Volume 30, No. 30                                                
July 31, 2005

Putting Love On the Shelf

   Andrew Carnegie wrote the book on building libraries.

   From Brantford to small towns in Britain, the wealthy American steel baron financed 2,509 of them.  The story of the man and his mission is a good yarn in its own right.

   A Scottish immigrant whose impoverished family moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when he was thirteen, Carnegie first got a job as a “bobbin boy” working on the spinning machines in a cotton factory for $1.20 a week.  After a stint as a messenger for the city’s telegraph office, his career picked up steam at the Pennsylvania Railroad where he rose through the ranks, made a small fortune and started a steel company that he eventually sold for a whopping $480 million.  At the end of his rags-to-riches story, he was the wealthiest man in the world.

   A passionate believer in helping others help themselves, Carnegie wrote an essay called The Gospel of Wealth in which he preached it was the moral duty of the rich to use their money to improve society.  He looked long and hard at ways he might be able to make a difference. In the end, he found inspiration in his own experience.  

   As a lad, Carnegie had been profoundly influenced by a wealthy mentor, Colonel James Anderson.  The retired soldier had hundreds of books and let working-class kids like Carnegie browse the shelves on Saturdays and borrow what they wanted.  That’s how young Andrew got his education, for which he was always grateful.

   So in 1899, the same year he wrote The Gospel of Wealth, Carnegie built a palatial public library in Pittsburgh.  He went on to finance others in every American state except Rhode Island, and in several cities across Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom,   including his hometown of Dunfermline, Scotland.

   By the time he died in 1919, Andrew Carnegie had given away $350 million — about 90 percent of his wealth  Even so, his name never appeared above the entrance to any of his libraries.  Instead, he chose the simple inscriptions, “Let There Be Light.” and  "Free to the People."   To be sure, Andrew Carnegie was no saint.  He was ruthless in cutting costs and demanded from his workers long hours and low wages.  But not out of greed. “Man does not live by bread alone,”he said. His goal was to contribute “to the enlightenment and joys of the mind, to the things of the spirit, to all that tends to bring sweetness and light.”

    May it be so with us for we, too, have been richly blessed.  From the abundance of our material and spiritual wealth, God expects us to share, not grudgingly, but gratefully.  “Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing and you say, ‘Well, goodbye and God bless you; stay warm and eat well’ but you don’t give that person food or clothing.  What good does that do?  Faith that doesn’t show itself by good deeds is no faith at all — it’s dead and useless.” (James 2:15-17)

   That principle also applies to turning a blind eye to poverty of the spirit.  Every day, we encounter people in desperate need, not only of faith but friendship, acceptance and support.  Those caught in the grinding cycle of guilt and regret, soul-numbing loneliness or the pain of depression need us to personify the love and concern of Christ.

   And that’s the least we can do, considering we once stood before God wearing our many sins like filthy rags (Zech. 3:4).  “But He’s so rich in kindness that He purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son, and our sins are forgiven.  He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.” (Eph. 1:7,8)  

    Having undergone our own rags to riches story, we’re now the wealthiest in the world, thanks to the way our Mentor has prepared us for life.  So we owe a debt to those who would benefit as we live according to the Gospel of Wealth  and the wealth of the Gospel.  It was Jesus who first said, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4)  Let’s put some action behind those words and give away our wealth.  Let there be Light, free to the people.  Don’t just leave your love on the shelf.  Put it into circulation.

By Rick Gamble, published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of the Followers of Christ church family in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.  Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications.  To receive these free weekly articles via email, send a note to sgamble@bfree.on.ca