I asked for alms!
He flung a coin at me
Contemptuously.
Not without sense of shame
I stooped and picked it up.
Does this fulfil
The Master's will
To give a cup
Of water in His Name?
I asked for bread!
He handed out to me
Indifferently
A ticket for some food.
It answered to my need.
Was this the way
On that great day
Christ stopped to feed
The hungry multitude?
When we shall wait,
After this mortal strife,
Eternal life,
And to His presence go
As suppliants indeed,
Will it be thus
He will on us
In our great need
His priceless gift bestow?
--_The Outlook._
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It is charity not to excite a hope, when it must end in disappointment.
223
When you see a man in distress, acknowledge him at once your fellow man.
Recollect that he is formed of the same materials, with the same
feelings as yourself, and then relieve him as you yourself would wish to
be relieved.
224
_Leviticus, xxv, 35._--"And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in
decay with thee, then thou shalt relieve him; yea, though he be a
stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee."
Mr. H----, an ingenious artist, being driven out of all employment, and
reduced to great distress, had no resource to which to apply except that
of an elder brother, who was in good circumstances. To him, therefore,
he applied, and begged some little hovel to live in, and some small
provision for his support. The brother melted into tears, and said,
"You, my dear brother! You live in a hovel! You are a man; you are an
honor to the family. I am nothing. You shall take this house and the
estate, and I will be your guest, if you please." The brothers lived
together without its being distinguishable who was proprietor of the
estate, till the death of the elder put the artist in possession of it.
225