Romans 1:7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Many persons say, "What is the use of salutations? When I meet a lady in the street, why should I raise my hat?" And, by the by, young men, it is worth your while either to salute a lady, or not to. The habit of touching your hat is a vulgar habit. It is like, in letter writing, using "gent" instead of "gentleman." It is a kind of contraction that is indicative of a lack of proper information. A man says, "Why should I say 'Good morning' to a man when I meet him?" or, "Why should friends say 'Good-bye' when they part?" That very expression, "Good-bye," shows what the Western literalising tendency is. There was a time when friends at parting looked gravely at each other, and said, "God be with you"; but now they say "Good-bye," which is the same thing abbreviated. In the "God be with you" of the West there is no "God," no "with you," no anything, except "Good-bye," which is what a bird is when its feathers have all been plucked off. But why should we have so many of these salutations? Well, for my part, I think that even good folks, without such little ceremonies, are like grapes packed for market without leaves between them. They will crush and come in mashed. Even good folks need to have little courtesies between them to keep them from attrition. And to take society and divest it of all these little civilities would be to deteriorate it, and carry it toward the savage state. I do not think that the bushmen of South Africa trouble themselves about such things. They economise speech and conduct. And as you go up in civilised and Christian communities, you will find more and more, and not fewer and fewer, of them. And when you come to the very height of civilisation and Christianity — the family — you will not only find more of them, but you will find that they are not conventional. There you will hear the mother talking to the little child, and the child talking back; and you will hear them calling each other all manner of fond epithets. The whole of society is chased by golden figures of those civilities that tend to make life rich and happy. And if you think that these things are of no use, it is because you never put your heart into them. When you see a friend coming, and you say, "Good morning," mean good morning. Let your heart go in kindness toward him. If you meet a person, and you choose to uncover your head, let your heart be uncovered too. When in honour you prefer others to yourselves, put more goodwill, more Christianity into it. Please men more, desire to please them more, and it will swell up the shrunken proportions of these civilities, and make them put new buds and new blossoms out. We need not fewer, but more of these things in human life, to take away its vulgarity, and its hard surfaces, and to enrich it with more flowers and perfumes. (H. W. Beecher.) Parallel Verses KJV: To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. |
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