“If I were a rich baboo,” said Gunga Ram, “I would give a thousand rupees to Pastor Ghopal for his church.”
“If I were a great rajah,” cried Ya’kub, “I would build a church all by myself, and make it as grand as the Taj!”[13]
“I shall never be either baboo or rajah,” said Isa Das thoughtfully; “but though I am only a poor ryot, I should like to put one brick in that church;” and he looked, as he spoke, at the ruins.
“What is thy meaning?” asked his companions.
“O my brothers,” replied Isa Das, “did not the Pastor Ghopal preach yesterday on the words of the Lord Jesus: It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts xx. 35). When I heard him I said in my heart, ‘Is that blessing kept for the rich; shall not the poor give something also?’”
“They cannot give,” cried Gunga Ram, to whom his pice were dear as the drops of blood in his veins.
But Isa Das did not appear persuaded of the truth of these words. “Do you not remember,” said he, “how, when the Lord Christ stood in the Temple, and saw rich men casting into the treasury of God much gold and much silver, and then a poor widow casting in two mites, He said to His disciples, ‘This poor widow hath cast in more than they all’ (Luke xxi. 3). The Lord accepted the offering of her who had little to give, but gave from the heart. I should like to put one brick in that church!”
And before Isa Das left the spot with his two companions, his wish had formed itself into a silent prayer. “O Lord, Thou hast said it is more blessed to give than to receive; help me to win that blessing. Thou dost love the offering of the poor; show me the way to offer something to Thee!”