SUNDAY COLUMN.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 17, 18 January 1913, Page 2

SUNDAY COLUMN.

TALE-BEARING

Leviticus 19: 16. “Thou shalt not go

up and down as a talebearer.”

Each precept of this chapter has a value so clear that no amplification of the text itself is necessary. Holiis made to consist not merely in ' the avoiding of sin and in the fulfilment of certain prescribed duties, but in a general course of life prompted by genuine love. The wants of the poor are to be regarded, the weak and defenceless are to be respected, justice is to be unwarped by either personal sympathies or influence, talebearing avoided, all magical arts and efforts to attain forbidden knowledge are to be shunned, and, in a word, man is to conduct himself in all things as one who is in communion with God, and therefore seeks to. have His will carried out in all the length and breadth of his daily life. 1 Evil-speaking is a ready way of making ourselves agreeable to other people. “Scandal sweetens many a cup of tea.” Also it is a sin indulged in by many otherwise excellent people, like the benevolent lady of whom Cowper wrote: “Her superfluity the poor supplies,

But if she touch a character, it dies.” Yet tale-bearing was not the venial offence some were disposed to regard it. St. Paul included, “whisperers” in his catalogue of villians in the first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, the Greek word for devil, “diabolos,” meant first a “slanderer.”

2 The evil results of tale-bearing.— “It is like a pistol fired amongst the mountains. The sharp report is caught up by the rocks and caves, and comes back with a. sound like thunder, so the evil word lightly spoken receives additions as it passes from mouth to mouth, and come back as something gross and hideous. The whisper of evil is like the fox with a firebrand tied to its tail, which Samson sent among the corn of the Philistines, or like the freezing wind that seals up the sparkling water and the tender juices of the flowers.” 3 Three things must be learned if we would avoid falling into this sin. (1) We must learn to talk. It is surprising how few can talk in an instructive and entertaining way without being uncharitable. It is better to talk about things than about persons; conversation about persons is almost sure sooner, or later to take some uncharitable turn. (2) We must learn to be silent, a harder thing still. Socrates told. ( the chatterbox who applied to him;for lessons in rhetoric, that he must; charge him double fees, because first ! hb had to teach him to hold his tongue. How many meetings, how 'many!; conversations, would be the belter.if all learned the -value of silence!' (3) We musff|learn to reverence humanity; For:every man Christ died, and every flan is made in God’s image. If that were kept in view, charity would come upon <our speech.

THE VALUE OF A MAN. Henry Ward Beecher once that there are millions .of' people on the earth so insignificant that if all-, were drowned in the sea;-;tho bubbles that would rise would be worth as much to the world as the people wh6 went down. But this is because they are undeveloped. The valu© in them has never been brought out. A sheep ia not worth much to the shepherd when it is a lost sheep. A son is only a grief to his father when he is a prodigal son. A field is worthless to its owner when it is overgrown with thorns and briers. But a lost sheep is worth seeking. A lost son is worth restoring. A field overgrown with thorns and briers is worth redeeming. How much is a man worth? 1 Man has an intellectual value. Intelligence is infinitely more than money. There is more power in thought than in gold. Intelligence is not rated very high by men of the world. A man will pay more for a horse trainer than for a school teacher. A base-ball player can command a higher salary than a preacher. But Solomon held a different view of values. What a loss the world would have sustained if Homer, or Shakespeare, or Bacon, or Newton, or Morse, or Fulton had died in infancy. Let no on© neglect the gift that is in him. The philosophers and scientists are not doing all the thinking. One can piit thought into his farm, into the construction of a house, into housekeeping and training children. Let everyone leave a contribution of thought in. the world.

2 Man has a moral value. “Ye are of more value than many sparrows.” A bird has a commercial value, but no moral value. The animal has no moral character. Here we part company with the lower creatures. Think of the moral value of a man, What is a city worth without moral standards and moral principles among its inhabitants ? Think of a country abounding in wealth and intelligence. What is to hinder it from being a mighty country? If one thing be lacking it cannot prosper long. If the people lack moral character, if they are not honest, nor true, nor upright, nor pure, that country will be a decaying country. 3 Every man has a social value. We are social beings. What is a man worth in his social relations ? What is a father worth to his family ? What is a mother worth to her children? Colleges and universities are valuable. Farms and factories are worth much. But mothers are worth more. What is the value of a statesman such as Gladstone, or Lincoln, or Washington? We may not be statesmen, but we all sustain some relation to the state, the community, the city,, and if we are f?ood citizens, good fathers, good neighbours, the world will be better and richer by our presence here.

4 There is also a spiritual value in

man. He is a spiritual being. God is a spirit and man is a spirit. He is more spirit than anything else. “To be spiritually minded is life and peace.” A spiritual man is worth more than any other man. The chief thing about any man is his religion. When the religious faculty is aroused and alive man is at his best. He is a partaker of the divine nature. Think Of the songs a spiritual poet writes. What has done so much to give strength and happiness to mankind as songs like those of David, Moses, Wesley, Watts and Luther? What has helped to make the world better as the sermons of the great spiritual preachers? What is a spiritual man worth? Do you know how much you are worth? - If so, you will not allow any great power within you to remain dormant. You will live a large life, a full life. The man who appreciates his own value will not throw himself away or sell himself for naught. “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul.”