The first will be so generous today that it will be hard
for him to be just tomorrow, while the second, by doing only justice
now, gains power to bring about the most generous results hereafter.
This second degree of charity or brotherly love should not ignore or
contemn the first, but build itself upon it. Justice must not forget
mercy. The poor must not be suffered to starve before work can be
provided for them, or they be taught to do it. One Christian virtue does
not destroy that which lies beneath it, but rises to its true height by
standing upon it. We do not pull away the base of a structure because we
wish its top to be more elevated.
The third, or heavenly, degree of charity results from love to the
Lord. This is the highest possible form of charity, and through its
development man is brought into connection with the highest heavens. The
first form of charity comes in great measure from a love of self. We
obey its impulses because of our own personal distress at witnessing the
distress of others; and where unrestrained by higher principle,
these impulses often compel us to be unjust today because we were
over-generous yesterday. The second form of charity results from true
brotherly love, that leads us to restrain impulse because principle puts
it in our power to do so much more for those who need our aid. The third
form is the fruit of love to the Lord. It is warmer than the first and
wiser than the second.
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