[Malcolm W. Bingay, in the Free Press, Detroit, Michigan]

True democracy is not a thing of formula, ritual, and definitions. Real democracy comes not from the head, but from the heart. Like the Golden Rule and the Sermon on the Mount, it belongs to the intangibles. Even in this most cynical of ages it is well to remember that American democracy lives, moves, and has its being only on the grounds of basic morality. . . . In a properly functioning democracy, where the judgments of the people prevail, morality must always be the key to the solution of any of our problems in the long run. For collectively the people determine, not on the basis of their own individual lives, but on the broader aspects of honesty, good will, and common decency. . . .

James Bryce, British author of the "American Common-wealth," wrote: "When Americans say, as they often do, that they trust to time, they mean that they trust to reason, to the general sound moral tone of the multitude, to a shrewdness which, after failures and through experiments, learns what is the true interest of the majority and finds that this interest coincides with the teachings of morality."

Now a nation is only a group of people gathered together under a form of government. It is, therefore, the sum total of that people's capacities and, in a democracy, must reflect all the talents, all the virtues, and all the faults of its people. . . .

The French student of American democracy, de Tocqueville, sensed this when he wrote: "Democracy does not give to the people a more skillful government, but it produces what the ablest governments are unable to create; namely, an all-pervading and restless activity, a superabundant force, and an energy which is inseparable from it, and which may, however unfavorable circumstances may be, produce wonders."

[From the Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada]

How much of wise counsel is contained in the book known as Ecclesiastes or The Preacher! Amongst these gems of wisdom is the story of the little city. "There was a little city," says the Preacher, "and few men within it" (mark the simplicity of this beautiful story); and "there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man." What a poignant story of human neglect! Yet it is the story of the world. The forgetfulness of the poor man who by his wisdom delivered the little city brought from the Preacher the exclamation: "Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good."

The poor man who saved the little city is the individual who goes about his daily task in the spirit of conscientiousness. He is the individual who leavens the community. He paints life with the brush of humanity. He is not accustomed to shout from the housetops. He is the individual who recognizes the claim his family has on him; who realizes what his duty to his neighbor is, appreciating the truth that in discharging his duty to his fellow man he is also discharging his duty to God. He goes about his daily work with this thought ever in his mind.

"God is no respecter of persons." But who is there who can deny that the individual described as the man of the little city has the satisfying compensation that he has earned the respect of Him who in the ordinary sense is no respecter of persons? The things that are unseen of men, done in the spirit of conscientiousness and not self-righteousness, are the things that commend themselves to God. They are the things for which no worldly reward is expected. They give a meaning to manhood and womanhood. Who can deny that in this is constituted true religion—the seeking after good comprehended in God?

[Orien W. Fifer, in the Christian Advocate, Cincinnati, Ohio]

The following words were spoken by a president not living between the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean. They fit multitudes of citizens in the United States who neglect primaries, elections, seek only gifts or other advantages from their state and national governments, and obey few if any spiritual ideals or methods in their manner of living:

"We of today are soft and easygoing. Our tendency toward parasitism is not inclined to sustained strenuous effort. Face-saving is our dominant note in the confused symphony of our existence. Our sense of righteousness often is dulled by a desire for personal gain. We lack the superb courage which impels action because it is right. Our greatest fear is not to do wrong, but to be caught doing wrong. Our conception of virtue is conventional. We take religion lightly and we think lip service equivalent to a deep, abiding faith. Patriotism among us is only skin-deep and incapable of inspiring heroic deeds."

The president who uttered these words expressed determination to lead his people away from such enervating conditions, and to encourage and aid a spiritual revival among them. If these soft shoes fit any American groups they should change them for shoes of iron and brass suitable for forward and heroic marching.

[William T. Ellis, in the Kansas City Journal, Missouri]

It is the common opinion around our Canadian lake that our substantial and convenient log cabin has set a new standard for cabins: and that future building will be affected by it. Instead of conducting a crusade for better camps, we simply built a model, which is the more effective way of helping one's neighbors.

To paint one's own house, to keep one's own lawn well mown, is the best incentive to community beautification. Likewise, to live one's own life up to its noblest level, and to practice Christian conduct, has more sermonic value than reams of pamphleteering. The maintenance of a wholesome, happy Christian home is the most powerful contribution that one can make to a better social order.

[Joseph Fort Newton, in New York Times, New York]

Little things make people happy; and little things make us miserable. Life for most of us most of the time is made up of little things. But we must not let life itself become a little thing. There are certain little arts which add to the beauty and joy of life. . . .

Save your worry until the thing happens. . . . It may not happen, but, if it does, other things will happen too, modifying the scene and the result. . . .

Live positively, not negatively. So many of us know what we are against, but not what we are for—what we disbelieve, not what we believe. A negative life easily becomes neutral and futile. In other words, live by your admiration, not by your disgusts. Praise people for what they can do instead of criticizing them for what they cannot do. A real critic is not a faultfinder, but a star-finder.

In the Barrie play "Little White Bird" a young husband is waiting at a hospital for his child to be born. He wonders if he has been kind enough to his wife. Then he says: "Let us make a new rule from tonight. . . always be a little kinder than is necessary." If all of us practiced such a rule the world would be a fairyland tomorrow.

The good Samaritan did it. The next morning, after rescuing the wounded man and taking care of him at the inn, he took out money and asked the innkeeper to use more if needed. It was that golden extra which made it so beautiful—he was a little kinder than necessary.

[Rev. James Reid, D.D., in the British Weekly, London, England]

The discoveries of modern science, we are told, have come about through the instinct of curiosity. People saw things that made them wonder, and then they began to ask questions. James Watt noticed the effect of steam as it came from a boiling kettle and then began to investigate the secret of it. Benjamin Franklin watched the lightning storm in the clouds and asked the questions that revealed the secret of electricity. This is also how the power of Christianity came to penetrate the ancient world. The lives of the Christians and the things they did awakened wonder. Then wonder aroused curiosity. What was their secret? By what power, or by what name, had they done these things? . . .

Men will begin to think about Christ when our lives and our deeds make them wonder. When our lives suggest to them that we have a secret which is not accessible to the world, they will begin to ask the questions that make room for God.

But have we this secret? Is there anything in our lives which cannot be explained by worldly motives or the forces that move ordinary people? . . .

Have we the secret that can keep our heart in love, even to our enemies? Do we draw people to us by the charm and winsomeness that have in them the grace of Christ? . . . Love is the secret. In it are the power and the peace which the world cannot give, and which its threatening and fear cannot take away.

[From the Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada]

"Some retailers in our community," remarks the Renfrew Mercury, "feel that when we urge them to advertise in our newspaper, we do so for purely selfish reasons. Well, we admit quite frankly that selfish subjects have their place in our solicitations of retailers to use our advertising columns; but there are other objects in our mind. Thus, we want this community of ours to be a live one. We want all persons, all families in the area from which retailers draw their customers, to feel that they are being served by retailers who are keen to have their custom.

"Then, too, there is this consideration: All of us should be helping others to live more abundantly. Every rightminded man is a Samaritan; he wants to help others who are unfortunate. Every service club in our community has the Samaritan spirit. Our churches live by practicing the Samaritan example. The more that we help others, the large is our own income—not necessarily our dollars and cents income. Always the tide returns—the tide which flows from warm hearts and kind actions." . . .

Advertisements are but manifestations of the Samaritan spirit: they are public avowals of the will to serve.