1 Chronicles 28:11

"Handfuls of Purpose,"

For All Gleaners

"Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern..." 1 Chronicles 28:11 .

David was determined to do as much as possible towards building the temple. The temple itself he was forbidden to rear; and yet, whilst obeying the letter of the word, he zealously did his utmost to facilitate the progress of his son. Some men can only give outlines, hints, suggestions, patterns. These men are of great consequence and value in the education of the human mind. A hint may be a stimulus. Some men can see a long way through a small rent, and yet they never could make the rent for themselves. In the Church we have statesmen and politicians that is to say, men who can grasp the entirety of a case, and men who can only see parts of it, or attend to the detail of the working out of some great scheme. Solomon can work according to a pattern when he may be destitute of original invention. We mistake originality when we think that it consists of adaptation of old materials. As a matter of fact, there is no originality. The only partial originality possible to us is the re-arrangement of old histories, facts, phenomena, inferences: but even this adaptation of what is already well known must not be discarded or despised as a secondary service. Let it not be supposed that men are doing nothing for the race who write its poems, outline its policies, or sketch new programmes of possible service. The builder could not proceed without the architect. From a common point of view, the architect may be said to be doing the easy work: seated in his office, and with dainty hands employing himself with clean paper, mathematical instruments, and availing himself of the treasures of knowledge gathered by other men, he might be thought to be doing the playful part of the business: but consult the builder, because the builder alone knows the true value of the architect. But this is part of an old and vexatious sophism. Men will value the material more than the spiritual; the manual more than the intellectual. How long will the time be in coming when men shall see that an idea is of more value than gold, that knowledge is power, and that wisdom is better than strength? There must be no undervaluing one of another amongst men, for one man can do what another can not do, or one man can do another kind of work better than he could render some lower service. Let each operate in his own way.