The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1928, Page 94

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

94

Citas oat ha a ee 2 re eee ee a eS

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

to see whether they are willing or not. But I, for
one, will have all men know that if I were sure
that the money any single person was giving to
the Church did not come from a willing heart,
I would most assuredly tell that person that I did
not want his money. He could then put it into
the bank with the rest or spend it if he so desired;
for his money is not going to do the Church any
good and surely will not do him any good.

But what, after all, has this fact to do with
him who calls himself a “willing giver’? You had
better examine yourself to find’out whether you are
really a willing giver. Does a willing giver growl?
Does not your growling show that your giving is
not so willing, after all? I know from personal
experience (and I believe I can rank myself with
those who are willing givers) that my great worry
is not that I give so much more than others, but my
greatest concern and grief is that I have not much
more to give.

And how, after all, can you be sure whether
not a great many of those whom you consider un-
willing givers are not very willing, after all? There
are people in our Church (and quite a number of
them) who, when they have given $10, are giving
more than some others who would be giving $200
(and we have none of them). My dear willing
giver, a willing giver doesn’t growl. His old man
may leave out an ugly snarl every once in a while,
but just such words as these will drive him back in
his hole.

Now, then, if I knew your reaction to this ar-
ticle, I could tell exactly whether you are a willing
giver or not. - If it makes you “mad,” then you.
are not a willing giver, even though you gave one-
tenth of your income. If it makes you sad, then
I know that ‘you are a willing giver, and I know
that from now on you will be more willing than
ever. — 0. W.L., in Good News.

————6@(9©2™_

Forgiving Injuries.

A slave who had, by the force of his sterling
worth, risen. high in the confidence of his master,
saw one day, trembling in the slave-market, a Negro
whose gray head and bent form showed him to be in
the last weakness of old age. He implored’his master
to purchase him.

The old man was bought and conveyed to the
estate. When there, he who pleaded for him took
him to his own cabin, placed him in his own bed,
_ fed him at his own board, and gave him water from

his own cup; when he shivered, he carried him into
the sunshine; when he drooped in the heat, he bore
him softly to the shade.

“What is the meaning of all that?” asked a wit-
ness of his kindness. “Is he your father ?”

“No.”

“Ts he your brother ?”

“No.”

“Ts he, then, your friend ?”

“No; he is my enemy. Years ago he stole me
from my native village and sold me for a slave 2
but the good Lord has said, ‘If thine enemy hunger,
feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so
doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.’ ”

Reads the Bible with His Tongue.

There is a man in Kansas City, Mo., who shows
his devotion to the Bible in a most unusual way.
This man is William McPherson, who was not only
blinded as the result of an explosion, but also lost
his hands at the same time. This latter fact made
it impossible for him to read by hand the edition of
the Bible with raised type which the American Bible
Society has issued for the blind. By chance, how-
ever, he learned of the possibility of using a Bible
with this raised type and of recognizing the different
characters by means of the tongue. Under the in-
struction of a teacher, Mr. McPherson mastered the
alphabet in about two weeks and soon began to read
the Gospel of St. John. Now he is able to read the
whole Bible with little exertion by means of a
specially constructed book-rest. The nine separate
volumes that make up this raised-letter Bible are
the only books that are to be found in his library.
“They are all that I need,” he says. “Yes, for I find
comfort in the Word of God. Nothing caused me
more sorrow after my accident than the thought
that I would never again be able to read my Bible,
and when my prayers were answered and I learned
to read again, I was happy. The Bible is the only
safe guide to heaven.”

Do you think as much of your Bible, and do you
show your gratitude by studying it diligently ?

ge

WHEN we know, then we shall feel; when we
feel, then we shall pray; when we feel and pray,
then we shall give — the three things necessary in.
the Church before we can ever get an adequate force
to go, and before we shall ever be able properly to
support them when they have gone.