|
 In
1919 "The Wit and Wisdom of Safed the Sage" was
published by Pilgrim Press, Chicago. The author, William E.
Barton, was a denominational preacher. He also wrote
"Parables of Safed the Sage," and "Safed and
Keturah" (his wife). We propose to print a series of his
articles, but must edit and digest to fit our space.
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There
spake unto me a man who said, My income is not enough.
And
I said, Thou Fortunate Man! And he said, Why dost thou say so?
And I said, Because thou hast the choice either of Earning More
or of Spending Less; and when there be two ways of solving a
problem, a man is Fortunate. Whereas I know a Poor Man who
Owneth a Railroad and Earnestly Coveth Another; he is Poor for
he cannot get it.
And
he said, When I was a lad, I drove my father's cow to an Hired
Pasture, for we lived in a Little Town. And other men in the
same town besought me to drive their cows, and they gave me
every one of them Ten Cents a Week; and I drove Five Cows. And I
thought How Happy I should be if there were Ten Cows and I could
earn Every Week an Whole Dollar.
And
when I became older, of about the age of Fourteen, then did I
hire myself in the springtime to a Farmer to Plant Potatoes; and
we cut them so that on Every Piece there were Two Eyes, and we
planted Forty Acres of them. And I worked for him Eleven Days,
and received Five Dollars and the Half of a Dollar; and I
reflected that if Potato Planting could last All Summer then
might I
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earn Thirteen Dollars every Month.
And
I said to him, What is thine Income Now?
And
he said, The Government of the United States hath lately asked
me the same Question, and when I told them, they struck me for a
sum that made mine Hair Stand on End. I knew not till then how
Poor is the man who is as Rich as I.
And
I said, The Holy Scriptures call down a Blessing on the man who
Considereth the Poor; I will bless also the man who, however
Poor he is, Considereth himself Rich. For thou wast Rich when
thou dravest cows to Pasture, and hast been rich ever since if
thy Mind hath been at peace with God and man and thou hast had
enough to pay thine Honest Debts.
And
I spake to him this proverb of the men of Arabia; Who is richer,
he that hath a Million Dollars or he that hath Seven Daughters?
And
he said, Tell me the answer. And I said, The man who hath Seven
Daughters is the Richer; for he hath enough, and knoweth it.
———————————–
As "Safed" says in his
introduction, "There are deeper joys and larger lessons in
common experiences if we know how to find them." We hope
you will profit by what he found.
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