THE FUTURE
J. F. JOHNSON
MISS EMMA P. JOHNSON.
L. A. WISE
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TELL IT LIKE IT IS
B. HERBIN
"The burden of taxes shall follow me the rest of my
life, and I shall dwell in the house of poverty forever.''
This paraphrase of the 23rd Psalm may be the testimony
of the poor today, for with ever increasing prices on food
and other commodities necessary to the survival of the
consumer, the burden of making a living grows heavier
day by day. If wages are increased, so is the cost of living,
so one really never sees his way ahead and out.
There may be many faults in the establishment of
American life, but the economic status of its people might
be considered the worst. Social Factions may not be pleas
ing to many, but everyone has to eat, and there is nothing
so revealing of true brotherhood as that feeling of a well
fed person who must look upon his neighbor who is hun
gry, undernourished and infested with all the evils of pov
erty. Our country, our state, our cities and counties have
many such people trying with difficulty to live daily in the
land of plenty. This is not mainly true of Negroes, it is
relevantly true of whites as well, and no one race is re
sponsible for it. Institutions of government are the agen
cies on whose door steps the guilt of the burden rests. It
all begins with politics and political parties. A United
States President from the Democratic Party enacts meas
ures to care for its poor; The Republicans trim the fat
from the lean so closely that the gravy of survival affords
no soppings for the morsel of bread. The poor wage earners
pay higher taxes on property, if they own any, as well as
on clothing, food and household items. Where families are
large, the head of the house finds he just can't make ends
meet. Despondency ensues and little hope or appreciation
for living exists. Now, your President, Richard Nixon loves
the poor so well that he is talking of cutting out welfare
(which is poor as it is, in meeting the needs of its indi
gents adequately), and I wonder if this will place the
social workers in an uncomfortable position ? To hear some
people talk, it is almost necessary to beg for the little mite
they are entitled to, and often, these workers are not at all
sympathetic to the cries of the poor. The state itself, so
rich with increases, tends to turn a deaf ear to the voice
of the people in preference to better highways for speed
and more highway men to catch the racers before they
hurt themselves ; the (Sty Fathers want a new face on the
Court House and if more land is needed for redevelop
ment, they hand you a few pennies payment for what
you've sacrificed for years, a life time, to put your hard
earned dollars in. The state, figuring you have too much
lawn to mow anyway, simply cuts across your front yard
for its expansion purposes. Hence, the ideology of private
domain is only public domain turned inside out. Equally,
home-owners, so-called are merely leasing property from
the state, for the taxes, in time, will chew you to shreds.
Landlords must be challenged to a bullfight before they
will consent to repair a leaky roof or fix a door, and when
they do, they install highway stripping (concrete) and all
but surface it with tar and gravel, so what does any of
us get out of sacrifice and work? An empty stomach, some
extra grey hairs and a new suit for burial and an honor
able eulogy, if of course, you belonged to a church and
paid your high premium insurances. If you expect any
enjoyment in life, better take 'em all to the fair and when
you come home broke, at least, you know where the green
hack wont
Or fishing or hunting you may go for the' price of
the worms and shells, if you already have your rod and
gun, but then, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they don't
start taxing every fish, rabbit or squirrel you catch, and
twice as much for a coon.
Any way you look at it, you are stuck and doomed to
the burden of taxes for the balance of your days. There
is only one possible way to beat the tax: just refuse, pro
test at growing old enough to secure a working permit.
As for the poor in spiritual finances, you will just
have to cut down on your family production business,
learn to keep a budget and live by it (which should be a
function of the social workers) in helping you spend your
little income, by advising you how to get the most from
the least ; you will have to buy what you need rather than
T his Weed's Sunday School Lesson
THE CHRISTIAN HOPE
BEGINNING WHERE
YOU ARE
Historically, persecution has
been a part of the lot of Chris
tians. Early experiences in the
Methodist movement illustrate
the point. John Wesley wrote
: "Being convinced of that im
portant truth . . . that 'by grace
we are saved through faith,' we
immediately began declaring it
to others. ... It was our daily
subject. . . . But in doing this,
we were assaulted and abused
on every side. We were stoned
in the streets, and several times
narrowly escaped with our lives.
In sermons, newspapers, and
pamphlets of all kinds, we were
painted as unheard-of mon
sters."
As exciting as are Wesley's
descriptions of the dangers in
which these early Methodists
found themselves, it is more to
the point to revel in the pas
sages that reflect the inner se
curity of these Christians in
the midst of the threats against
their lives.
Joan Parks stood by John
Wesley on one of these occa
sions. His journal for October
20, 1743, reports her reaction
thus: "I asked J. Parks if she
was not afraid when they tore
her from me. . . . She said, 'No;
I knew God would fight for His
children.'"
In more recent times Kikuyu
Christians stood fast in the time
of the Mau Mau persecutions
in East Africa. The record of
their faithfulness has taken its
place in the brightest annals of
Christian courage and heroism.
Many of these people died in
the spirit of Stephen, the first
Christian martyr, and with his
words upon their lips. (See
Acts 7:59-60.
This kind of courage in the
face of hatred, violence, and
even death moved Isaac Watts
to write:
I ask them whence their victory
came:
They, with united breath,
Ascribe their conquest to the
Lamb,
Their triumphs to his death.
This would be the testimony
of uncounted thousands of
Christians who, through the
centuries, have died for their
faith. They have been sustain
ed by their confidence in Jesus
Christ
SEARCHING THfe
SCRIPTURES
The Scripture for this lesson
is Revelation 21:1 through 22:5.
Selected verses are printed be
low.
Revelation 21:1-4, 22 through
22:5
1 Then I saw a new heaven
and a new earth; for the first
heaven and the first earth had
passed away, and the sea was
no more. 2 And I saw the holy
city, new Jerusalem, coming
down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband; 3 and I heard a
| great voice from the throne
saying, "Behold, the dwelling
of God is with men. He will
dwell with them, and they shall
be his people, and God him
self will be with them; 4 he
will wipe away every tear from
their eyes, and death shall be
no more, neither shall there be
mourning nor crying nor pain
any more, for the former things
have passed away."
22 And I saw no temple in
the city, for its temple is the
Lord God the Almighty and the
Lamb. 23 And the city has no
need of sun or moon to shine
upon it, for the glory of God
is its light, and its lamp is the
Lamb. 24 By its light shall the
nations walk; and the kings of
the earth shall bring their glory
into it, 25 and its gates shall
never be shut by day ? and
there shall be no night there; 26
they shall bring into it the glory
and the honor of the nations.
27 But nothing unclean shall en
ter it, nor any one who prac
tices abomination or falsehood,
but only those who are written
in the Lamb's book of life.
1 Then he showed me the
river of the water of life, bright
as crystal, flowing from the
throne of God and of the Lamb
2 through the middle of the
street of the city; also, on either
side of the river, the tree *f
life with its twelve kinds of
fruit, yielding its fruit each
month; and the leaves of the
tree were for the healing of
the nations. 3 There shall no
more be anything accursed, but
the throne of God and of the
Lamb shall be in it, and his
servants shall worship him; 4
they shall see his face, and his
name shall be on their fore
heads. 5 And night shall be no
more; they need no light of
lamp or sun, for the Lord God
will be their light, and (hey
shall reign for ever and ever.
Memory Selection: I heard a
great voice from the throne say
ing, "Behold, the dwelling of
God is with men. He will dwell
with them, and they shall be
his people, and God himself
will be with them."
? Revelation 21:3
EXPLORING THE
QUESTIONS
We live in a time when the
what you want. Of the basic human emotions of wants,
needs and desires, needs are the one you should consider
most. Learn the list of needs to your family's well-being
and let the wants wait until each deprived individual has
the privilege to do his own thing, which through proper
guidance and direction equips him with understanding and
reasoning, and the knowledge of what he can have and
what he can't. When he is old enough to paddle his own
canoe, perhaps he can get what he wants and what he
needs.
There are those who think such a procedure of life
unfair, and it may be, but in our society, and in all of
society throughout the history of man, the philosophy has
been for the greater part, "survival of the fittest," and
even today, one of the popular songs of meaning in the
soul world is "Only the strong survive," quite true in this
world, this Nation, this State, city and town. "The race
is not to the swift, but to those who endureth."
followers of Jesus, in or out of
the organized church, find
themselves in varied types and
degrees of difficulty. Antagon
ism and indifference are equal
ly problems to the efforts of
churchmen to understand the
meaning of their faith for liv
ing today. Bitter disagreements
threaten division within the
church at the same time that
Christians are working toward
greater unity among the various
branches of the church.
Does the Book of Revelation
have any help or encourage
ment to offer in this difficult
and anxious time? Why was it
written? What is its basic mes
sage What may we say is the
shape and content of Christian
hope today In what way may
Revelation speak to our needs?
It is fitting that we ask these
questions in the concluding les
son of a yearlong study of "The
Story of God and His People."
We have seen that our biblical
faith and our Hebrew-Christian
faith assert that God has ex
pressed himself, and worked to
the fulfillment of his purposes,
in calling a people, and in cre
ating his church. This final les
son should leave us with some
thing of a "theology of the fu
ture," a frame of mind in which
we discharge our responsibility
as Christians in a troubled
world.
FINDING HELP WITH
YOUR QUESTIONS
The Book of Revelation is a
difficult book to understand.
Part of the explanation lies in '
the fact that, because of hia ,
faith, the author had been ex
iled to the island of Patmoa.
(See Revelation 1:9.) To get his
message past the emperor's cen
sors, he had to put it into lan
guage and symbols that would
be meaningful to his intended
readers but not to the Roman
officials.
Unfortunately, much of the
symbolism is based on ideas
and ways of thinking that are
unfamiliar to persons living in
the twentieth century. However,
we can understand the reason
the book was written and the
main thrust of its message.
Why Revelation Waa Written
The Book of Revelation is
uniquely a tract for the times
in which it was written. Accord
ing to Martin Rist, "Revelation
was written in a time when the
Christians of Asia Minor, and
probably other places as well,
were being persecuted by the
Roman officials for their refusal
to worship the emperors, both
living and dead, as gods and to
worship Roma, the personifica
tion of Rome, as a goddess."
Repression, persecution, pres
sures from families, neighbors,
and community ? all made life
exceedingly difficult for those
disciples who remained faithful
during the reign of the Emperor
Domitian (A.D. 81-96). Revela
tion was written to encourage
these Christians to hold faat.
Unflinching loyalty to Jesus
Christ was urged upon these
persecuted believers, even
though, in not a few instances,
the end result of such loyalty
was death. To them was held
out the twofold assurance (1)
that the struggle in which they
were engaged was linked to the
(Continued on Pace S)