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Big
Brothering Albert
“Faith
without works is dead.” So said St. James, one of the Immortal
Twelve, and true were his words and true they are today. Deeds
and creeds have been frequently set up as representative
of opposing ideals. There is the man of words and the man of
deeds, and there is the expression, “What you do speaks so loud
that I cannot hear what you say.” In a popularity contest, I am
sure that the man of creeds would be snowed under by the man of
deeds.
We
frequently think of men who do not practice what they preach and
they generally come in for a deserved drubbing. When we hear the
words creeds and deeds in the same sentence, we begin at once to
deplore the lack of the deeds. Our thought centers on the
absence of deed rather than the presence of creeds.
St. James fixed our
attention on the creed or faith rather than on the
deed or works. "Faith without works is dead." In
other words: if there are no deeds there can be no
creeds. Faith must express itself in deed or
die. Let us take that thought home.
How long
can you or I continue to believe in a good cause without trying
to do something for it? Start out, for instance, with
faith in the brotherhood of man. If we give that faith no
expression in deed, how long will it be before we will begin to
find excuses for our inaction? We will soon begin to pretend to
doubt the theory. We are all deceivers sometimes, and we deceive
ourselves quite as frequently as we deceive others, If we tell
ourselves anything a sufficient number of times, we will soon
begin to believe it. If we but tell ourselves that the theory of
the Brotherhood of Man is bunk a sufficient number of times,
bunk it will be so far as we are concerned. "Faith without works
is dead." Therefore, we who cherish faith must back it up in
deed.
With a
mental background induced by thoughts such as those above
expressed, I attended last spring a meeting of the Rotary Club
of Chicago at which judge Arnold, of the juvenile Court
was the principal speaker. He spoke with interest and enthusiasm
on the needs of the underprivileged boy in a great city.
One
Rotarian volunteered to become a big brother to one of the Judge
Arnold’s delinquents; whereupon the thought came to me “Faith
without works is dead.” I must therefore work or my faith will
perish. I summoned the most vigorous expression at my command
and catapulted myself into the situation with it. It was: “Give
me one of those birds, Judge, black, white, green or yellow.
The judge
apparently liked my color scheme. A few days later there
appeared at my desk a colored boy, named Albert, who admitted to
having participated in two burglaries in six months. He was
fifteen years of age and had had no criminal record previous to
that just stated.
He was a
rather a handsome fellow, well-built, and his eye was right most
of the time.
I said:
"Well, Albert, what do you think you would like to make of
yourself?"
He looked
me steadily tho inquiringly in the eye I for a few moments and
then blurted out with considerable asperity, perhaps just a bit
testily:
"I know
what you mean. I want to make of myself a clean, straight man;
that's what I want to make of myself.”
I told, him
that I was, mightly glad to hear him so express himself, but
that he had not quite understood my question; that I had meant
to inquire what vocation in particular he thought that he would
like to follow.
He had no
particular ambition but thought that he might do well in some
mechanical occupation. He was willing to undertake anything.
I made a
record of his family history as related by him and then sent for
his mother to verify and complete the story. She told me that
the boy and his brother were living with her and her present
husband, a porter; that Albert had always been a pretty good boy
prior to the occasions above mentioned, tho he was high spirited
and sometimes difficult to control. She spoke quite
enthusiastically of his mechanical ability and cited several
instances in which it had been made manifest.
I shall
admit that I did not readily sell myself to the proposition of
attempting the salvage of an embryonic negro burglar.
It was
something of a test of my faith, but the words of St. James,
"Faith with out works is dead," urged me on.
And then
again I thought of the great American, Abraham Lincoln, who had
so befriended the unfortunate black man, and I concluded that if
the great heart of Lincoln, bowed down as it was with a nation’s
cares and sorrows – if it could harbor a friendliness for the
whole race – it would be indeed poorly behoove Paul Harris to
exclude one wayward youth.
I obtained
temporary employment for the boy at fourteen dollars per week,
and then called on the father, mother and brother at their home,
which I found to be neat and, tidy ‑ far better than had
expected.
I secured
the cooperation of the boy's employer and he permitted the boy
to report at my office twice a week during the noon hour. I also
kept in touch with the court, reporting progress from time to
time. I found the attaches of the court anxious to help. I have
been more than pleased with the spirit which they have shown.
I have had
many conferences with the mother also and have endeavored to
inspire her with an ambition for her boy. I think that I have
succeeded as well as could have been expected.
We induced
Albert to take up a night course in a public manual training
school. He is now making pretty good money and is turning it all
over to his mother. She has made good a part of the losses
occasioned by the two burglaries, and I hope that a criminal
career has been averted, and I also hope that one human unit of
some value has been salvaged.
Whether or
not Albert has realized a lasting benefit from this
circumstance, I at least have realized a fact which will remain
with me.
I feel that
I have done something at least toward the preservation of my
faith; for I am firmly convinced that the apostle of old spoke
with wisdom, when he wrote the words, "Faith without works is
dead."
The
above was written by Paul Harris upon special request of the
Boys Work Secretary, following a speech before the Chicago
Rotary Club.
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