“If any man is rich and powerful, he comes under the law of God by which the higher branches must take the burnings of the sun, and shade those that are lower; by which the tall trees must protect the weak plants beneath them.”
Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American Congregationalist clergyman, in Forty Thousand Quotations, Prose and Poetical, compiled by Charles Noel Douglas (London: George G. Harrap & Co., 1917) 1675.
This reading struck me this morning as I am in D.C. and going to a Washington Nationals game this afternoon with Dan Busby, Randy Kung, and Cameron Doolittle. They are Christian brothers who represent the generations before and after me.
God, as we flourish financially, grant us the strength and grace to provide shade and shelter for others, so that those beneath us grow strong so as to provide shade for others someday. Amen.