[Painted Windows by Harold Begbie]@TWC D-Link bookPainted Windows CHAPTER II 8/29
Let him give all his attention to this great matter, for it concerns his soul. Here again is the aristocratic principle.
The average man, until he has disciplined his reason to understand this great matter, must hold his peace; certainly he must not presume to lay down the law. When we exclaim against this doctrine, and speak with enthusiasm of the virtues of the poor, Dr.Inge asks us to examine those virtues and to judge of their worth.
Among the poor, he quotes, "generosity ranks far before justice, sympathy before truth, love before chastity, a pliant and obliging disposition before a rigidly honest one.
In brief, the less admixture of intellect required for the practice of any virtue, the higher it stands in popular estimation." But we are to love God with all our _mind_, as well as with all our heart. Does he, then, shut out the humble and the poor from the Kingdom of God? Not for a moment.
"Ultimately, we are what we love and care for, and no limit has been set to what we may become without ceasing to be ourselves." The door of love stands open, and through that doorway the poor and the ignorant may pass to find the satisfaction of the saint. But they must be careful to love the right things--to love truth, goodness, and beauty.
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