ART UNIONS.

White Ribbon, Volume 24, Issue 280, 18 October 1918, Page 7

ART UNIONS.

, SECOND ADDRESS BY MISS OUTKAM.

Last Sunday 1 spoke to you about Art Unions, which 1 toid you were a very dangerous form of gambling. To-day 1 want to speak to you about the right way of giving. When our Lord was upon earth, He sa;d to certain people that inasmuch as they had done anything for one of the least, they had done it for Him. Now, we cannot call our soldiers the least. Whenever wc see a soiditr, *,e should remembei they are all willing and read> to do what our Lord did, and lay down their live? for their friends. 1 suppose if Jesus was living on earth .just as He did hundreds of years ago, hungry, poor, no home, and with very few friends, and we were to come to Him, and were to say to Him, “Here, Lord, is a sum of money, there arc hundreds and hundreds ot pounds, and we raised it all by a great big Art Union—(if we were honest, we should call it gambling, but wc are not very honest, so we cal! it an Art Union). Take it, Lord, to feed yourself with, to clothe yourself, and when you are si( k and wounded, and lying on a bed of pain, use it to relieve your sufferings.” Do you think He would take it? I don’t think He would. I think He would say much the same as He is saying in the picture wc arc looking at, “The Temptation in the Wilderness: “Take it as far away from Me as ever you can; I will have nothing whatever to do with it.” If, on the other hand, we were to come to Jesus and say, “Here is a sum of money, not as large as the one you refused, but it is all given by those who w ish to show their love for you; some have had extra good seasons on their farms, or in their orchards, and they can give you ever so much; others work on the railway, in shops, factories, or other places, and they are giving all they can. Then there ire the children; they wish to help too, and they arc giving some of their

money, and it is all honestly earned, l ake it, Lord, and use it to letd yourself with, to clothe yourself with, and when you are sick ano wounded, aid lying on a bed of pain, use it to relieve your sufferings.” Jesus would accept that mor.'v with a smile that we should never forget, and we should hear His “Well done, you have oven faithful; faithful in that y**u have not caused other people to sin, and you have given to Me that which has cost you something.” 1 said just now that last sum of mone\ would not be as large as the one Jesus refused, and I don’t think it would matter. When Jesus was living on earth, a boy one day asked* his mother to give him his lunch, he wanted to go out all day to heal the great preacher. W hen evening came, and the (list iples wanted to send the multitude away, Jesus said, “No, wc will feed teem here,” and that boy was asked to give his lunch. Did he do it? We all know he did. He did not sav, “I w ill give it if I have the chance of getting ten times as mueh to-morrow.” No, he gave willingly, and Jesus took that luneli and blessed it, arid prayed, and made it enough to feed that great multitude. 1 think if we give what money we honestly can to help our sick and wounded soldiers, and give it willingly, remembering we are giving to (iod, wc <an trust to Him to do the rest.