PART 14 of 24 Parts
"Did you ever know anyone so willing to give her whole life to people as Rachel is going to do?" she asked. "Rachel plans to give music lessons in the city in order to make a living, and then give the Rectangle people the benefit of her culture and her voice."
"It is certainly a good example of self-sacrifice," replied Rollin a little stiffly.
"But don’t you think it is a very unusual example? Can you imagine"—here
"No, I can’t," Rollin answered briefly.
"Then why do you treat her in such a distant manner? I think she is annoyed by it. You two used to be on such good terms."
"
"I have never loved anyone but Rachel Winslow." Rollin forced himself to speak calmly. "That day she was here when you talked about her refusal to join the concert company, I asked her to be my wife. She turned me down, as I knew she would. And she gave as her reason the fact that I had no purpose in life, which was true. Now that I have a purpose, now that I am a new man, don’t you see,
"I am still in love with Rachel,
The next day
"I have tried to put down here in specific form some of these things," said Edward Norman. As he read from a paper lying on his desk, Henry Maxwell was reminded again of his own effort to put into written form his own conception of Jesus’ probable action, and also of Milton Wright’s attempt to do this in his business.
The list was headed by the title "What would Jesus do as Edward Norman, editor of a daily newspaper in Raymond?
1. He would never allow a sentence or a picture in His paper that could be called bad or coarse or vulgar in any way.
2. He would probably conduct the political part of the paper from the standpoint of nonpartisan patriotism, always looking upon all political questions in the light of their relation to the Kingdom of God, and advocating measures from the standpoint of their relation to the welfare of the people. He would consider them on the basis of, "What is right?" never from the basis of, "What is for the best interests of this or that party?"
In other words, he would treat all political questions as he would treat every other subject—from the standpoint of the advancement of the Kingdom of God on earth.
Edward Norman looked up from the reading for a moment. "You understand that this is my opinion of Jesus’ probable action on political matters in a daily paper. I am not passing judgment on other newspapermen who might have a different conception from mine of Jesus’ action. I am simply trying to answer honestly, ‘What would Jesus do as Edward Norman?’"
3. The primary aim of a daily paper conducted by Jesus would be to do the will of God. That is, His main purpose in carrying on a newspaper would not be to make money or gain political influence, but His first and ruling purpose would be to so conduct His paper that it would be evident to all His subscribers that He was trying to seek first the Kingdom of God by means of His paper. This purpose would be as distinct and unquestioned as the purpose of a minister or a missionary doing Christian work.
4. No questionable advertisements would be accepted.
5. Jesus would expect my relationship with all employees on the paper to be of the most loving character.
"Once you introduce the element of personal love into a business like this," said Norman, again looking up, "and reduce the selfish principle of doing it for the sake of personal profits to a man or company, I think you will find developing a completely new attitude between editors, reporters, pressmen and all who contribute anything to the life of the paper."
6. As editor of a daily paper today, Jesus would give space to the work of the Christian world. He would devote a page possibly to the facts of reform, of sociological problems, of church work, and similar movements.
7. He would fight crime and corruption and the liquor interests as an enemy of the human race and an unwelcome part of our present civilization. He would do this regardless of public sentiment in the matter, always regardless of its effect on His subscription list.
8. Jesus would not issue a Sunday edition.
9. He would print the news of the world that people ought to know. This would not include the detailed accounts of brutal prize fights, or crimes, or scandals in private families, or any other events that degrade mankind. This does not mean that negative news would be excluded, since people need to know both the good and the bad news of our life today.
10. Whatever needs might arise as the paper developed along its definite plan, the main principle that guided it would always be the establishment of the Kingdom of God in the world. This large general principle would necessarily shape all the details.
Edward Norman finished reading the plan. He was very thoughtful.
"This is only a rough outline. I have a hundred ideas for making the paper more effective that I have not thought out fully as yet. I have talked it over with other newspapermen. Some of them say I will have a weak, namby-pamby Sunday school sheet. Why do men, when they want to characterize as a comparison, when they ought to know that the Sunday school program is—or should be—one of the strongest, most powerful influences in shaping the character of men and of nations? But the paper will not necessarily be weak because it is good. Good thins are more powerful than bad.
"The big question before me is how much support will I have from the Christian people of Raymond. There are over twenty thousand church members in this city. If half of them will stand by the News, its life is assured. What do you think, Henry? Is there probability of such support?
"I don’t know enough about it to give an intelligent answer. I believe in the paper with all my heart. If it lives a year, there is no telling what it will do. The important thing will be to put into it all the elements of Christian strength, intelligence and sense; to command respect for freedom from bigotry, fanaticism, narrowness and anything else that is contrary to the Spirit of Jesus. Such a paper will call for the best that human thought and action are capable of giving. The greatest minds in the world would have their powers taxed to the utmost to issue a Christian daily."
"Yes," Edward Norman said humbly, "I shall make a great many mistakes, no doubt. I need a great deal of wisdom."
"I think we are beginning to understand," said
"That is very true," said Henry Maxwell. "I am beginning to understand that I cannot interpret the probable action of Jesus until I know His Spirit better. The greatest question in all of human life is summed up when we ask, ‘What would Jesus do?’, if, as we ask it, we also try to answer it from a growth in knowledge of Jesus Himself. We must know Jesus before we can imitate Him."
When the arrangements had been made between Virginia and Edward Norman, he found himself in the possession of the sum of half-million dollars to use for the establishment of a Christian daily paper. When Virginia and Maxwell had gone, Norman closed his door and asked like a child for help from his all-powerful Father. All through his prayer as he knelt before his desk ran the promise: "If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him."
Two months went by. They were full of action and of results in the city of Raymond, and especially in the First Church. In spite of the approaching heat of the summer season, the aftermeeting of the disciples who had made the pledge to do as Jesus would do continued with enthusiasm and power. Mr. Gray had finished his work at the Rectangle, and though an outward observer going through the place might not have seen any difference in the old conditions, there was an actual change in hundreds of lives.
Still, the saloons, vice dens, gambling houses continued to overflow their vileness into the lives of fresh victims to take the place of those rescued by the evangelist. The devil recruited his ranks very fast.
Henry Maxwell did not go abroad. Instead, he took the money he had been saving for the trip and quietly arranged a summer vacation for a family of six living down in the Rectangle who had never gone outside of their tenement area. The pastor of the First Church had quite an experience with this family making the arrangements. He went down into the Rectangle one hot day and helped the family to the railroad station, then went with them to a beautiful spot on the Maine coast where, in the home of a Christian woman, the bewildered city tenants breathed the cool salt air and felt blow about them the pine-scented fragrance of a Maine forest.
Of the four children one was crippled, and the baby was sickly. During the journey the father held the baby in his arms. Later he confessed to Maxwell that he had been out of work for such a long time, that he had several times considered suicide. When Maxwell started back to Raymond after seeing the family settled, to his consternation the man held his hand and, choked with gratitude, wept openly. The mother, a wearied, worn-out woman, had lost three children the year before from a fever scourge in the Rectangle. She sat by the train window all throughout the journey and drank in the delights of sea, sky and field. It all seemed a miracle to her.
As Henry Maxwell rode back into Raymond at the end of that week, he felt the scorching, sickening heat all the more because of his little taste of the ocean breezes. But he thanked God for the joy he had witnessed, and for learning about this special kind of sacrifice. Never before had he denied himself his regular summer trip away from the heat of Raymond, whether he felt in any great need of rest or not.
"It is a fact," he said, in reply to several inquiries from parishioners, "that I do not feel in need of a vacation this year. I am very well and prefer to stay here." It was with a feeling of relief that he succeeded in concealing from everyone but his wife what he had done with this other family. He was convinced that actions of this sort should be handled without publicity, which would usually bring the approval of others.
So the summer came on, and First Church was still swayed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Maxwell marveled at the continuance of His stay. He knew very well that from the beginning nothing but the Spirit’s presence had kept the church from being torn asunder by the remarkable testing it had received of its discipleship. Many members among those who had not taken the pledge regarded the whole movement as Mrs. Winslow did—in the nature of a fanatical interpretation of Christian duty—and looked for a return to the old normal condition. Meanwhile, the pastor went his way that summer doing his parish work in great joy, keeping up his meetings with the railroad men as he had promised Alexander Powers, and daily growing into a better knowledge of the Master
Early one afternoon in August, after a day of refreshing coolness following a long period of heat, Jasper Chase walked to the window of his room in the apartment house on the avenue and looked out.
On his desk lay a pile of manuscripts. Since that evening when he had been rebuffed by Rachel Winslow he had not seen her. His singularly sensitive nature, sensitive to the point of irritability when he was thwarted, seemed to have thrust him into an isolation intensified by his habits as an author.
All through the heat of the summer he had been writing. His book was nearly done now. He had thrown himself into its construction with a feverish strength that threatened at any moment to desert him and leave him helpless. He had not forgotten his pledge made with the other church members at the First Church. It kept intruding on his thoughts: Would Jesus do this? Would he write this story?
It was a society novel written in a style that had proved popular. It had no purpose except to amuse. Its moral teaching was not bad, but neither was it Christian in any positive way.
Jasper Chase knew that such a story would probably sell. He was conscious of powers in his style that the social world petted and admired. Yet he had to admit to himself that Jesus would never write such a book. The question obtruded on him at the most inopportune times, making him downright irascible.
The standard of Jesus as an author was too ideal. Of course, Jesus would use His powers to produce something useful, or helpful, or with purpose. For what reason was he, Jasper Chase, writing this novel? Why, what nearly every writer wrote for—money and fame as an author. He was not poor, and so had no great temptation to write for money. But he was urged on by his desire for fame as much as anything. He must write this kind of matter.
But what would Jesus do? The question plagued him even more than Rachel’s refusal. Was he going to break his promise? Did the promise mean much after all?
As Jasper Chase looked out his window, Rollin Page emerged from the clubhouse just opposite. Jasper noted his handsome face and trim figure as he started down the street. He went back to his desk for a moment and then returned to the window. Rollin was walking down the block and Rachel Winslow was now beside him. Rollin must have overtaken her.
Jasper watched the two figures until they disappeared. Then he turned to his desk and began to write. When he had finished the last page of the last chapter of his book it was nearly dark. What would Jesus do? He had finally answered the question by denying his Lord. It grew darker in his room. He had deliberately chosen his course, urged on by his disappointment and loss.