nnnther In experience another with friendship and affection and still others with the heaven-sent gifts of the divine spirit. These treasures ma hive come eas or the ma have come hmd No matter, mat-ter, we should not waste them If wo would provide for the future we must co-operate with providence We must do our miracles b not wasting that Is by ceasing to wa-te" We let too much water run over the dam, often it runs awa without any dam We lack reserve and storage facilities nnd some of us waste more than half the power we have b cardese transmission transmis-sion We must gather up all the power Clod gives us and let nothing b lost The disciples were not onl to distribute, distrib-ute, but lo gather up for futuie distribution dis-tribution Wo need special caution ngulnst the carelessness which ma follow good fortune We get out of a few hard pinches have a few windfalls or a qultk tuin or two of half earned or unearned I rosperlt, nnd foilhwltli forget for-get that such good fortune- Is exceptional excep-tional nnd begin counting on it nil tho mttiiul thins Wo forget that even the disciples found out that unearned bread vvns Hie exception bread won b the sweat of the browa the rule And that even supernatural gifts must be very natural! eared for. When fortune for-tune smllei then is the time to li up store" for the future Th lime tn fill our baskets is when there Is enough nnd to spuie The tilde to economize Is when there Is a good margin to save Wo Americans need this cnutlon We nrc a wnsteful Improvident people Our ver abundance is our peril We snd our portion like prodigals W Ith bread enough und to spare one duv we perish with hunger the next We waste enough enth car to keep our elder bi others In ens circumstances As for icrlalii heathen dogs as n Pharisee Phar-isee might call them the will live quite comfortably on tho crumbs which we brush from our tallies As for our elder brothers ncrosit the sen the rrenehmnn makes fuel of uch wooel as we w isle the Hollander makes gardens gar-dens of such lind ns wo wnste the Herman feeds fat on such fool as we waste, and any of them will save more out of his few loaves and llnhea than we out of mil brend an 1 In spare foi thousands Mont Ameilcnns live rrom hnnd lo mouth, llvo us If ih.y expertel the miracle, brend and (c spare In be repented each morning Our people have no moie noticeable de-fldenc de-fldenc in minor morals thin lack nf oronom Thla deflrlenc Is supposed to be a characteristic of youth As one has vild, ' thrift Is more apt to be n. habit Ihan a principle, It Is acquire.! rather than Inborn" "loulh uaually finds bread enougli nnel to spare provided Vitality, teachubilit hop opportunity opportu-nity aro Its dally c,fis The world la lo It a trensuie-house of wondeis nnd it lives In expectation of greater von-ders von-ders to come Wh should It la up for the future? Tho future will be ,ei ter thin Ih prsnt l.t th future lake cm of Itself ft, -t airni, ,-, table spread for It tod), with nover a thought of the table whloli It must help sui pi on the morrow There aie exiei lions These exceptions make the best educated the thriftiest, ih most f hrlst-tlke men and women It Is vli-tunlly vli-tunlly Impossible for a man to go bat k over th clnjs nf his jouth to Kallir up what ht then threw nwv We puss through this life mil on.." nnl must git i hat wo get out (if it as we go along I believe however that th i,ly ar of mld-llfe are Ju,t aa open to the perils of wasti Then It la that men get too bus lo save. ,no mut abmrbed with their own motion lo ar much for fulght too eager for something bigger to mro for the llttlo th have. Many of them charge Into unknown countries with haidly n thought of needing supplies from the rear They burn all their bridges, cut loose from their commlMarlut throw awuy their baggag and too .if. ten bring up In tho desert or wllder-nesa wllder-nesa with only tholr worn-out. defeated wives What hows of nt are plunging forward on such forlorn hopes Home-lime, Home-lime, such abandon Is necssary but usually it l. not rm ,, 'at K,J us wealth or power to get It, lnim.ni. or ,H,wer to get ,.. ,rll,nfl, or fmyfr to get them opportunities or power to make Ih-m-Ooa doe. ,,0t give . .,, from heaven of any Kind tn bum o h contrary II, . 'Take , arc of ," let nothing be lost Th,us far I lVe spoken of the din-avrs din-avrs of those who" abound of (he , Providence , ,ho,p , and tn spare 'ihla la (he sort f IP1 k. lessno.. referred to In th. .., j,u, there , ,, r ,wt be ..ou. ,. , recklessness of , who are poor '1 here I, , rUllly ihlng is , nt, , m nt Tlirr() " r' ' v i i Hn( a nn "' !l ' n ' Hr ir 4 ,, ,,, lf? ii i ihtj fo i n content of u MIcawber, who feels sure that something some-thing w 111 turn up! it Is the Ignobla content of a MIcawber satisfied that nothing does turn up, litis kind of recklessness sometimes takes possession of the poor In health or those who are growing ahort of jears and very often of those who aro pressed for time. Such nro tempted to say, 'Oh, whit's the use; I'vo only a little strength, n few minutes or enrs left, mete scrips, shreds, fragments, ni work Is done" No," eajs the Mutter, Mut-ter, ' Gather up thc fragments; let nothing be lot" Robert Iouls Stevenson Ste-venson left literature and life richer by obedience to this commihd, Divlel 1. Kingston died lho death of a hero nnd saint, filling a basket for darkest Africa Af-rica This gathering up of fragments, a crust here, a piece of fish there, with only hero nnd there n half lonf, ma seem less masterful thin w liking ou the sea nr feeding men by thc thousands thou-sands but it Is Just ob much thc work of the Master nnd Just as sure ot his ' Well done, rood nnd faithful servant serv-ant " WILLIAM M r-ADL'N, I'aator rlrst l'reeb tcrlnn Church. |
