Gandhi and Matthew 25
What definite work would you suggest that a missionary should do for and among the masses?
Since I have been challenged I must unhesitatingly answer,"The spinning wheel."* You naturally laugh, but if you knew the masses as I do, you will look upon this very simple instrument of torture (takli) with seriousness. You cannot present the hungry and famished masses with God. Their God is their food. General Booth** knew what he was doing when at his numerous depots the first thing he did to the hungry men and women who flocked there was to give them a plate of soup. Before he would give them their next meal he called upon them to make splinters for his match factory and then he introduced them to God. To be continued next week.
*The spinning wheel, or charka, was the Gandhian symbol of swadeshi, or self-reliance. The British colonial economy forced India to exchange cotton for British fabric, thus undermining the local economy and fostering economic dependence. In response Gandhi embraced the spinning wheel and the production of homespun "khadi," which provided employment for the masses, affirmed the dignity of labor, and offered a form of real economic resistance to colonialism.
**William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army.
What definite work would you suggest that a missionary should do for and among the masses?
Since I have been challenged I must unhesitatingly answer,"The spinning wheel."* You naturally laugh, but if you knew the masses as I do, you will look upon this very simple instrument of torture (takli) with seriousness. You cannot present the hungry and famished masses with God. Their God is their food. General Booth** knew what he was doing when at his numerous depots the first thing he did to the hungry men and women who flocked there was to give them a plate of soup. Before he would give them their next meal he called upon them to make splinters for his match factory and then he introduced them to God. To be continued next week.
*The spinning wheel, or charka, was the Gandhian symbol of swadeshi, or self-reliance. The British colonial economy forced India to exchange cotton for British fabric, thus undermining the local economy and fostering economic dependence. In response Gandhi embraced the spinning wheel and the production of homespun "khadi," which provided employment for the masses, affirmed the dignity of labor, and offered a form of real economic resistance to colonialism.
**William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army.
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