INASMUCH.
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.
222
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.