“But the people who do that, Carmen, are called demagogues and muck-rakers!”
She laughed. “And the muck-rakers, Sidney, have made a sorry mess, haven’t they? They destroy without ruth, but seldom, if ever, put forth a sane suggestion for the betterment of conditions. They traffic in sensationalism, carping criticism, and abuse. ‘To find fault,’ said Demosthenes, ‘is easy, and in every man’s power; but to point out the proper remedy is the 125 proof of a wise counselor.’ The remedy which I point out, Sidney, is the Christ-principle; and all I ask is that mankind seek to demonstrate it, even as Jesus bade us do. He was a success, Sidney, the greatest success the world has ever known. And why? Because he followed ideals with utter loyalty––because he voiced truth without fear––because he made his business the service of humanity. He took his work seriously, not for money, not for human preferment, but for mankind. And his work bears the stamp of eternity.”
“I’m afraid––” he began.
“You’re not afraid, Sidney!” the girl quickly interrupted. “Oh, why does the human mind always look for and expect that which it does not want to see come or happen!”
The boy laughed heartily at the quick sally of her delightfully quotidian thought. “You didn’t let me finish,” he said. “I was going to say that I’m afraid if I write and speak only of spiritual things I shall not be understood by the world, nor even given a hearing.”
“Well, don’t use that word ‘afraid.’ My! how the human mind clings to everything, even words, that express its chief bogy, fear.”
“All right; I accept the rebuke. But, my question?”
“That was the case with Jesus. And yet, has anything, written or spoken, ever endured as his spiritual teachings? The present-day novel or work of fiction is as fleeting as the human thought it attempts to crystallize. Of the millions of books published, a handful endure. Those are they which illustrate the triumph of good over evil in human thought. And the greatest of such books is the Bible.”
“Well, I’m hunting for a subject now.”
“Don’t hunt. Wait––and know! The subject will then choose you. It will pelt you. It will drive you to the task of transcribing it. Just as one is now driving me. Sidney––perhaps I can give you the subject! Perhaps I am the channel for this, too!”