between brothers, and some day the vast brotherhood will be permanently organized.—Charles E. Locke.
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A man preaching to the inmates of a prison made the remark that the only difference between himself and them was owing to the grace of God. Afterward one of the prisoners approached him and asked: "Did you mean what you said about sympathizing with us, and that only the help of God made you differ from us?" Being answered in the affirmative, the prisoner said: "I am here for life, but I can stay here more contentedly now that I know I have a brother out in the world."
How we might lighten the burden of
others if we had and showed more
feeling for them, if we followed more
closely in the footsteps of our blessed
Lord.—St. Clair Hester.
(291)
The story is told, as an instance of Oriental humor, of a little Chinese girl who was carrying her brother on her back. "Is he heavy?" she was asked. "No," she replied, "he is my brother."
For some reason this seems funny to
the Chinese; but it is better than humorous,
it is sweet and winning. Love
makes all burdens light. When one is
carrying his brother, he feels little
weight. Here is a good text for social
workers. If they consider that they are
working for mere aliens and strangers,
their toil may seem irksome; but if the
idea of brotherhood once enters in, the
task becomes light. I am carrying my
weaker brother, therefore I feel no
weight.
(292)
See Weakness, Consideration for.
BUILDERS, ANCIENT
The old Egyptians were better builders
than those of the present day. There are
blocks of stone in the pyramids which weigh
three or four times as much as the obelisk
on the London embankment. There is one
stone the weight of which is estimated at
eight hundred and eighty tons. There are
stones thirty feet in length which fit so
closely together that a penknife may be run
over the surface without discovering the
break between them. They are not laid with
mortar, either. We have no machinery so
perfect that it will make two surfaces thirty
feet in length which will meet together as
these stones in the pyramids meet. It is supposed
that they were rubbed backward and
forward upon each other until the surfaces
were assimilated, making them the world's
wonders in mechanical skill.—The London
Budget.
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See Daily Character Work.
Building Character—See Imperfections
Corrected.
Building, Cheap—See Fire, Cost of.
BUILDING THE SOUL'S CITY
Prof. Felix Adler is the author of this poem:
Have you heard the golden city
Mentioned in the legends old?
Everlasting light shines o'er it,
Wondrous tales of it are told.
Only righteous men and women
Dwell within its gleaming wall;
Wrong is banished from its borders,
Justice reigns supreme o'er all.
We are builders of that city;
All our joys and all our groans
Help to rear its shining ramparts,
All our lives are building-stones.
But a few brief years we labor,
Soon our earthly day is o'er,
Other builders take our places,
And our place knows us no more.
But the work which we have builded,
Oft with bleeding hands and tears,
And in error and in anguish,
Will not perish with the years.
It will last, and shine transfigured
In the final reign of Right;
It will merge into the splendors
Of the City of the Light. (Text.)
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Burdens—See Brotherhood.
BURDENS, BEARING ONE ANOTHER'S
On a railway train running on a branch
road from a great city to the suburb, a little
incident in complete contrast was noted by
eyes quick to see what happened on the road.
A woman, evidently a foreigner and very
poor, was encumbered by a baby in her arms,
