(Article published in 1911)
Quaint and Interesting Customs That Prevailed When the Church and Festival Were Young
In the early days of the church, it is said that the bishops used to sing carols on Christmas day among their clergy, and around the sixteenth century the well-known practice observed by children of going around the neighborhood singing Christmas carols beneath the windows of the houses was commonly observed, usually taking place on Christmas morning. One of the oldest and most beautiful of the Christmas carols that has come down to the present day opens with these words:
"God rest you, merry gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay.
For Jesus Christ, our Savior,
Was born upon this day.
To save us all from Satan's power,
When we were gone astray.
O, tidings of comfort and joy!
For Jesus Christ, our Savior,
Was born on Christmas Day."
It is sometimes more appropriate to sing the Christmas carols on Christmas eve than on Christmas day, although they are sung at both times; but in England the choir of the village church used to go around to the principal houses in the parish and sing some of these simple hymns on Christmas eve regularly.
Frequently the singers were accompanied on some instrument and often the picture presented was a pretty one. The figures of the group of singers, only visible in the darkness, by the lanterns they carried, and the sweet melody sung and played, made the observance a striking and beautiful one.
Sometimes in England, the carols were also sung in the churches in place of the usual psalms and hymns; although it was more customary for the clerk at the close of the service in a loud voice to wish all the congregation merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Religious Unity Can End War, Says Minister
1938
The war problem can be solved only by religious unity, Dr. Douglas Horton, minister of the United Church of Hyde Park. Ill., declared in an address at the Memorial Union Tuesday night. His talk was one of a series during the University of Wisconsin's Religious Emphasis week.
"If war comes tomorrow, it is because of what we do today," Dr. Horton said. "Shall we be the cause of the death of the next generation by war due to the activities that we conduct today? It is our duty to place religion on such a strong international scale that no nationalistic force can break down our loyalty to God to be replaced by a loyalty to a nation."
Three methods of preventing wars pointed out by Dr. Horton are:
1. Preparedness through huge military and naval expenditures.
2. Complete disarmament.
3. The establishment of an international religious community.
Racial discrimination against the Japanese, Dr. Horton said, has caused hatred between Japan and the United States.
"War that is international in scope," he declared, "cannot be solved by limiting ourselves to our national boundaries. We must seek the answer in the great world of Christian peoples."
The church must take a deeper interest in social issues of day, Atty. Frank W. McCulloch, Chicago, declared. Need for better recognition of the rights of unionists, and a Christian industrial democracy was cited.
"Our patriotism. like our religion, must not be beguiled by the Pied Piper flutings of our leaders," he said. "We must inquire into their motives and principles and make free use of the rights accorded us by our constitution."
Loyalty to the state, he declared, must not be placed above loyalty to a common cause and God.
—Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, Feb. 23, 1938, p. 6.
The war problem can be solved only by religious unity, Dr. Douglas Horton, minister of the United Church of Hyde Park. Ill., declared in an address at the Memorial Union Tuesday night. His talk was one of a series during the University of Wisconsin's Religious Emphasis week.
"If war comes tomorrow, it is because of what we do today," Dr. Horton said. "Shall we be the cause of the death of the next generation by war due to the activities that we conduct today? It is our duty to place religion on such a strong international scale that no nationalistic force can break down our loyalty to God to be replaced by a loyalty to a nation."
Three methods of preventing wars pointed out by Dr. Horton are:
1. Preparedness through huge military and naval expenditures.
2. Complete disarmament.
3. The establishment of an international religious community.
Racial discrimination against the Japanese, Dr. Horton said, has caused hatred between Japan and the United States.
"War that is international in scope," he declared, "cannot be solved by limiting ourselves to our national boundaries. We must seek the answer in the great world of Christian peoples."
The church must take a deeper interest in social issues of day, Atty. Frank W. McCulloch, Chicago, declared. Need for better recognition of the rights of unionists, and a Christian industrial democracy was cited.
"Our patriotism. like our religion, must not be beguiled by the Pied Piper flutings of our leaders," he said. "We must inquire into their motives and principles and make free use of the rights accorded us by our constitution."
Loyalty to the state, he declared, must not be placed above loyalty to a common cause and God.
—Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, Feb. 23, 1938, p. 6.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Whitewash' Preachers to End Bad Scandals
1909
Methodist Conference Lets Several Chicago Pastors Off Easy to Get Rid of Them
ROCKFORD, Ill., Oct. 6. — The moral reformers of the Rock River conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church sat dumb under the lash of authority while the suppressionists of the inner council forced through their "whitewashing" program in the cases of alleged ministerial immorality.
But after all is done, the moral reformers have revolted against the Episcopal bludgeon and are denouncing the acts that were sanctioned by the silence on the floor of the conference. The cabineteers have been driven to cover and are shifting responsibility from one to another.
The series of conference acts which have roused the reformers to rebellion culminated in the vote by which John D. Leek, former pastor of the Western Avenue Church in Chicago, whose name was associated with that of Mrs. Mary A. Lavender, was permitted to withdraw from the ministry and from the membership of the church. In addition to that, Perley W. Powers, former pastor of the Olivet Church, Chicago, who was involved with Mrs. V. Book-Fenner, who committed suicide shortly after her arrest on the preacher's complaint, was permitted to withdraw honorably from the conference, to retain his ministry and membership and to have a "location" in the Jason Lee Memorial Church of Blackfoot, Idaho, where the preacher is now engaged in the real estate business.
The John E. Farmer case, which was the first immorality case to be disposed of, is also one of the series, and one that is causing loudest complaint. And on top of these came the programmed disposition of Mrs. Lavender's charges of maladministration against Doctor Crawford. Rev. D. M. Tompkins, pastor of the Rogers Park Church of Chicago and counsel for the Woodlawn Park Church, failed to present Mrs. Lavender's charges, and Doctor Crawford's name was called and passed without comment.
Methodist Conference Lets Several Chicago Pastors Off Easy to Get Rid of Them
ROCKFORD, Ill., Oct. 6. — The moral reformers of the Rock River conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church sat dumb under the lash of authority while the suppressionists of the inner council forced through their "whitewashing" program in the cases of alleged ministerial immorality.
But after all is done, the moral reformers have revolted against the Episcopal bludgeon and are denouncing the acts that were sanctioned by the silence on the floor of the conference. The cabineteers have been driven to cover and are shifting responsibility from one to another.
The series of conference acts which have roused the reformers to rebellion culminated in the vote by which John D. Leek, former pastor of the Western Avenue Church in Chicago, whose name was associated with that of Mrs. Mary A. Lavender, was permitted to withdraw from the ministry and from the membership of the church. In addition to that, Perley W. Powers, former pastor of the Olivet Church, Chicago, who was involved with Mrs. V. Book-Fenner, who committed suicide shortly after her arrest on the preacher's complaint, was permitted to withdraw honorably from the conference, to retain his ministry and membership and to have a "location" in the Jason Lee Memorial Church of Blackfoot, Idaho, where the preacher is now engaged in the real estate business.
The John E. Farmer case, which was the first immorality case to be disposed of, is also one of the series, and one that is causing loudest complaint. And on top of these came the programmed disposition of Mrs. Lavender's charges of maladministration against Doctor Crawford. Rev. D. M. Tompkins, pastor of the Rogers Park Church of Chicago and counsel for the Woodlawn Park Church, failed to present Mrs. Lavender's charges, and Doctor Crawford's name was called and passed without comment.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Rev. P. Marion Simms Has New Ten Commandments
Iowa, 1912
Vinton, Iowa, March 18 — Rev. P. Marion Simms, pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Vinton, in his sermons the last two Sundays, gave the husbands and wives each a talk direct from the shoulder and without mincing of words. The sermons have caused no little comment throughout the town and like all "plain talks" have caused no little argument. On one Sunday he included the "Ten Commandments for Husbands" and on the other "Ten Commandments for Women," both of which are original and wholly representative of the two sermons.
Ten Commandments for Husbands
1. Thou shalt have no woman but thy wife and thou shalt not arrange for thy second marriage before the death of thy first wife.
2. Thou shalt not be a Sir Roger de Coverly to other men's wives and then conclude that because thou hast broken bronchos or excelled on the athletic field or in the gymnasium that thou canst manage thy wife in the same way.
3. Thou shalt not make of thy wife a household drudge, enslaved to the cook stove, mending bag, the vacuum cleaner and the babies sixteen hours a day while thou dost work but eight.
4. Thou shalt not smoke ten cent cigars and wear silk socks while thy wife wears her last year's hat with the wing moved to the other side and while thy sons wear hand-me-down-pants. And thou shalt not support the saloon-keepers's wife and children at the expense of thine own and compel thy wife to use an anesthetic to extract every penny she gets. And thou shalt not require thy wife to render an account for every penny thou dost grudgingly give to her, unless thou dost give her an account of thine own expenditures sworn to before at least two notary publics.
6. Thou shalt not forget that thy home ought to be the happiest spot on earth for thee; that thy truest friends are there; that they miss thee when thou art away, therefore, thou shalt not neglect thy home for the club, lodge, pool room or saloon or any other place of meeting whatsoever.
6. Thou shalt not have all thy religion in thy wife's name.
7. Thou shalt not farm out the religious training of thy children to the minister, the Sunday school teacher, or to anybody else, not even to thy wife. But thou shalt bear thine own burden in the matter and thou shalt live before them in such a way that they can follow safely. And thou shalt not relieve a fit of indigestion by kicking the cat or whipping the children.
8. Thou shalt not talk of thy family and domestic troubles to thy neighbor, to thy friend or partner, or to anybody's wife or to thy stenographer, to any member of thy club or lodge or to anybody else. Fight it out with thy wife alone, even if it takes all summer.
9. Thou shalt not have the jim-jams or even a headache every time thy wife asks thee to take her to a musical, to a concert, or to see some friends; for verily, verily, I say unto you that it is hard to be a grass widow all the time and with a husband in the house.
10. Thou shalt not forget that thy wife is not yet an angel and that thou wouldst be very lonely if she were; therefore, thou shalt make due allowance for the frailties of human nature. And thou shalt remember that she has as many rights as thou thyself.
Ten Commandments for Wives
1. Thou shalt have no other man but thy husband and when another would make love to thee remember that he is a fool or a knave.
2. Thou shalt not forget that the same winsome ways that made thy husband prefer thee to all other women are necessary to hold him. Verily, verily, I say unto you that rats are as valuable in married life as in courtship.
3. Thou shalt not expect thy husband in the beginning of his life to support thee on the same plane that thy father was able to reach after a long life of hard work and rigid economy. Therefore, thou shalt not fret thyself because thy neighbor's house is finer than thy own; neither shalt thou burden thy husband to enable thee to pose as a merchant's and milliner's model. Thou shalt be a help-meet and not simply a help-eat; for verily, verily, I say unto you that it is wicked to keep thy husband only about two steps ahead of the bill collector. Neither shalt thou wear abbreviated garments that make women look too short and men too long.
4. Thou shall not place any social circle, club, pleasurable organization or even the missionary society before thy home and thou shalt not conclude that an ideal family is a husband, a bull pup and a canary.
5. Thou shalt seek first to be a good homemaker, house-keeper and cook and then thou mayest add other accomplishments that do not interfere with thy chief business in life. Thou must not forget that an uncooked apple drove the first husband from paradise; that a poor mess of pottage differentiated a nation; that a fit of indigestion lost the battle of Leipsic; and that tea, mixed with improper ingredients cost England the American colonies and led to the founding of the American republic. And thou shalt not waste $5 worth of time hunting for a $10 dress at $9.78 on bargain day and compel thy husband to lunch down town on buttermilk and sinkers. Verily, verily, I say unto you that it is better to be a good cook than to be able to play chords on the piano, to serve pink teas, preside at whist orgies or to be queen of bargain finders.
6. Thou shall not gossip in the family or out of it about the neighborhood scandal; neither shalt thou allow the petty vexations of the family to disrupt the family harmony.
7. Thou shalt not complain that thou art "tied down" to thy home and to thy babies; for verily, verily, I say unto you that a woman who is unwilling to be "tied down" to such is not worthy to be married to any man. Thou shalt remember that no woman is "tied down" more to her chief business in life than is her husband. Thou shouldst also remember that even the Lord did not intend that a woman's married life should be one prolonged pleasure excursion in a rubber tired automobile on an asphalt road with magnolias blooming on either side.
8. Thou shalt not aspire to be a man to run the politics of the country to reform the world, to boss thy husband and then expect the courtesy, the love and devotion that is due an uncrowned queen. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that men admire most the woman of the clinging vine variety.
9. Thou shalt not serve punch to thy guests, nor put up prizes at whist parties, nor win them at thy neighbors, and then lecture thy husband and son on the evils of gambling.
10. Thou shalt not allow dust to gather on thy Bible nor shall thy attendance at the services of thy church depend on the emotions of a passing hour, the state of the weather or any other unimportant matter.
—Evening Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IA, March 18, 1912, p. 12.
Note: Commandment 2 for women has "rats" as being valuable in married life as in courtship. I don't know what "rats" are in this context but that is what the article says.
Vinton, Iowa, March 18 — Rev. P. Marion Simms, pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Vinton, in his sermons the last two Sundays, gave the husbands and wives each a talk direct from the shoulder and without mincing of words. The sermons have caused no little comment throughout the town and like all "plain talks" have caused no little argument. On one Sunday he included the "Ten Commandments for Husbands" and on the other "Ten Commandments for Women," both of which are original and wholly representative of the two sermons.
Ten Commandments for Husbands
1. Thou shalt have no woman but thy wife and thou shalt not arrange for thy second marriage before the death of thy first wife.
2. Thou shalt not be a Sir Roger de Coverly to other men's wives and then conclude that because thou hast broken bronchos or excelled on the athletic field or in the gymnasium that thou canst manage thy wife in the same way.
3. Thou shalt not make of thy wife a household drudge, enslaved to the cook stove, mending bag, the vacuum cleaner and the babies sixteen hours a day while thou dost work but eight.
4. Thou shalt not smoke ten cent cigars and wear silk socks while thy wife wears her last year's hat with the wing moved to the other side and while thy sons wear hand-me-down-pants. And thou shalt not support the saloon-keepers's wife and children at the expense of thine own and compel thy wife to use an anesthetic to extract every penny she gets. And thou shalt not require thy wife to render an account for every penny thou dost grudgingly give to her, unless thou dost give her an account of thine own expenditures sworn to before at least two notary publics.
6. Thou shalt not forget that thy home ought to be the happiest spot on earth for thee; that thy truest friends are there; that they miss thee when thou art away, therefore, thou shalt not neglect thy home for the club, lodge, pool room or saloon or any other place of meeting whatsoever.
6. Thou shalt not have all thy religion in thy wife's name.
7. Thou shalt not farm out the religious training of thy children to the minister, the Sunday school teacher, or to anybody else, not even to thy wife. But thou shalt bear thine own burden in the matter and thou shalt live before them in such a way that they can follow safely. And thou shalt not relieve a fit of indigestion by kicking the cat or whipping the children.
8. Thou shalt not talk of thy family and domestic troubles to thy neighbor, to thy friend or partner, or to anybody's wife or to thy stenographer, to any member of thy club or lodge or to anybody else. Fight it out with thy wife alone, even if it takes all summer.
9. Thou shalt not have the jim-jams or even a headache every time thy wife asks thee to take her to a musical, to a concert, or to see some friends; for verily, verily, I say unto you that it is hard to be a grass widow all the time and with a husband in the house.
10. Thou shalt not forget that thy wife is not yet an angel and that thou wouldst be very lonely if she were; therefore, thou shalt make due allowance for the frailties of human nature. And thou shalt remember that she has as many rights as thou thyself.
Ten Commandments for Wives
1. Thou shalt have no other man but thy husband and when another would make love to thee remember that he is a fool or a knave.
2. Thou shalt not forget that the same winsome ways that made thy husband prefer thee to all other women are necessary to hold him. Verily, verily, I say unto you that rats are as valuable in married life as in courtship.
3. Thou shalt not expect thy husband in the beginning of his life to support thee on the same plane that thy father was able to reach after a long life of hard work and rigid economy. Therefore, thou shalt not fret thyself because thy neighbor's house is finer than thy own; neither shalt thou burden thy husband to enable thee to pose as a merchant's and milliner's model. Thou shalt be a help-meet and not simply a help-eat; for verily, verily, I say unto you that it is wicked to keep thy husband only about two steps ahead of the bill collector. Neither shalt thou wear abbreviated garments that make women look too short and men too long.
4. Thou shall not place any social circle, club, pleasurable organization or even the missionary society before thy home and thou shalt not conclude that an ideal family is a husband, a bull pup and a canary.
5. Thou shalt seek first to be a good homemaker, house-keeper and cook and then thou mayest add other accomplishments that do not interfere with thy chief business in life. Thou must not forget that an uncooked apple drove the first husband from paradise; that a poor mess of pottage differentiated a nation; that a fit of indigestion lost the battle of Leipsic; and that tea, mixed with improper ingredients cost England the American colonies and led to the founding of the American republic. And thou shalt not waste $5 worth of time hunting for a $10 dress at $9.78 on bargain day and compel thy husband to lunch down town on buttermilk and sinkers. Verily, verily, I say unto you that it is better to be a good cook than to be able to play chords on the piano, to serve pink teas, preside at whist orgies or to be queen of bargain finders.
6. Thou shall not gossip in the family or out of it about the neighborhood scandal; neither shalt thou allow the petty vexations of the family to disrupt the family harmony.
7. Thou shalt not complain that thou art "tied down" to thy home and to thy babies; for verily, verily, I say unto you that a woman who is unwilling to be "tied down" to such is not worthy to be married to any man. Thou shalt remember that no woman is "tied down" more to her chief business in life than is her husband. Thou shouldst also remember that even the Lord did not intend that a woman's married life should be one prolonged pleasure excursion in a rubber tired automobile on an asphalt road with magnolias blooming on either side.
8. Thou shalt not aspire to be a man to run the politics of the country to reform the world, to boss thy husband and then expect the courtesy, the love and devotion that is due an uncrowned queen. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that men admire most the woman of the clinging vine variety.
9. Thou shalt not serve punch to thy guests, nor put up prizes at whist parties, nor win them at thy neighbors, and then lecture thy husband and son on the evils of gambling.
10. Thou shalt not allow dust to gather on thy Bible nor shall thy attendance at the services of thy church depend on the emotions of a passing hour, the state of the weather or any other unimportant matter.
—Evening Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IA, March 18, 1912, p. 12.
Note: Commandment 2 for women has "rats" as being valuable in married life as in courtship. I don't know what "rats" are in this context but that is what the article says.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
The Wicked Husbandmen (Mark 12:1-12)
1895
Sunday School Lesson
Golden Text — They will reverence my son. — Mark 12:6.
God has intrusted to each of us a blessed and fruitful vineyard, which we are to culture for Him. He has planted His new life in us. He has given us our life, our soul. He gives us each a portion of all those things He has committed to the church as a whole. He makes us fruitful by His Word and His Spirit. He gives us every means of grace by which to cultivate the vineyard. He gives us defenses. He is our watch-tower. He gives grace for every time of need. He furnishes the armor against temptation. The body is a vineyard that is intrusted to our care, to be well treated as an instrument for doing God's work. A good workman always takes good care of his tools. The mind is still more wonderful, and should be educated, trained, kept pure and bright, that it may bring forth fruit for the Master. The soil, the very self — the citadel, the dwelling place of the moral nature, the fountain of character — is a vineyard that should be kept with all diligence, "for out of it are the issues of life."
The fruits are gratitude, love, obedience, worship, consecration of time, talents and property toward God; and all the fruits of the Spirit toward men; intelligence, generosity, character, growth. Note that, as the cultivator of the vineyard was to enjoy the fruits it bore, and the more fruitful it was, the more industriously he cultivated it for the owner, the more abundant and delightful was his own reward; so it is with those to whom God has intrusted His spiritual vineyard; every fruit God requires is best for themselves.
Sending for the Fruits. — Every special call to love and serve God, every service at the church, every opportunity to do good, every providence of God, every season of revival, the voice of the Holy Spirit, the Sabbath, the Bible, conscience — all are servants whom God sends to us for the fruits that are due Him.
The Fruits Refused. — The behavior of these husbandmen is only a picture of the way impenitent men still treat God's messengers of mercy — the Holy Spirit, the Bible, the influences of religion. What greater meanness in the universe than our rejection of God's messengers while we are actually enjoying the vineyard He gave us?
The unspeakable love of God to us is shown in the sending of His Son (John 3:16). He is the wisdom and power of God for salvation. God has done all that infinite love can do to save us. He comes often to our souls with special influences to lead us to accept Him. Everyone at some time comes to the valley of decision.
If we reject Christ for this world we are lost for this world. Those who reject Christ from their lives and plans, in order that they may keep possession of themselves, their pleasures and hopes, have taken the shortest and surest way to lose them. The righteous shall inherit the earth. If we refuse the source of righteousness we reject our earthly inheritance. How much more is this true of the future! Those who reject Christ cannot be saved. They refuse eternal life; they reject the very principles which make Heaven what it is. They repel the strongest influence that can lead them to a holy life. They throw away their last hope.
Though mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small;
Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all.
Sunday School Lesson
Golden Text — They will reverence my son. — Mark 12:6.
God has intrusted to each of us a blessed and fruitful vineyard, which we are to culture for Him. He has planted His new life in us. He has given us our life, our soul. He gives us each a portion of all those things He has committed to the church as a whole. He makes us fruitful by His Word and His Spirit. He gives us every means of grace by which to cultivate the vineyard. He gives us defenses. He is our watch-tower. He gives grace for every time of need. He furnishes the armor against temptation. The body is a vineyard that is intrusted to our care, to be well treated as an instrument for doing God's work. A good workman always takes good care of his tools. The mind is still more wonderful, and should be educated, trained, kept pure and bright, that it may bring forth fruit for the Master. The soil, the very self — the citadel, the dwelling place of the moral nature, the fountain of character — is a vineyard that should be kept with all diligence, "for out of it are the issues of life."
The fruits are gratitude, love, obedience, worship, consecration of time, talents and property toward God; and all the fruits of the Spirit toward men; intelligence, generosity, character, growth. Note that, as the cultivator of the vineyard was to enjoy the fruits it bore, and the more fruitful it was, the more industriously he cultivated it for the owner, the more abundant and delightful was his own reward; so it is with those to whom God has intrusted His spiritual vineyard; every fruit God requires is best for themselves.
Sending for the Fruits. — Every special call to love and serve God, every service at the church, every opportunity to do good, every providence of God, every season of revival, the voice of the Holy Spirit, the Sabbath, the Bible, conscience — all are servants whom God sends to us for the fruits that are due Him.
The Fruits Refused. — The behavior of these husbandmen is only a picture of the way impenitent men still treat God's messengers of mercy — the Holy Spirit, the Bible, the influences of religion. What greater meanness in the universe than our rejection of God's messengers while we are actually enjoying the vineyard He gave us?
The unspeakable love of God to us is shown in the sending of His Son (John 3:16). He is the wisdom and power of God for salvation. God has done all that infinite love can do to save us. He comes often to our souls with special influences to lead us to accept Him. Everyone at some time comes to the valley of decision.
If we reject Christ for this world we are lost for this world. Those who reject Christ from their lives and plans, in order that they may keep possession of themselves, their pleasures and hopes, have taken the shortest and surest way to lose them. The righteous shall inherit the earth. If we refuse the source of righteousness we reject our earthly inheritance. How much more is this true of the future! Those who reject Christ cannot be saved. They refuse eternal life; they reject the very principles which make Heaven what it is. They repel the strongest influence that can lead them to a holy life. They throw away their last hope.
Though mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small;
Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Patriotism and Religion
1917
Draw a little circle around your personality and it will include your family; draw a larger circle and it will include your friends; a still larger circle takes in your fellow countrymen; the last and largest circle of all embraces all humanity.
As the circle enlarges the objects of our love increase in number and the intensity of our love naturally diminishes. We are not bound to all mankind as strongly or as tenderly as we are to our fellow countrymen. We are not bound to do for all our countrymen as much as we are bound to do for our neighbors next door or on the nest street or in the next township. Our highest human obligation is to those of our own household.
The supreme duty we owe to One, and One alone, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God." — Christian Herald.
Draw a little circle around your personality and it will include your family; draw a larger circle and it will include your friends; a still larger circle takes in your fellow countrymen; the last and largest circle of all embraces all humanity.
As the circle enlarges the objects of our love increase in number and the intensity of our love naturally diminishes. We are not bound to all mankind as strongly or as tenderly as we are to our fellow countrymen. We are not bound to do for all our countrymen as much as we are bound to do for our neighbors next door or on the nest street or in the next township. Our highest human obligation is to those of our own household.
The supreme duty we owe to One, and One alone, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God." — Christian Herald.
Military Men Stumped by Acts of Mennonites
1917
Associated Press Telegram
Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, Ohio, Nov. 1. — Officers at Camp Sherman were further perplexed today when another delegation of Amish Mennonites joined the ranks of rebelling conscientious objectors and refused to obey orders.
Thirty of the fifty recently transferred to non-combatant service at the base hospital now are in open rebellion and there are prospects the strike will include the whole number of the religious sect. Efforts to give them some task at which they can not object have proved of no avail.
Although most are excellent judges of livestock, they refuse to do work about the remount station because it is part of the military camp. They were questioned as to what they would like to do and to find if there was something at which they could raise no objection but that did not solve the problem.
"What would you do if you saw that women were forced to walk about the hospital in mud?" was one of the questions put to them by an officer.
"Build walks," was the reply; so they were to start building walks about camp. But they rebelled, declaring that the walks would be used by soldiers. Anything a part of Camp Sherman or having to do in the slightest way with the men of Camp Sherman is disapproved and they have openly and successfully evaded all tasks. Guard house confinement was given up when it brought no results. Other punishment is of no avail. The men likewise have refused to permit their beards to be cut or to shave. It is contrary to one of their religious beliefs to shave. So far as officers here know, the thirty now on strike are the first to balk military rule in war times, and "get away with it" as officers frankly admit the Mennonites are doing.
Associated Press Telegram
Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, Ohio, Nov. 1. — Officers at Camp Sherman were further perplexed today when another delegation of Amish Mennonites joined the ranks of rebelling conscientious objectors and refused to obey orders.
Thirty of the fifty recently transferred to non-combatant service at the base hospital now are in open rebellion and there are prospects the strike will include the whole number of the religious sect. Efforts to give them some task at which they can not object have proved of no avail.
Although most are excellent judges of livestock, they refuse to do work about the remount station because it is part of the military camp. They were questioned as to what they would like to do and to find if there was something at which they could raise no objection but that did not solve the problem.
"What would you do if you saw that women were forced to walk about the hospital in mud?" was one of the questions put to them by an officer.
"Build walks," was the reply; so they were to start building walks about camp. But they rebelled, declaring that the walks would be used by soldiers. Anything a part of Camp Sherman or having to do in the slightest way with the men of Camp Sherman is disapproved and they have openly and successfully evaded all tasks. Guard house confinement was given up when it brought no results. Other punishment is of no avail. The men likewise have refused to permit their beards to be cut or to shave. It is contrary to one of their religious beliefs to shave. So far as officers here know, the thirty now on strike are the first to balk military rule in war times, and "get away with it" as officers frankly admit the Mennonites are doing.
Odd Marriage Belief
1917
An unmarried man or woman of marriageable age is something that is rarely seen in the Fiji islands. The reason of this is not far to seek. The natives believe that if a person dies while in an unmarried state his or her soul is doomed to wander about through endless ages of eternity in an intermediate region between heaven and hades. At the end of each moon they are allowed to look into heaven, but are never permitted to enter.
Ancient Pillory
The prophet Jeremiah was confined in the pillory (Jeremiah 29:26), which appears to have been a common mode of punishment in his time. Ancient Hebrew prisons contained a special chamber for the pillory. This was termed "the house of the pillory" (2 Chronicles 16:10).
An unmarried man or woman of marriageable age is something that is rarely seen in the Fiji islands. The reason of this is not far to seek. The natives believe that if a person dies while in an unmarried state his or her soul is doomed to wander about through endless ages of eternity in an intermediate region between heaven and hades. At the end of each moon they are allowed to look into heaven, but are never permitted to enter.
Ancient Pillory
The prophet Jeremiah was confined in the pillory (Jeremiah 29:26), which appears to have been a common mode of punishment in his time. Ancient Hebrew prisons contained a special chamber for the pillory. This was termed "the house of the pillory" (2 Chronicles 16:10).
Discoveries in Palestine
1917
The discoveries which the British and Indian troops are making in Palestine of old churches and their sacred dust have reminded one of the soldiers of Sir Henry Layard's description of the excavators at Nimroud.
When the first of the enormous figures began to appear above the earth Arabs raced to him — "Hasten, O Bey, for they have found Nimroud himself. Wallah, it is wonderful; we have seen it with our eyes. There is no God but God!" And they hied them in terror to their tents. The Anzacs were filled with different emotions, for like all the forces their ranks were furnished with highly educated as well as men of the old type of privates.
Sayings
All men are born equal, but they mighty soon get over it.
No man is so fast that retribution won't sooner or later overtake him.
The discoveries which the British and Indian troops are making in Palestine of old churches and their sacred dust have reminded one of the soldiers of Sir Henry Layard's description of the excavators at Nimroud.
When the first of the enormous figures began to appear above the earth Arabs raced to him — "Hasten, O Bey, for they have found Nimroud himself. Wallah, it is wonderful; we have seen it with our eyes. There is no God but God!" And they hied them in terror to their tents. The Anzacs were filled with different emotions, for like all the forces their ranks were furnished with highly educated as well as men of the old type of privates.
Sayings
All men are born equal, but they mighty soon get over it.
No man is so fast that retribution won't sooner or later overtake him.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Rob a Minister Politely
1901
Unusual Courtesy Shown by Thieves in a Pittsburgh Pastor's Home
An interesting dialogue between a minister and a burglar occurred at 3 o'clock one morning recently, when the Rev. Dr. McClelland, pastor of the Bellefield Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, was awakened from his slumbers and went to the door to behold the muzzles of four pistols leveled at his head. The captain of the gang said: "You will die if you don't hold up your hands." Dr. McClelland relates his experience as follows:
"The fellow kept his pistols within a few inches of my head. He directed me to turn, open the door, and walk back to bed. My wife was sitting up in bed crying, but the trio followed me into the room. There was nothing for me to do but obey.
"'Have you any money?' the captain asked.
"'You will find $5.81 in an envelope on the dresser marked "Presbyterian hospital,'" I informed him. 'If you take that money you are pretty hard up.'
"'How did you come by it?' he questioned.
"'I am a clergyman,' I answered. "When he heard this he seemed to feel sorry and remarked: 'My dear sir," had I known this was a minister's home I would not have entered, but I suppose you can get some more money for the hospital.'
"Then he discovered my watch on the dresser, and asked me if it was of value. I informed him that it was a present. 'If that is so I guess we'll let you keep it,' the captain said. He ordered the searcher to let the watch remain where it was. The door of the children's room was open. Mrs. McClelland asked the burglars to keep out of there as the little girl was sick and nervous.
"'Just to oblige you, my dear madam,' the spokesman said. He kept his word, and the room was not disturbed.
"The chief then asked who occupied the front room. I told him my daughter. He wanted to know if she had any money or valuables. I said no. He also promised not to disturb her.
"I agreed to make no outcry when they left."
Unusual Courtesy Shown by Thieves in a Pittsburgh Pastor's Home
An interesting dialogue between a minister and a burglar occurred at 3 o'clock one morning recently, when the Rev. Dr. McClelland, pastor of the Bellefield Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, was awakened from his slumbers and went to the door to behold the muzzles of four pistols leveled at his head. The captain of the gang said: "You will die if you don't hold up your hands." Dr. McClelland relates his experience as follows:
"The fellow kept his pistols within a few inches of my head. He directed me to turn, open the door, and walk back to bed. My wife was sitting up in bed crying, but the trio followed me into the room. There was nothing for me to do but obey.
"'Have you any money?' the captain asked.
"'You will find $5.81 in an envelope on the dresser marked "Presbyterian hospital,'" I informed him. 'If you take that money you are pretty hard up.'
"'How did you come by it?' he questioned.
"'I am a clergyman,' I answered. "When he heard this he seemed to feel sorry and remarked: 'My dear sir," had I known this was a minister's home I would not have entered, but I suppose you can get some more money for the hospital.'
"Then he discovered my watch on the dresser, and asked me if it was of value. I informed him that it was a present. 'If that is so I guess we'll let you keep it,' the captain said. He ordered the searcher to let the watch remain where it was. The door of the children's room was open. Mrs. McClelland asked the burglars to keep out of there as the little girl was sick and nervous.
"'Just to oblige you, my dear madam,' the spokesman said. He kept his word, and the room was not disturbed.
"The chief then asked who occupied the front room. I told him my daughter. He wanted to know if she had any money or valuables. I said no. He also promised not to disturb her.
"I agreed to make no outcry when they left."
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
The Sadness of a King; Where is Peace and Joy?
1910
By Dr. Robert Hugh Morris
"The Sadness of a King" was the sermon theme of the Rev. Robert Hugh Morris, pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Evanston. Dr. Morris spoke feelingly of the causes and the cure of sadness, and said that many men and women bear about with them the burden of a restless and disquieted spirit because they have not found the way to peace through Christ.
Dr. Morris took as his texts:
"The spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him." — 1 Samuel 16:14
"My tears have been my meat day and night." — Psalms 42:3
"Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why are thou disquieted within me?" — Psalms 42:5.
"The noble spirit of King David is disquieted within him," said Dr. Morris. "The weakening spirit of Saul is troubled. As the world calls goodness and badness, we may say here is a bad king and here is a good king, and both these kings are unhappy. Then here is the cry of Jesus: 'My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.' Here is also the saying of Paul: 'I am the chief of sinners,' and his pathetic cry, 'Who shall deliver me from this bondage of death?'
"We are going to think this morning of sadness as we find it manifested in human life. We shall endeavor to think of it, not that we may be sadder, but in order that we may cured of our sadness. But let us frankly admit that sadness as such is not sinful, and that the whole sum and substance of religion is by no manner of means joyousness. This is said because we hear so much about the duty of being joyful and so much about the wickedness of being sorrowful.
"We seem to live in an optimistic age. Now optimism, if by that term we mean a cheerful view of life, is essentially Christian; but optimism, if by that term we mean that everything is all right just as it is, and could not be any better, is essentially pagan. This contrast, in terms is made after very careful consideration of the meaning of those terms.
Christian Optimism Defined
"A bright and hopeful outlook upon life is Christian because Christ taught us that God is our father and that He is taking care of His children. He said, you know, that God fed the sparrows and the ravens and clothed the lily and sent rain on the just and the unjust.
"But the other kind of optimism is pagan, because it means, in its ultimate analysis, essentially this, 'Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.'
"If serious minded hearers are disposed to question the truth of such a view, let him read from pages of ancient history the stories of orgies performed in Baal worship; of Saturnalia, Bacchic revels, feasts of Nero or celebrations in honor of Apollo in the Grove of Daphne at Antioch. In all these pagan celebrations you find the much lauded picnic view of life as its theory works out in practice.
What is the Purpose of Life?
"Now let's understand each other just here. If you believe that you were created and put into this world to have a good time you will not respond to a single thing in my sermon. But if you believe 'the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever,' you are in a position to follow and to accept what he said.
"It cannot be urged that there any virtue in being sad, or any sin in being happy and joyous. It all depends on why you are sad and why you are happy, and what is the motive that underlies your joy.
Laughter Not Sin
"The world no longer permits itself to he imposed upon with the idea that anything that gives pleasure is necessarily wrong, and anything that gives pain is ipso facto right or virtuous. To be concrete, it is no longer considered sin, even by the later day disciples of John Wesley for Christians to wear olden ornaments, for women to adorn themselves with beautiful garments and becoming bonnets. It is only when these things go to such an extreme that they become the ruling motive of life that we consider them wrongful or sinful.
"Christians for the most part no longer draw an imaginary line in front of every temple of Thespis and say, 'Hitherto shall thou come no further.' It is only when the representation on the stage within this temple is immoral or degrading, or inane and calculated to waste valuable time, that it becomes a sin in our eyes to enter the doors of those temples.
"It certainly is not considered a sin for us to laugh. Grouchy as was Thomas Carlyle, we none the less find him paraphrasing Shakespeare by saying: 'The man who cannot laugh is not only fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils, but his whole life is already a treason and a stratagem.' Neither will the modern Christian permit some mournful friar, who digs his own grave in the solemn hour of midnight, singing doleful songs the while, to foist upon him the false doctrine that God is pleased when we are sorrowful.
"Nor will the flagellating brothers, with bare, bleeding shoulders, whipping themselves from pillar to post, ever make us believe any more that we honor God by dishonoring this frame which His Book has called His temple. Nevertheless, friends, there is essentially a great truth underlying this world of error, and that truth, it seems to me, may be summed up in this statement: The life of man, the soul of man, the immortal destiny of man, are too vast, too complicated too Godlike, to be made absolutely happy by the things that can be seen and handled and heard and tasted in this present world. 'Man's unhappiness, as I construe, comes of his greatness. It is because there is an infinite in him which with all his cunning he cannot quite bury under the finite.'
"Of course, our subject really is 'the causes and the cure of sadness.' We shall speak very briefly of certain causes and indicate with similar brevity the cure of each kind.
Melancholia is a Disease
"The materialistic view. We may as well admit a large element of truth in the view of the materialist. If we change the word sadness to melancholy we have a clearer idea of what is meant here, for melancholia is a disease. No demonstration is needed, for your own experience has proven to you that, all other things being equal, life looks fairer when the sun shines than it does when the clouds lower.
"You and I are less prone to propound to ourselves and others the dialectical donkey's question, 'Is life worth living?' when all the functions of our body work well, when digestion is perfect and altogether we are free from the hamperings of headache or the racking of rheumatism.
"The cure for such melancholy, and a goodly part if it is undoubtedly due to these physical causes, is likewise physical. The disease being physical, certainly the remedy must touch the physical nature. The remedy required for a large part of our melancholy is a little more fresh air, a little more exercise, a little more Fletcherizing, and a little less highly seasoned food.
"But there is a kind of sadness found amongst us which is not due to such physical causes as we have just mentioned, but which is due rather to a feeling of uselessness, a feeling of failure. One may have set for himself the accomplishment of a certain end in life and failing of that
accomplishment, he may be thrown into a heavier or lighter state of sadness by feeling that he has failed.
"There would be manifold manifestations of this if we could read the heart lives of many of our most serious minded friends all about us in this present day. The trouble seems to be that we have set some impossible or some incorrect standard and have been unable to measure up to it, or else to keep up to it.
Walking Ice Plants Not Popular
"I know a clergyman who occasionally preaches very able, very helpful sermons, but on the principle that the clock cannot strike 12 every time it strikes, this clergyman does not preach his best in every sermon. If you meet him on Monday after he has delivered one of the sermons which he considers a failure you will feel, when you have gotten within fifty feet of him, that you are approaching an ice plant and an indigo factory combined into one.
"You find him in that state of mind spoken of by the author of the book of Ecclesiastes, who bemoaned that 'I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that, this also was a striving after wind. I said of laughter, it is mad, and of mirth, what doeth it, and I hated all my labor wherein I labored under the sun, Vanitas vaniotumomnia est vanitas."
"What is said of sermons is true of other lines of endeavor. You have not jarred the good old world out of her track, or changed her axis, or delayed her in her course, but the few mistakes you have made this past week, and so without completely underrating your labor you may none the less improve your life's happiness by considering it as a bit less necessary to the destiny of the world.
External Causes Produce Sadness
"Sadness is sometimes the result of a state of affairs that is objective, by which we mean, it is occasioned, it is brought about, by events external to our own minds and hearts, even absolutely beyond our control. The coming of sorrow through sickness and absence and death may be classed under this head. Shall I be blamed if, when my friend has gone from me, I am unable to show the world as smiling a face as I showed when that face was reflecting the sunlit life of him who walked at my side?
"For this specie of sadness, which is largely the result of external conditions, over which the many may in time come to have control, but which it has not yet conquered, one cannot so easily state a cure. Of course, it is even true that there are conditions which, as the world now goes, seem to be irremediable, at least for this life. Such perhaps were in the mind of the poet Edwin Markham when he spoke of 'immedicable woes.'
Infinite in Man Years for Eternity
"There is a specie of sadness, perhaps close akin of this last, but which also goes beyond it, and which cannot be explained in any one of the three preceding ways. It is due to man's infinite nature. Nothing absolutely satisfies him, because he is essentially unsatisfiable.
"The mere animal takes his fill of material comforts and seems to rest in perfect satisfaction, but with a man it is different.
"A great pathetic spirit was Lincoln, around whose very laughter there glitters a tear, whose smile is overspread with a nameless sadness, as some morning in May when sunshine and shower are strangely blended.
"Long ago St. Augustine felt this sorrow, this sadness, this melancholy of the orphan spirit of man, and long ago St. Augustine correctly stated the meaning: 'Thou, O God,' he says in his Confessions, 'Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless within us until they rest in Thee.'
"The singer of Israel a long while before Augustine had said. 'Thou hast made man a little lower than God,' and because he is made thus infinite, finite things will never quite satisfy. And as the old Bishop of Hippo has suggested, the cure for this specie of melancholy is to rest in God.
"O heart of man, restless like the surging sea which cannot be still; O heart of man, hungry like the hungry sea which cannot be satisfied, there is one stillness and one satisfaction for thee, and only one. It is that peace and that satisfaction which cometh only when thou hast quaffed the divine elixir, breathed the ambrosial air and feasted upon the heavenly fruits which all are in the presence of thy Creator and thy Father, the one all-giving and all-satisfying."
—Waterloo Reporter, Waterloo, Iowa, July 2, 1910, p. 2.
By Dr. Robert Hugh Morris
"The Sadness of a King" was the sermon theme of the Rev. Robert Hugh Morris, pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Evanston. Dr. Morris spoke feelingly of the causes and the cure of sadness, and said that many men and women bear about with them the burden of a restless and disquieted spirit because they have not found the way to peace through Christ.
Dr. Morris took as his texts:
"The spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him." — 1 Samuel 16:14
"My tears have been my meat day and night." — Psalms 42:3
"Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why are thou disquieted within me?" — Psalms 42:5.
"The noble spirit of King David is disquieted within him," said Dr. Morris. "The weakening spirit of Saul is troubled. As the world calls goodness and badness, we may say here is a bad king and here is a good king, and both these kings are unhappy. Then here is the cry of Jesus: 'My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.' Here is also the saying of Paul: 'I am the chief of sinners,' and his pathetic cry, 'Who shall deliver me from this bondage of death?'
"We are going to think this morning of sadness as we find it manifested in human life. We shall endeavor to think of it, not that we may be sadder, but in order that we may cured of our sadness. But let us frankly admit that sadness as such is not sinful, and that the whole sum and substance of religion is by no manner of means joyousness. This is said because we hear so much about the duty of being joyful and so much about the wickedness of being sorrowful.
"We seem to live in an optimistic age. Now optimism, if by that term we mean a cheerful view of life, is essentially Christian; but optimism, if by that term we mean that everything is all right just as it is, and could not be any better, is essentially pagan. This contrast, in terms is made after very careful consideration of the meaning of those terms.
Christian Optimism Defined
"A bright and hopeful outlook upon life is Christian because Christ taught us that God is our father and that He is taking care of His children. He said, you know, that God fed the sparrows and the ravens and clothed the lily and sent rain on the just and the unjust.
"But the other kind of optimism is pagan, because it means, in its ultimate analysis, essentially this, 'Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.'
"If serious minded hearers are disposed to question the truth of such a view, let him read from pages of ancient history the stories of orgies performed in Baal worship; of Saturnalia, Bacchic revels, feasts of Nero or celebrations in honor of Apollo in the Grove of Daphne at Antioch. In all these pagan celebrations you find the much lauded picnic view of life as its theory works out in practice.
What is the Purpose of Life?
"Now let's understand each other just here. If you believe that you were created and put into this world to have a good time you will not respond to a single thing in my sermon. But if you believe 'the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever,' you are in a position to follow and to accept what he said.
"It cannot be urged that there any virtue in being sad, or any sin in being happy and joyous. It all depends on why you are sad and why you are happy, and what is the motive that underlies your joy.
Laughter Not Sin
"The world no longer permits itself to he imposed upon with the idea that anything that gives pleasure is necessarily wrong, and anything that gives pain is ipso facto right or virtuous. To be concrete, it is no longer considered sin, even by the later day disciples of John Wesley for Christians to wear olden ornaments, for women to adorn themselves with beautiful garments and becoming bonnets. It is only when these things go to such an extreme that they become the ruling motive of life that we consider them wrongful or sinful.
"Christians for the most part no longer draw an imaginary line in front of every temple of Thespis and say, 'Hitherto shall thou come no further.' It is only when the representation on the stage within this temple is immoral or degrading, or inane and calculated to waste valuable time, that it becomes a sin in our eyes to enter the doors of those temples.
"It certainly is not considered a sin for us to laugh. Grouchy as was Thomas Carlyle, we none the less find him paraphrasing Shakespeare by saying: 'The man who cannot laugh is not only fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils, but his whole life is already a treason and a stratagem.' Neither will the modern Christian permit some mournful friar, who digs his own grave in the solemn hour of midnight, singing doleful songs the while, to foist upon him the false doctrine that God is pleased when we are sorrowful.
"Nor will the flagellating brothers, with bare, bleeding shoulders, whipping themselves from pillar to post, ever make us believe any more that we honor God by dishonoring this frame which His Book has called His temple. Nevertheless, friends, there is essentially a great truth underlying this world of error, and that truth, it seems to me, may be summed up in this statement: The life of man, the soul of man, the immortal destiny of man, are too vast, too complicated too Godlike, to be made absolutely happy by the things that can be seen and handled and heard and tasted in this present world. 'Man's unhappiness, as I construe, comes of his greatness. It is because there is an infinite in him which with all his cunning he cannot quite bury under the finite.'
"Of course, our subject really is 'the causes and the cure of sadness.' We shall speak very briefly of certain causes and indicate with similar brevity the cure of each kind.
Melancholia is a Disease
"The materialistic view. We may as well admit a large element of truth in the view of the materialist. If we change the word sadness to melancholy we have a clearer idea of what is meant here, for melancholia is a disease. No demonstration is needed, for your own experience has proven to you that, all other things being equal, life looks fairer when the sun shines than it does when the clouds lower.
"You and I are less prone to propound to ourselves and others the dialectical donkey's question, 'Is life worth living?' when all the functions of our body work well, when digestion is perfect and altogether we are free from the hamperings of headache or the racking of rheumatism.
"The cure for such melancholy, and a goodly part if it is undoubtedly due to these physical causes, is likewise physical. The disease being physical, certainly the remedy must touch the physical nature. The remedy required for a large part of our melancholy is a little more fresh air, a little more exercise, a little more Fletcherizing, and a little less highly seasoned food.
"But there is a kind of sadness found amongst us which is not due to such physical causes as we have just mentioned, but which is due rather to a feeling of uselessness, a feeling of failure. One may have set for himself the accomplishment of a certain end in life and failing of that
accomplishment, he may be thrown into a heavier or lighter state of sadness by feeling that he has failed.
"There would be manifold manifestations of this if we could read the heart lives of many of our most serious minded friends all about us in this present day. The trouble seems to be that we have set some impossible or some incorrect standard and have been unable to measure up to it, or else to keep up to it.
Walking Ice Plants Not Popular
"I know a clergyman who occasionally preaches very able, very helpful sermons, but on the principle that the clock cannot strike 12 every time it strikes, this clergyman does not preach his best in every sermon. If you meet him on Monday after he has delivered one of the sermons which he considers a failure you will feel, when you have gotten within fifty feet of him, that you are approaching an ice plant and an indigo factory combined into one.
"You find him in that state of mind spoken of by the author of the book of Ecclesiastes, who bemoaned that 'I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that, this also was a striving after wind. I said of laughter, it is mad, and of mirth, what doeth it, and I hated all my labor wherein I labored under the sun, Vanitas vaniotumomnia est vanitas."
"What is said of sermons is true of other lines of endeavor. You have not jarred the good old world out of her track, or changed her axis, or delayed her in her course, but the few mistakes you have made this past week, and so without completely underrating your labor you may none the less improve your life's happiness by considering it as a bit less necessary to the destiny of the world.
External Causes Produce Sadness
"Sadness is sometimes the result of a state of affairs that is objective, by which we mean, it is occasioned, it is brought about, by events external to our own minds and hearts, even absolutely beyond our control. The coming of sorrow through sickness and absence and death may be classed under this head. Shall I be blamed if, when my friend has gone from me, I am unable to show the world as smiling a face as I showed when that face was reflecting the sunlit life of him who walked at my side?
"For this specie of sadness, which is largely the result of external conditions, over which the many may in time come to have control, but which it has not yet conquered, one cannot so easily state a cure. Of course, it is even true that there are conditions which, as the world now goes, seem to be irremediable, at least for this life. Such perhaps were in the mind of the poet Edwin Markham when he spoke of 'immedicable woes.'
Infinite in Man Years for Eternity
"There is a specie of sadness, perhaps close akin of this last, but which also goes beyond it, and which cannot be explained in any one of the three preceding ways. It is due to man's infinite nature. Nothing absolutely satisfies him, because he is essentially unsatisfiable.
"The mere animal takes his fill of material comforts and seems to rest in perfect satisfaction, but with a man it is different.
"A great pathetic spirit was Lincoln, around whose very laughter there glitters a tear, whose smile is overspread with a nameless sadness, as some morning in May when sunshine and shower are strangely blended.
"Long ago St. Augustine felt this sorrow, this sadness, this melancholy of the orphan spirit of man, and long ago St. Augustine correctly stated the meaning: 'Thou, O God,' he says in his Confessions, 'Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless within us until they rest in Thee.'
"The singer of Israel a long while before Augustine had said. 'Thou hast made man a little lower than God,' and because he is made thus infinite, finite things will never quite satisfy. And as the old Bishop of Hippo has suggested, the cure for this specie of melancholy is to rest in God.
"O heart of man, restless like the surging sea which cannot be still; O heart of man, hungry like the hungry sea which cannot be satisfied, there is one stillness and one satisfaction for thee, and only one. It is that peace and that satisfaction which cometh only when thou hast quaffed the divine elixir, breathed the ambrosial air and feasted upon the heavenly fruits which all are in the presence of thy Creator and thy Father, the one all-giving and all-satisfying."
—Waterloo Reporter, Waterloo, Iowa, July 2, 1910, p. 2.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Pebble Bears Likeness of Savior
1905
A limestone pebble, bearing a striking image of the face of Christ, which was picked up at Oberammergau in September, 1880, the day after the decennial performance of the "Passion Play", is the remarkable possession of Mrs. Eugenia Jones Bacon of Atlanta, Georgia.
The likeness can only be seen when the light falls upon the stone from a certain direction. The countenance is perfect in every detail as portrayed by the great masters, and the closed eyes with the pallid color of the stone give the face a sad expression. The nostrils are thin and across the brow are the deep furrows of worry and anguish.
Religious Services for Car Men
After an experience of several years in holding services for the benefit of the employees of the Philadelphia Trolley Company at two of the barns in West Philadelphia, a third car barn will he visited by the members of the Brotherhood or St. Andrew.
Arabian Missionary on a Visit
The Rev. Archibald Forder, the only Christian missionary in Arabia, is on a leave of absence in the United States.
A limestone pebble, bearing a striking image of the face of Christ, which was picked up at Oberammergau in September, 1880, the day after the decennial performance of the "Passion Play", is the remarkable possession of Mrs. Eugenia Jones Bacon of Atlanta, Georgia.
The likeness can only be seen when the light falls upon the stone from a certain direction. The countenance is perfect in every detail as portrayed by the great masters, and the closed eyes with the pallid color of the stone give the face a sad expression. The nostrils are thin and across the brow are the deep furrows of worry and anguish.
Religious Services for Car Men
After an experience of several years in holding services for the benefit of the employees of the Philadelphia Trolley Company at two of the barns in West Philadelphia, a third car barn will he visited by the members of the Brotherhood or St. Andrew.
Arabian Missionary on a Visit
The Rev. Archibald Forder, the only Christian missionary in Arabia, is on a leave of absence in the United States.
Pastor Stands by Saloonkeepers
1905
Rev. George M. Bock, pastor of a Lutheran church in Mahony City, Pa., has resigned from the Ministerial Association of that city because of some features connected with its war on saloons. The association opposed the granting of a license to a man whose saloon is opposite Mr. Bock's church. The clergyman declares that the man is "a good neighbor" and that his place is "clean, decent, quiet and respectable." Therefore the preacher can not endorse the fight that is being made. He adds: "I have been pastor of the church for the past twelve years and have always endeavored to mind my own business."
True Sayings Indeed
If a man is a coward he always claims to be conservative.
The truth is always the strongest argument. — Sophocles.
Instead of doing things today the wise man did them yesterday.
The boy who ate twenty-nine bananas to win a $1 prize probably needed the money.
Rev. George M. Bock, pastor of a Lutheran church in Mahony City, Pa., has resigned from the Ministerial Association of that city because of some features connected with its war on saloons. The association opposed the granting of a license to a man whose saloon is opposite Mr. Bock's church. The clergyman declares that the man is "a good neighbor" and that his place is "clean, decent, quiet and respectable." Therefore the preacher can not endorse the fight that is being made. He adds: "I have been pastor of the church for the past twelve years and have always endeavored to mind my own business."
True Sayings Indeed
If a man is a coward he always claims to be conservative.
The truth is always the strongest argument. — Sophocles.
Instead of doing things today the wise man did them yesterday.
The boy who ate twenty-nine bananas to win a $1 prize probably needed the money.
Believe in the Fates
1905
Modern Greeks as Superstitious as Their Forefathers
"Some of the superstitions of the old mythologic religion still prevail among the peasant classes in Greece," said Dr. George Horton. "Nor are the educated classes without such beliefs, such as that harm ensues from looking at the moon over the right shoulder, the belief in the three fates, the evil eye, the vampires and the nereids in general.
"Dressed in black and appearing as old women, the fates are supposed to come down from Olympus three days after the birth of a child, and to hold a meeting to determine its fate. Consequently, a table containing many dainties is set out for their invisible enjoyment. Especial care is taken lest the old ladies be enraged at not having enough good things to eat.
"No woman desires to be left alone after her child is born, believing that the ugly old women may become jealous and wreak some awful vengeance. Smut is therefore smeared on the faces of the youngsters so that this jealousy may not become excited.
"The young Athenian women frequently go to the ancient tombs near Athens, and, calling upon the fates, beg them to reveal the identity of their future husbands, singing: 'From the top of Olympus, where are the fates, where is my own fate?' " — Washington Post.
Modern Greeks as Superstitious as Their Forefathers
"Some of the superstitions of the old mythologic religion still prevail among the peasant classes in Greece," said Dr. George Horton. "Nor are the educated classes without such beliefs, such as that harm ensues from looking at the moon over the right shoulder, the belief in the three fates, the evil eye, the vampires and the nereids in general.
"Dressed in black and appearing as old women, the fates are supposed to come down from Olympus three days after the birth of a child, and to hold a meeting to determine its fate. Consequently, a table containing many dainties is set out for their invisible enjoyment. Especial care is taken lest the old ladies be enraged at not having enough good things to eat.
"No woman desires to be left alone after her child is born, believing that the ugly old women may become jealous and wreak some awful vengeance. Smut is therefore smeared on the faces of the youngsters so that this jealousy may not become excited.
"The young Athenian women frequently go to the ancient tombs near Athens, and, calling upon the fates, beg them to reveal the identity of their future husbands, singing: 'From the top of Olympus, where are the fates, where is my own fate?' " — Washington Post.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Dolls in Babylon's Ruins
1905
Children of Ancient Greece, Too, Were Amused With the Playthings
The first dolls of which there is any knowledge were found among the treasures unearthed from the ruins of Babylon. They are small figures in terra cotta and ivory, beautifully carved and must have been fascinating playthings for the little Assyrian children.
The little girls of Syria had mechanical dolls. The arms and legs were moved by pulling strings much after the fashion of jumping jacks.
The dolls the classic Greek children played with were made of wax and clay decorated with bright colors. One kind had movable limbs and its clothes were made to take off and put on. Every doll had a bed of its own. These dolls represented gods and heroes, but whatever they were made to represent, they were dressed with loving care by the little Greeks.
As these children married when they were very young they played with their dolls until just before the wedding day. Then they made a sacrifice of all their toys, dolls and clothes included. They dedicated them as a pious offering to some deity. If the little girl died before she was grown up her dolls were buried with her.
Thus it happens that the kind and fashion of dolls which comforted these ancient children is known. All the specimens which are kept with so great care behind glass doors in various museums were taken from some tiny tomb.
Children of Ancient Greece, Too, Were Amused With the Playthings
The first dolls of which there is any knowledge were found among the treasures unearthed from the ruins of Babylon. They are small figures in terra cotta and ivory, beautifully carved and must have been fascinating playthings for the little Assyrian children.
The little girls of Syria had mechanical dolls. The arms and legs were moved by pulling strings much after the fashion of jumping jacks.
The dolls the classic Greek children played with were made of wax and clay decorated with bright colors. One kind had movable limbs and its clothes were made to take off and put on. Every doll had a bed of its own. These dolls represented gods and heroes, but whatever they were made to represent, they were dressed with loving care by the little Greeks.
As these children married when they were very young they played with their dolls until just before the wedding day. Then they made a sacrifice of all their toys, dolls and clothes included. They dedicated them as a pious offering to some deity. If the little girl died before she was grown up her dolls were buried with her.
Thus it happens that the kind and fashion of dolls which comforted these ancient children is known. All the specimens which are kept with so great care behind glass doors in various museums were taken from some tiny tomb.
God Alone Permanent
1905
How hard it is to keep our footing firm amid the ebb and flow of things! To-day is not yesterday. New things have come to claim attention; many cherished things have gone. An unseen hand is shaking this kaleidoscope of a world, and nothing can last that depends merely upon the present aspect of things. The great problem, therefore, is to seek God with a thirst which will persist through all changes.
Test of Truth of Doctrine
The truth makes free, brings joy, hope, encouragement. The truth of a doctrine may consist in this, does it cause the mind to rejoice? If a doctrine does this, it may be set down as true, as coming from God. If a doctrine casts a shadow over the soul, if it is destructive of calm delight, if it causes faith to halt, trust to doubt, hope to falter, it is surely not of God and His gospel; it is an error of human origin.
Character
Character is great and worthy in itself and not because of the greater or less fame of a deed through which it manifests itself. The sad sacrifice of Gordon at Khartoum, for the sake of England and of Egypt, is of the same heroic quality as the sacrifice of the missionary among the Arabs or the Chinese, of whose name and fame the world hears but little. It is not the kind of thing through which we show ourselves, but the kind of self we have to show, that counts with God.
How hard it is to keep our footing firm amid the ebb and flow of things! To-day is not yesterday. New things have come to claim attention; many cherished things have gone. An unseen hand is shaking this kaleidoscope of a world, and nothing can last that depends merely upon the present aspect of things. The great problem, therefore, is to seek God with a thirst which will persist through all changes.
Test of Truth of Doctrine
The truth makes free, brings joy, hope, encouragement. The truth of a doctrine may consist in this, does it cause the mind to rejoice? If a doctrine does this, it may be set down as true, as coming from God. If a doctrine casts a shadow over the soul, if it is destructive of calm delight, if it causes faith to halt, trust to doubt, hope to falter, it is surely not of God and His gospel; it is an error of human origin.
Character
Character is great and worthy in itself and not because of the greater or less fame of a deed through which it manifests itself. The sad sacrifice of Gordon at Khartoum, for the sake of England and of Egypt, is of the same heroic quality as the sacrifice of the missionary among the Arabs or the Chinese, of whose name and fame the world hears but little. It is not the kind of thing through which we show ourselves, but the kind of self we have to show, that counts with God.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Symbolism Of Numbers
1922
By Frederick J. Haskin
Washington, D. C. — This is about numbers — but most of the numbers will be small, and nobody will be asked to do any figuring.
In the high and far off times, as Kipling would say, dignified men in turbans and robes took a figure such as seven or nine and regarded it as mystic and tried to understand the meanings it might have in relation to life. Today men in tweed suits are still pondering on the same subject. They point out that through the centuries, through widely separated civilizations, a symbolism of numbers has persisted. They also talk learnedly of number vibrations, harmonies, the signs of the zodiac, of living up to the plane of a number, and of the science of numbers. This is a field erudite, but some of the simpler facts are interesting whether you regard a number as purely meaningless in itself, as a sign to conjure with, or a clue to the understanding of the universe.
According to Matthew Dawson, one of the modern students of numbers, there is practically always an ancient precedent for our current allusions to numbers.
When twenty-three was popular slang only a few years ago how many Americans realized that they were harking back to old Egypt and the mysteries of the priests? Yet Mr. Dawson explains that the origin of the expression can be found there. It seems that the Egyptian priesthood used a pack of seventy-eight cards known as tarots for divination. These tarots were the forerunners of our modern playing card pack. Some of their symbols can still be found on playing cards. But the tarots were more than our deck of cards. They were like a book of occult philosophy, with each card a page of symbols and principles.
The public of Egypt was interested in the lore of the tarots no less than the priests. But, said the priests, if the laity can study all our sources of knowledge they may divine events as well as we. So, to protect their secrets, twenty-two of the highest cards were withdrawn from the sight of the public. The fifty-six less important cards, beginning with the twenty-third card of the deck, were available for anyone's use.
From this situation in Egypt, Mr. Dawson says, twenty-three came to suggest something outside of the sacred mystery, and hence not of any importance, or readily dispensed with.
Origin of Thirteen
Egypt may or may not be originally responsible for the idea of thirteen being unlucky. But on the thirteenth tarot of the pack was the picture of a skeleton with the number thirteen below it. This was the number of death, regeneration, and change. Later thirteen was associated with the tragic story of the Last Supper, where Christ and the twelve disciples sat down together.
Mr. Dawson, who believes that individuals vibrate to numbers, says that thirteen is not unlucky if you can live up to its high plane, but that it is "difficult to vibrate to thirteen." This may lift a weight from some of the superstitiously inclined who regard thirteen as inevitably fatal.
Four has always been taken to suggest the material, while three is the number of divinity, according to number lore. Some of the best examples of this symbolism are found in the Book of Revelation in the Bible. All through this book numbers are used in code fashion. "Four corners of the earth" take in everything in the material world. The four living creatures around the throne represent the entire world of living things. Three suggests the Trinity and when three and four are multiplied you have twelve.
Speaking of the number twelve in his study of the Book of the Revelation, P. W. Wilson says: "Here you arrive at the idea of a creation into which God has entered. You have something that has been secular but has become spiritual. Thus you have tribes of a chosen Israel, the twelve chosen apostles, the twelve stars around the head of the eternal woman, the twelve gates of the city, which being holy is 12,000 furlongs every way, and twelve by twelve cubits high, while the number of the redeemed are twelve by 12,000 led by twice twelve elders."
Number Three
The idea of spiritual things being connected with the number three has been applied to fairy stories by Dr. Dawson. "Study of the Arabian Nights and the old fairy lore will reveal a great deal of intended symbolism," he says. "There are always three sons in the fairy tale. The youngest son is always the smartest. He outwits the other two and they never understand how. These three sons can be replaced symbolically by the body, mind, and spirit. The youngest son represents the spiritual which is the last side of the man to develop."
The hour of midnight is always the critical time in the stories, and this idea, Mr. Dawson says, is held because midnight ends the cycle of day and night. After that comes the change brought by a new day.
These are only two of the examples of number symbolism which Mr. Dawson finds in fairy tales. In everyday life, too, the symbolism of numbers bobs up to intrigue the student.
What could be more familiar to us in modern business affairs than the decimal system? Wilson, studying the Revelation, finds evidence that even centuries ago ten was a peculiarly secular digit:
"The tribes that broke away from Jerusalem were ten," he points out. "A beast with ten horns is dependent on secular forces. And an army of 200 thousand is, again, an unconsecrated army quite different from the redeemed who are reckoned by twelves. The raising of tens into millions indicates how immense was the army."
Material-minded folk would say that different numbers were used symbolically in certain ways at first by choice, and that they came to stand for definite ideas. The occultist says that there is a law of numbers, the secret of which is in themselves.
It is a deep and mysterious subject. These random glimpses only show vaguely how modern experience is built up on an enormous network of allusions and ideas out of the dim past. Whether the symbolism of numbers is outworn or whether it is more vital than ever, it persists to perplex and fascinate the descendants of the magi.
By Frederick J. Haskin
Washington, D. C. — This is about numbers — but most of the numbers will be small, and nobody will be asked to do any figuring.
In the high and far off times, as Kipling would say, dignified men in turbans and robes took a figure such as seven or nine and regarded it as mystic and tried to understand the meanings it might have in relation to life. Today men in tweed suits are still pondering on the same subject. They point out that through the centuries, through widely separated civilizations, a symbolism of numbers has persisted. They also talk learnedly of number vibrations, harmonies, the signs of the zodiac, of living up to the plane of a number, and of the science of numbers. This is a field erudite, but some of the simpler facts are interesting whether you regard a number as purely meaningless in itself, as a sign to conjure with, or a clue to the understanding of the universe.
According to Matthew Dawson, one of the modern students of numbers, there is practically always an ancient precedent for our current allusions to numbers.
When twenty-three was popular slang only a few years ago how many Americans realized that they were harking back to old Egypt and the mysteries of the priests? Yet Mr. Dawson explains that the origin of the expression can be found there. It seems that the Egyptian priesthood used a pack of seventy-eight cards known as tarots for divination. These tarots were the forerunners of our modern playing card pack. Some of their symbols can still be found on playing cards. But the tarots were more than our deck of cards. They were like a book of occult philosophy, with each card a page of symbols and principles.
The public of Egypt was interested in the lore of the tarots no less than the priests. But, said the priests, if the laity can study all our sources of knowledge they may divine events as well as we. So, to protect their secrets, twenty-two of the highest cards were withdrawn from the sight of the public. The fifty-six less important cards, beginning with the twenty-third card of the deck, were available for anyone's use.
From this situation in Egypt, Mr. Dawson says, twenty-three came to suggest something outside of the sacred mystery, and hence not of any importance, or readily dispensed with.
Origin of Thirteen
Egypt may or may not be originally responsible for the idea of thirteen being unlucky. But on the thirteenth tarot of the pack was the picture of a skeleton with the number thirteen below it. This was the number of death, regeneration, and change. Later thirteen was associated with the tragic story of the Last Supper, where Christ and the twelve disciples sat down together.
Mr. Dawson, who believes that individuals vibrate to numbers, says that thirteen is not unlucky if you can live up to its high plane, but that it is "difficult to vibrate to thirteen." This may lift a weight from some of the superstitiously inclined who regard thirteen as inevitably fatal.
Four has always been taken to suggest the material, while three is the number of divinity, according to number lore. Some of the best examples of this symbolism are found in the Book of Revelation in the Bible. All through this book numbers are used in code fashion. "Four corners of the earth" take in everything in the material world. The four living creatures around the throne represent the entire world of living things. Three suggests the Trinity and when three and four are multiplied you have twelve.
Speaking of the number twelve in his study of the Book of the Revelation, P. W. Wilson says: "Here you arrive at the idea of a creation into which God has entered. You have something that has been secular but has become spiritual. Thus you have tribes of a chosen Israel, the twelve chosen apostles, the twelve stars around the head of the eternal woman, the twelve gates of the city, which being holy is 12,000 furlongs every way, and twelve by twelve cubits high, while the number of the redeemed are twelve by 12,000 led by twice twelve elders."
Number Three
The idea of spiritual things being connected with the number three has been applied to fairy stories by Dr. Dawson. "Study of the Arabian Nights and the old fairy lore will reveal a great deal of intended symbolism," he says. "There are always three sons in the fairy tale. The youngest son is always the smartest. He outwits the other two and they never understand how. These three sons can be replaced symbolically by the body, mind, and spirit. The youngest son represents the spiritual which is the last side of the man to develop."
The hour of midnight is always the critical time in the stories, and this idea, Mr. Dawson says, is held because midnight ends the cycle of day and night. After that comes the change brought by a new day.
These are only two of the examples of number symbolism which Mr. Dawson finds in fairy tales. In everyday life, too, the symbolism of numbers bobs up to intrigue the student.
What could be more familiar to us in modern business affairs than the decimal system? Wilson, studying the Revelation, finds evidence that even centuries ago ten was a peculiarly secular digit:
"The tribes that broke away from Jerusalem were ten," he points out. "A beast with ten horns is dependent on secular forces. And an army of 200 thousand is, again, an unconsecrated army quite different from the redeemed who are reckoned by twelves. The raising of tens into millions indicates how immense was the army."
Material-minded folk would say that different numbers were used symbolically in certain ways at first by choice, and that they came to stand for definite ideas. The occultist says that there is a law of numbers, the secret of which is in themselves.
It is a deep and mysterious subject. These random glimpses only show vaguely how modern experience is built up on an enormous network of allusions and ideas out of the dim past. Whether the symbolism of numbers is outworn or whether it is more vital than ever, it persists to perplex and fascinate the descendants of the magi.
No Doubt About the Place
1910
The newcomer had just encountered a glaring billboard: "Classic drama at the Plutonian to-night. William Shakespeare in his great creation of Hamlet. Booth and Barrett as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Wagner and Mozart orchestra. Seats free. Everybody welcome."
"Surely this can't be hades, with this great dramatic feast free to all?" he suggested hopefully to a bystander.
"Oh, it's hell, all right," groaned the bystander. "You see, they use a drop curtain depicting sunrise in the Alps surrounded by the names of 14 kinds of whisky and 16 varieties of chewing gum; the local smart set enters during the progress of the second act; the performance is preceded by moving pictures showing a chase after criminals in automobiles; the man behind you has already witnessed the show four times; the ushers sell the complete words and music of the production at ten cents a copy, and the audience invariably demands 'Casey at the Bat.' " — Puck.
Life's Injustice
"What do you think? Mrs. Zizzel, who never goes to church, has won, the first prize in the church lottery?"
The newcomer had just encountered a glaring billboard: "Classic drama at the Plutonian to-night. William Shakespeare in his great creation of Hamlet. Booth and Barrett as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Wagner and Mozart orchestra. Seats free. Everybody welcome."
"Surely this can't be hades, with this great dramatic feast free to all?" he suggested hopefully to a bystander.
"Oh, it's hell, all right," groaned the bystander. "You see, they use a drop curtain depicting sunrise in the Alps surrounded by the names of 14 kinds of whisky and 16 varieties of chewing gum; the local smart set enters during the progress of the second act; the performance is preceded by moving pictures showing a chase after criminals in automobiles; the man behind you has already witnessed the show four times; the ushers sell the complete words and music of the production at ten cents a copy, and the audience invariably demands 'Casey at the Bat.' " — Puck.
Life's Injustice
"What do you think? Mrs. Zizzel, who never goes to church, has won, the first prize in the church lottery?"
The "Thirteen" Superstition
1910
According to reliable authorities the popular superstition that attaches to the number 13 owes its origin to the story of "The Last Supper." For unreckoned centuries the superstition has been universal that if 13 persons sit down to a meal at the same table one of them will die before the year is out. This doubtless comes from the Biblical feast when Christ sat down at table with his 12 disciples.
Those Small Pledges
When the minister views the display of millinery this morning, he will begin to understand why ten cents a week is all that some of his parishioners can afford to subscribe.
According to reliable authorities the popular superstition that attaches to the number 13 owes its origin to the story of "The Last Supper." For unreckoned centuries the superstition has been universal that if 13 persons sit down to a meal at the same table one of them will die before the year is out. This doubtless comes from the Biblical feast when Christ sat down at table with his 12 disciples.
Those Small Pledges
When the minister views the display of millinery this morning, he will begin to understand why ten cents a week is all that some of his parishioners can afford to subscribe.
Kipling Made Man's Last Hours Happy
1905
Popular Author Comforted Dying Sailor in Hospital
A pretty story about a popular author was told the other day. A nurse in an American hospital had as patient a sailor who was a great sufferer and not expected to live many days.
The poor man worried a great deal because he thought there would be no sea in heaven. To him the prospect of playing on a golden fiddle offered no attraction. As the priest had failed to comfort him, it occurred to the nurse that it might benefit her patient if she could get Mr. Rudyard Kipling to come and talk a little to him, and as he happened to be visiting the hospital at the time, Mr. Kipling willingly acceded to her request. He said a few words to the dying man and apparently gave him much comfort.
A few days afterward Mr. Kipling sent in his own handwriting a copy of the poem, "The Last Chantey," which the conversation with the sailor had inspired. The dying man was so delighted with it that he expressed a wish for it to be placed in his coffin, and the nurse duly carried out his wish.
If Mr. Kipling's reward for his kind action came in the inspiration he obtained, Shakespeare's well-known description of mercy — "It blesseth him that gives and him that takes" — was justified. — Liverpool (Eng.) Mercury.
Popular Author Comforted Dying Sailor in Hospital
A pretty story about a popular author was told the other day. A nurse in an American hospital had as patient a sailor who was a great sufferer and not expected to live many days.
The poor man worried a great deal because he thought there would be no sea in heaven. To him the prospect of playing on a golden fiddle offered no attraction. As the priest had failed to comfort him, it occurred to the nurse that it might benefit her patient if she could get Mr. Rudyard Kipling to come and talk a little to him, and as he happened to be visiting the hospital at the time, Mr. Kipling willingly acceded to her request. He said a few words to the dying man and apparently gave him much comfort.
A few days afterward Mr. Kipling sent in his own handwriting a copy of the poem, "The Last Chantey," which the conversation with the sailor had inspired. The dying man was so delighted with it that he expressed a wish for it to be placed in his coffin, and the nurse duly carried out his wish.
If Mr. Kipling's reward for his kind action came in the inspiration he obtained, Shakespeare's well-known description of mercy — "It blesseth him that gives and him that takes" — was justified. — Liverpool (Eng.) Mercury.
Unlucky Peacock Feathers
1905
Peacock's feathers are said to bring ill luck. The origin of this tradition is interesting. It is found in Palgrave's work on central and east Arabia, where the traveler says that, according to Mohammedan tradition, the peacock opened the wicket of Paradise to admit the devil, received a very ample share of the devil's own punishment.
Hindu Customs
It is in order that sons may perform the father's funeral ceremonies each year that it is ordained that the son shall inherit the father's property. It is a rule of our faith that by the son's performance of such acts the father obtains heaven. For this reason, if he has no male child, the father will adopt a boy in order that, after his own death, his funeral ceremonies may be performed by the adopted son. — Mysore Standard, Bangalore.
Visions
It was the woman who dreamed that her husband had given her the goods for a new gown who waked to a realizing sense of what the poet meant by "the baseless fabric of this vision."
Peacock's feathers are said to bring ill luck. The origin of this tradition is interesting. It is found in Palgrave's work on central and east Arabia, where the traveler says that, according to Mohammedan tradition, the peacock opened the wicket of Paradise to admit the devil, received a very ample share of the devil's own punishment.
Hindu Customs
It is in order that sons may perform the father's funeral ceremonies each year that it is ordained that the son shall inherit the father's property. It is a rule of our faith that by the son's performance of such acts the father obtains heaven. For this reason, if he has no male child, the father will adopt a boy in order that, after his own death, his funeral ceremonies may be performed by the adopted son. — Mysore Standard, Bangalore.
Visions
It was the woman who dreamed that her husband had given her the goods for a new gown who waked to a realizing sense of what the poet meant by "the baseless fabric of this vision."
Ready With His Excuse
1905
Clerk Justified Mean Trick by Scriptural Quotation
A certain tailor of very strict principles was in the habit of excusing the faults of his assistants only if they could justify themselves by Scripture. One day a woman entered his shop and asked to see some material, but refused to buy it because it was too cheap. After showing her some other goods, the assistant brought back the same material, this time asking a higher price, whereupon the customer bought it. Afterward, the proprietor, who had witnessed the transaction, reproved his assistant severely. The latter, remembering the rules of the establishment, replied "Oh, it's according to Scripture all right. She was a stranger and I took her in." — Harper's Weekly.
The Raven in Folklore
R. Boswell Smith, an Englishman, has recently made an exhaustive study of the place of the raven in folklore, in religious legends and in literature. It is a curious commentary on the people of some Christian nations that they should hold the raven in abhorrence when the legends, and in some cases the authentic histories of the church, tell them that the bird which they shun was the companion of a dozen or so saints and martyrs who gained rather than lost in sanctity from the companionship.
Clerk Justified Mean Trick by Scriptural Quotation
A certain tailor of very strict principles was in the habit of excusing the faults of his assistants only if they could justify themselves by Scripture. One day a woman entered his shop and asked to see some material, but refused to buy it because it was too cheap. After showing her some other goods, the assistant brought back the same material, this time asking a higher price, whereupon the customer bought it. Afterward, the proprietor, who had witnessed the transaction, reproved his assistant severely. The latter, remembering the rules of the establishment, replied "Oh, it's according to Scripture all right. She was a stranger and I took her in." — Harper's Weekly.
The Raven in Folklore
R. Boswell Smith, an Englishman, has recently made an exhaustive study of the place of the raven in folklore, in religious legends and in literature. It is a curious commentary on the people of some Christian nations that they should hold the raven in abhorrence when the legends, and in some cases the authentic histories of the church, tell them that the bird which they shun was the companion of a dozen or so saints and martyrs who gained rather than lost in sanctity from the companionship.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Many Clowns in the Pulpit
1905
Prominent Clergyman Makes Startling Statement at Chautauqua
Chautauqua, New York, dispatch — Dr. James M. Buckley, chairman of the episcopacy committee of the Methodist Episcopal church, declared in an address that a clergyman has no right to make his congregation laugh and that to do so is irreverence. "Yet there are a good many clowns in the pulpit," he concluded.
The Secret of Happiness
The man who can drill his thoughts, so as to shut out everything that is depressing and discouraging and see only the bright side even of his misfortunes and failures, has mastered the secret of happiness and success. He has made himself a magnet to draw friends, cheer, brightness and good fortune to him. His presence is like a sunbeam on a dull day.
There is no accomplishment, no touch of culture, no gift which will add so much to the alchemic power of life as the optimistic habit — the determination to be cheerful and happy no matter what comes to us. It will smooth rough paths, light up gloomy places, and melt away obstacles as the sunshine melts snow on the mountain side. — Success.
Prominent Clergyman Makes Startling Statement at Chautauqua
Chautauqua, New York, dispatch — Dr. James M. Buckley, chairman of the episcopacy committee of the Methodist Episcopal church, declared in an address that a clergyman has no right to make his congregation laugh and that to do so is irreverence. "Yet there are a good many clowns in the pulpit," he concluded.
The Secret of Happiness
The man who can drill his thoughts, so as to shut out everything that is depressing and discouraging and see only the bright side even of his misfortunes and failures, has mastered the secret of happiness and success. He has made himself a magnet to draw friends, cheer, brightness and good fortune to him. His presence is like a sunbeam on a dull day.
There is no accomplishment, no touch of culture, no gift which will add so much to the alchemic power of life as the optimistic habit — the determination to be cheerful and happy no matter what comes to us. It will smooth rough paths, light up gloomy places, and melt away obstacles as the sunshine melts snow on the mountain side. — Success.
Sunday School Lesson — Jeremiah 36
1905
I. The Beginning of Judah's Downfall. — To understand Jeremiah's prophecies one must know something of the history of the times in which they were written, and which they vividly reflect. About the twelfth year of Josiah's reign wild tribes of Scythians, from the plains of southern Russia, "streamed through the passes of the Caucasus in countless hordes, ruthlessly destroying cities, fields, men, women and children." — Kent. Zephaniah and Jeremiah were just beginning to prophesy. Said the latter: "Out of the north evil shall break forth upon the land (Jer. 1:14). However, after greatly terrifying the people, "the storm-cloud of Scythian invasion, like other storms, followed the line of the sea, leaving Jerusalem unscathed, and was dissipated on the borders of Egypt." — Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible.
From Egypt itself came the next peril. Pharaoh Necho marched up through Palestine to attack Assyria (B.C. 608). Foolishly and needlessly espousing the Assyrian cause, Josiah met him at Megiddo on the plain of Esdraelon, was defeated and killed. Prof. Kent calls this disaster "unquestionably the most tragic event in Hebrew history." It brought to an end the reformation which Josiah had inaugurated; for though the reform party at once placed upon the throne Josiah's third son, Jehoahaz, evidently because he resembled his father, as soon as the victorious Necho returned from the Euphrates he reversed the arrangement, carried Jehoahaz in chains to Egypt, after a reign of only three months, and left on the throne his elder brother, Eliakim, rightly judging him to be of a character more suited to his purpose. In token of vassalage Eliakim changed his name (in form, but not in significance) to Jehoiakim, "Jehovah raiseth up." He proved to be a tyrant, of whom Jeremiah speaks always in condemnation. His magnificent palace (Jer. 22:13-15) built by forced labor, his murder of the prophet Uriah (Jer. 26:20), and his persecution of Jeremiah, show his character.
The third peril was Babylon. "In 607 Nineveh fell, and Babylon became heir of all the countries washed by the Mediterranean, the realm which had just been added by Necho to his dominions. A conflict between the rivals could not long be deferred. In 605-4 the two armies met near Carchemish, where Nebuchadnezzar inflicted a decisive defeat on Necho, and Judah exchanged the yoke of Egypt for that of Babylon." — Hastings' Bible Dictionary. Jehoiakim was thrown into chains, to be carried back captive to Babylon, but this intention does not seem to have been fulfilled (2 Chron. 36:6). Some captives, however, were taken to Babylon, among them Daniel and his three friends (Dan. 1:6). This was the small beginning of the Great Captivity.
II. Jeremiah the Prophet of Warning. — In these troublous times, the saddest of Hebrew history, arose a great prophet through whom Jehovah uttered his final call to repentance. "Jeremiah was little esteemed in his life, but from being of no account as a prophet he came to be considered the greatest of them all." — Prof. A. B. Davidson.
His name means "whom Jehovah casts" or "appoints." His father, Hilkiah (Jer. 1:1) "was not the high priest of that name, so famous in connection with the reformation of King Josiah." — Expositor's Bible. His father, however, was a priest. His birthplace, where he probably resided during at least a part of his life, was Anathoth in the tribe of Benjamin, now 'Anata, between two and three miles north-northeast of Jerusalem.
His call to prophesy came when he was a young man (Jer. 1:6), in the thirteenth year of Josiah. (Jer. 1:2), B.C. 626. He was then about twenty years old, and so may have been born about B.C. 646, being of the same age, approximately, as Josiah. He prophesied till B.C. 586, after the Captivity, more than forty years.
His Character. "The most exquisite sensibility of soul was Jeremiah's singular and sovereign distinction above all the other Hebrew prophets. He was far and away the most spiritually minded of all the prophets. He was the supreme prophet of the human heart, and would have nothing from his hearers and readers but their heart. Both by nature and by grace he was the most inclined to pity of all the prophets. Dante comes next to Jeremiah, and we know that Jeremiah was that great exile's favorite prophet." — Condensed from Whyte.
His Writings. — The Lamentations are not attributed to Jeremiah in the Hebrew Bible, but they are so attributed in the Greek translation, the Septuagint. Modern scholars are divided on the question of the authorship. "The balance of internal evidence may be said to preponderate against Jeremiah's authorship; but there is no question that the poems are the work of a contemporary (or contemporaries)." — Driver.
III. Jeremiah's Prophecies Written and Read. — Jer. 36:1-20. For twenty-three years Jeremiah had been trying, by oral teachings, to persuade the nation to repent and turn to God, but the people and their rulers had been deaf to his warnings. As a last resort, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (B.C. 605), the Lord commanded the prophet to write down the substance of his exhortations, thus to focus them in one mighty blow upon the consciences of king and people. Moreover, for some reason Jeremiah was "shut up," "restrained" (V. 5) from public utterance, being probably forbidden by the authorities to preach; and thus he could reach his audience through the lips of another.
The chosen amanuensis was Baruch, the son of Neriah, a scribe. The occasion was a fast day, appointed probably for the first anniversary of the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. To a throng gathered in the temple Baruch read the glowing words of Jeremiah, speaking from a balcony.
Among the listeners was Micaiah, grandson of Shaphan, Josiah's famous scribe. He went at once to tell his father, Gemariah, who was at the palace, taking part in a council that may have been discussing the dangers that still threatened the country from Babylon. The princes of the king's council sent at once for Baruch and listened to his reading of Jeremiah's prophecies, which made so deep an impression upon them that they decided to make known the whole matter to the king. First, however, they asked Baruch to hide himself and Jeremiah, lest the king be angry and slay them, as he had killed Urijah.
IV. Jeremiah's Prophecies Destroyed. — Vs. 21-26. It was a critical moment in the history of Judah, and of Jehoiakim. How many sorrows the nation would have been spared, had the king proved himself a Josiah or a Hezekiah!
21. "So the king sent Jehudi." One of his officers. "To fetch the roll." That Jehoiakim might learn its contents at first hand and not from hearsay. "Elishama." He was the king's secretary of state, and the roll had been left in his chamber that it might be safe from the king.
22. "The king sat in the winter-house. "In the ninth month." December, as the Hebrew sacred year began two weeks before the Passover, our Easter. "There was a fire on the hearth burning." Rather, in the firepan. They have no chimneys, and hearths are unknown in the East.
23. "When Jehudi had read three or four leaves." R.V. margin, "columns." "He." R.V., "the king." Jehoiakim seems to have snatched the roll angrily from Jehudi. "Cut it with the penknife." "Literally, scribe's knife." — Wood.
24. "Yet they were not afraid." "Unlike Josiah (2 Kings 22:11), and even Ahab (1 Kings 21:27)." — Pulpit Commentary. "Nor any of his servants."
25. "Nevertheless (R.V., "moreover") "Elnathan," etc. These were some of the princes. "Made intercession." "This word had by no means once that limited meaning of prayer for others which we now ascribe to it." — Cambridge Bible. "But he would not hear them."
26. -"The king commanded . . . to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but the LORD hid them. Perhaps Jeremiah was hidden, by some of God's servants, as John of Gaunt did for Wyclif, and an elector of Saxony for Luther; perhaps the Lord sent him out of the country. To this time are most naturally to be referred Jeremiah's absence from Jerusalem, and the symbol of the linen girdle which he was commanded (Jer. 13) to take to the river Euphrates. He is not heard of for several years.
V. Jeremiah's Prophecies Rewritten and Fulfilled. — Vs. 27-32. "The first result of Jeremiah's enforced seclusion reminds us of Martin Luther's Bible work in the Wartburg. Jeremiah, too, betook himself to Bible work. The first prophetic roll had been destroyed; but, as in the case of Tyndale's New Testament, a new and improved edition issued, as it were, from the flames." — Cheyne.
The New Roll. — 28. "Take thee again another roll," etc. This new roll was a repetition of the first, with the addition (v. 32) of many other prophecies.
The Truth Could Not Be Destroyed. — Jehoiakim had burned only the parchment; he could not burn God's condemnation of him. 29. "The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land." Nebuchadnezzar had already come, and rendered the land tributary; but he had gone away again. The prophecy that had aroused Jehoiakim's wrath was that Nebuchadnezzar would return and destroy the land. This prediction Jeremiah solemnly repeated, and it was fulfilled not long afterward in the reign of Zedekiah.
30. "Jehoiakim . . . shall have none to sit upon the throne of David." His son Jehoiachin, eighteen years old, attempted to do it for three months, but the whole time the land was occupied by Nebuchadnezzar's army, and Jerusalem was in a state of siege (2 Kings 24:8-17). "His dead body shall be cast out." Compare the vivid words of Jer. 22:18, 19.
31. "And upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem." "They would not have been punished for the crime of the king, had not that act only too well typified their own demoralization. Compare Jer. 19:15; 35:17." — Speaker's Commentary.
I. The Beginning of Judah's Downfall. — To understand Jeremiah's prophecies one must know something of the history of the times in which they were written, and which they vividly reflect. About the twelfth year of Josiah's reign wild tribes of Scythians, from the plains of southern Russia, "streamed through the passes of the Caucasus in countless hordes, ruthlessly destroying cities, fields, men, women and children." — Kent. Zephaniah and Jeremiah were just beginning to prophesy. Said the latter: "Out of the north evil shall break forth upon the land (Jer. 1:14). However, after greatly terrifying the people, "the storm-cloud of Scythian invasion, like other storms, followed the line of the sea, leaving Jerusalem unscathed, and was dissipated on the borders of Egypt." — Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible.
From Egypt itself came the next peril. Pharaoh Necho marched up through Palestine to attack Assyria (B.C. 608). Foolishly and needlessly espousing the Assyrian cause, Josiah met him at Megiddo on the plain of Esdraelon, was defeated and killed. Prof. Kent calls this disaster "unquestionably the most tragic event in Hebrew history." It brought to an end the reformation which Josiah had inaugurated; for though the reform party at once placed upon the throne Josiah's third son, Jehoahaz, evidently because he resembled his father, as soon as the victorious Necho returned from the Euphrates he reversed the arrangement, carried Jehoahaz in chains to Egypt, after a reign of only three months, and left on the throne his elder brother, Eliakim, rightly judging him to be of a character more suited to his purpose. In token of vassalage Eliakim changed his name (in form, but not in significance) to Jehoiakim, "Jehovah raiseth up." He proved to be a tyrant, of whom Jeremiah speaks always in condemnation. His magnificent palace (Jer. 22:13-15) built by forced labor, his murder of the prophet Uriah (Jer. 26:20), and his persecution of Jeremiah, show his character.
The third peril was Babylon. "In 607 Nineveh fell, and Babylon became heir of all the countries washed by the Mediterranean, the realm which had just been added by Necho to his dominions. A conflict between the rivals could not long be deferred. In 605-4 the two armies met near Carchemish, where Nebuchadnezzar inflicted a decisive defeat on Necho, and Judah exchanged the yoke of Egypt for that of Babylon." — Hastings' Bible Dictionary. Jehoiakim was thrown into chains, to be carried back captive to Babylon, but this intention does not seem to have been fulfilled (2 Chron. 36:6). Some captives, however, were taken to Babylon, among them Daniel and his three friends (Dan. 1:6). This was the small beginning of the Great Captivity.
II. Jeremiah the Prophet of Warning. — In these troublous times, the saddest of Hebrew history, arose a great prophet through whom Jehovah uttered his final call to repentance. "Jeremiah was little esteemed in his life, but from being of no account as a prophet he came to be considered the greatest of them all." — Prof. A. B. Davidson.
His name means "whom Jehovah casts" or "appoints." His father, Hilkiah (Jer. 1:1) "was not the high priest of that name, so famous in connection with the reformation of King Josiah." — Expositor's Bible. His father, however, was a priest. His birthplace, where he probably resided during at least a part of his life, was Anathoth in the tribe of Benjamin, now 'Anata, between two and three miles north-northeast of Jerusalem.
His call to prophesy came when he was a young man (Jer. 1:6), in the thirteenth year of Josiah. (Jer. 1:2), B.C. 626. He was then about twenty years old, and so may have been born about B.C. 646, being of the same age, approximately, as Josiah. He prophesied till B.C. 586, after the Captivity, more than forty years.
His Character. "The most exquisite sensibility of soul was Jeremiah's singular and sovereign distinction above all the other Hebrew prophets. He was far and away the most spiritually minded of all the prophets. He was the supreme prophet of the human heart, and would have nothing from his hearers and readers but their heart. Both by nature and by grace he was the most inclined to pity of all the prophets. Dante comes next to Jeremiah, and we know that Jeremiah was that great exile's favorite prophet." — Condensed from Whyte.
His Writings. — The Lamentations are not attributed to Jeremiah in the Hebrew Bible, but they are so attributed in the Greek translation, the Septuagint. Modern scholars are divided on the question of the authorship. "The balance of internal evidence may be said to preponderate against Jeremiah's authorship; but there is no question that the poems are the work of a contemporary (or contemporaries)." — Driver.
III. Jeremiah's Prophecies Written and Read. — Jer. 36:1-20. For twenty-three years Jeremiah had been trying, by oral teachings, to persuade the nation to repent and turn to God, but the people and their rulers had been deaf to his warnings. As a last resort, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (B.C. 605), the Lord commanded the prophet to write down the substance of his exhortations, thus to focus them in one mighty blow upon the consciences of king and people. Moreover, for some reason Jeremiah was "shut up," "restrained" (V. 5) from public utterance, being probably forbidden by the authorities to preach; and thus he could reach his audience through the lips of another.
The chosen amanuensis was Baruch, the son of Neriah, a scribe. The occasion was a fast day, appointed probably for the first anniversary of the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. To a throng gathered in the temple Baruch read the glowing words of Jeremiah, speaking from a balcony.
Among the listeners was Micaiah, grandson of Shaphan, Josiah's famous scribe. He went at once to tell his father, Gemariah, who was at the palace, taking part in a council that may have been discussing the dangers that still threatened the country from Babylon. The princes of the king's council sent at once for Baruch and listened to his reading of Jeremiah's prophecies, which made so deep an impression upon them that they decided to make known the whole matter to the king. First, however, they asked Baruch to hide himself and Jeremiah, lest the king be angry and slay them, as he had killed Urijah.
IV. Jeremiah's Prophecies Destroyed. — Vs. 21-26. It was a critical moment in the history of Judah, and of Jehoiakim. How many sorrows the nation would have been spared, had the king proved himself a Josiah or a Hezekiah!
21. "So the king sent Jehudi." One of his officers. "To fetch the roll." That Jehoiakim might learn its contents at first hand and not from hearsay. "Elishama." He was the king's secretary of state, and the roll had been left in his chamber that it might be safe from the king.
22. "The king sat in the winter-house. "In the ninth month." December, as the Hebrew sacred year began two weeks before the Passover, our Easter. "There was a fire on the hearth burning." Rather, in the firepan. They have no chimneys, and hearths are unknown in the East.
23. "When Jehudi had read three or four leaves." R.V. margin, "columns." "He." R.V., "the king." Jehoiakim seems to have snatched the roll angrily from Jehudi. "Cut it with the penknife." "Literally, scribe's knife." — Wood.
24. "Yet they were not afraid." "Unlike Josiah (2 Kings 22:11), and even Ahab (1 Kings 21:27)." — Pulpit Commentary. "Nor any of his servants."
25. "Nevertheless (R.V., "moreover") "Elnathan," etc. These were some of the princes. "Made intercession." "This word had by no means once that limited meaning of prayer for others which we now ascribe to it." — Cambridge Bible. "But he would not hear them."
26. -"The king commanded . . . to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but the LORD hid them. Perhaps Jeremiah was hidden, by some of God's servants, as John of Gaunt did for Wyclif, and an elector of Saxony for Luther; perhaps the Lord sent him out of the country. To this time are most naturally to be referred Jeremiah's absence from Jerusalem, and the symbol of the linen girdle which he was commanded (Jer. 13) to take to the river Euphrates. He is not heard of for several years.
V. Jeremiah's Prophecies Rewritten and Fulfilled. — Vs. 27-32. "The first result of Jeremiah's enforced seclusion reminds us of Martin Luther's Bible work in the Wartburg. Jeremiah, too, betook himself to Bible work. The first prophetic roll had been destroyed; but, as in the case of Tyndale's New Testament, a new and improved edition issued, as it were, from the flames." — Cheyne.
The New Roll. — 28. "Take thee again another roll," etc. This new roll was a repetition of the first, with the addition (v. 32) of many other prophecies.
The Truth Could Not Be Destroyed. — Jehoiakim had burned only the parchment; he could not burn God's condemnation of him. 29. "The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land." Nebuchadnezzar had already come, and rendered the land tributary; but he had gone away again. The prophecy that had aroused Jehoiakim's wrath was that Nebuchadnezzar would return and destroy the land. This prediction Jeremiah solemnly repeated, and it was fulfilled not long afterward in the reign of Zedekiah.
30. "Jehoiakim . . . shall have none to sit upon the throne of David." His son Jehoiachin, eighteen years old, attempted to do it for three months, but the whole time the land was occupied by Nebuchadnezzar's army, and Jerusalem was in a state of siege (2 Kings 24:8-17). "His dead body shall be cast out." Compare the vivid words of Jer. 22:18, 19.
31. "And upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem." "They would not have been punished for the crime of the king, had not that act only too well typified their own demoralization. Compare Jer. 19:15; 35:17." — Speaker's Commentary.
For God's Eternal Glory
1905
The sphere of miracle is but an extension and transfiguration of natural force. The title of Dr. Drummond's suggestive work, "Natural Law in the Spiritual World," expresses a truth, which carries us even further than his remarkable exposition of it. God did not make a mistake in the sublime constitution and appointment of universal law." It was intended to be, and shall for ever be, made the vehicle for the manifestation of His eternal glory.
God's Face Hidden
It is a dictum of science that, if light were capable of being seen, we should be blind to aught else, and life would be impossible in its present form. How wonderfully this modern idea chimes in with the old words of the Almighty to Moses: "In the day that thou seest My face thou shalt surely die." If we could see but a small portion of the all-pervading greatness, power and glory of the Creator, would interest be any longer possible in human concerns?
The sphere of miracle is but an extension and transfiguration of natural force. The title of Dr. Drummond's suggestive work, "Natural Law in the Spiritual World," expresses a truth, which carries us even further than his remarkable exposition of it. God did not make a mistake in the sublime constitution and appointment of universal law." It was intended to be, and shall for ever be, made the vehicle for the manifestation of His eternal glory.
God's Face Hidden
It is a dictum of science that, if light were capable of being seen, we should be blind to aught else, and life would be impossible in its present form. How wonderfully this modern idea chimes in with the old words of the Almighty to Moses: "In the day that thou seest My face thou shalt surely die." If we could see but a small portion of the all-pervading greatness, power and glory of the Creator, would interest be any longer possible in human concerns?
Gun Loaded For a Witch
1905
Charge Consisted of Shillings, Wadded With Bible Leaves
Nicholas Vedderman, a retired farmer of Angora, has come into possession of what he believes is a relic of the days when superstition and belief in witchcraft was general.
This is an old flintlock musket which contained a charge evidently prepared for the execution of a witch. Vedderman, who devotes his time to the collection of curios, purchased the musket, at an auction sale held in an old farmhouse recently. From its appearance the weapon antedated the revolutionary war, and when found was in a deplorable state of rust.
In cleaning it Vedderman discovered that there was a charge in the gun, and this he carefully withdrew. To his surprise, he found instead of bullets two silver shillings, dated 1781, tightly wadded with leaves from a Bible of ancient print. Beneath the shilling was a small lock of hair and a piece of paper containing an illegible quotation. The gunpowder was coarse and undoubtedly of colonial manufacture.
Vedderman, who has made a study of such things, says it was by firing such charmed charges that the superstitious believed they could scare off witches. — Philadelphia Record.
Note: In this little tiny article, the original manages to have the guy's name spelled three different ways. Vadderman (1), Vedderman (2), and Yedderman (1).
Charge Consisted of Shillings, Wadded With Bible Leaves
Nicholas Vedderman, a retired farmer of Angora, has come into possession of what he believes is a relic of the days when superstition and belief in witchcraft was general.
This is an old flintlock musket which contained a charge evidently prepared for the execution of a witch. Vedderman, who devotes his time to the collection of curios, purchased the musket, at an auction sale held in an old farmhouse recently. From its appearance the weapon antedated the revolutionary war, and when found was in a deplorable state of rust.
In cleaning it Vedderman discovered that there was a charge in the gun, and this he carefully withdrew. To his surprise, he found instead of bullets two silver shillings, dated 1781, tightly wadded with leaves from a Bible of ancient print. Beneath the shilling was a small lock of hair and a piece of paper containing an illegible quotation. The gunpowder was coarse and undoubtedly of colonial manufacture.
Vedderman, who has made a study of such things, says it was by firing such charmed charges that the superstitious believed they could scare off witches. — Philadelphia Record.
Note: In this little tiny article, the original manages to have the guy's name spelled three different ways. Vadderman (1), Vedderman (2), and Yedderman (1).
Monday, July 16, 2007
All Annoyed With the God
1905
Momus, in Greek fable, was the god of mockery and censure, who delighted in finding fault with gods and men. He was chosen to act as judge when there was a strife between Neptune, Minerva and Vulcan for supremacy in artistic power.
Neptune made a bull, Minerva a house and Vulcan a man. Momus declared that Neptune should have set his bull's horns farther forward for fighting purposes. He said that Minerva should have so constructed her house that it could be moved away from troublesome neighbors and that Vulcan should have made a window in the man's breast through which his thoughts could be seen.
All were so annoyed at his criticisms that they turned him out of heaven, and soon after this he died of vexation because he could find no fault in Venus, the goddess of love and beauty.
Momus, in Greek fable, was the god of mockery and censure, who delighted in finding fault with gods and men. He was chosen to act as judge when there was a strife between Neptune, Minerva and Vulcan for supremacy in artistic power.
Neptune made a bull, Minerva a house and Vulcan a man. Momus declared that Neptune should have set his bull's horns farther forward for fighting purposes. He said that Minerva should have so constructed her house that it could be moved away from troublesome neighbors and that Vulcan should have made a window in the man's breast through which his thoughts could be seen.
All were so annoyed at his criticisms that they turned him out of heaven, and soon after this he died of vexation because he could find no fault in Venus, the goddess of love and beauty.
Secondhand Wisdom – Reading Sermons
1905
Sir Roger de Coverley obliged his chaplain to deliver sermons written by famous old divines in lieu of original preachments, and Addison assures us that many clergymen would do well to adopt the plan, but most congregations prefer a minister who speaks his own thoughts, however mediocre they may be.
The New Orleans States says that a bishop, commenting on the aversion of congregations to sermon reading, tells this story:
A sermon-reading clergyman, a friend of mine, called one day on a humble parishioner, a cobbler. He sat mending a pair of boots and reading his Bible at the same time.
"What are you doing, Giles?" asked my friend, with a benevolent smile.
"Prophesyin'," Giles answered.
"Prophesying? Nonsense!"
"Well," said the cobbler, curtly, "if readin' a sermon is preachin', isn't readin' a prophecy prophesyin'?"
Sir Roger de Coverley obliged his chaplain to deliver sermons written by famous old divines in lieu of original preachments, and Addison assures us that many clergymen would do well to adopt the plan, but most congregations prefer a minister who speaks his own thoughts, however mediocre they may be.
The New Orleans States says that a bishop, commenting on the aversion of congregations to sermon reading, tells this story:
A sermon-reading clergyman, a friend of mine, called one day on a humble parishioner, a cobbler. He sat mending a pair of boots and reading his Bible at the same time.
"What are you doing, Giles?" asked my friend, with a benevolent smile.
"Prophesyin'," Giles answered.
"Prophesying? Nonsense!"
"Well," said the cobbler, curtly, "if readin' a sermon is preachin', isn't readin' a prophecy prophesyin'?"
Willing to Make a Bargain
1910
The naturally religious child, and most children are naturally religious, flees to the heavenly father in and under all trying circumstances. Kathleen, for instance, had lost her dog and was heart-broken. Earnest prayer failed to restore the missing Fido, and the second evening the troubled maiden promised, tearfully: "I'm afraid, dear God, that you're vexed with me over something, 'cause you haven't brought my doggie back; but if you'll only send him back to me this evening I'll be such a good little girl tomorrow and all next day!"
The Supreme Message
Christ shall be first or not at all. In the lives of men let us live nobler, try to be better and truer to ourselves and give our testimony whenever the opportune time comes. — Rev. C. K. Carpenter, Methodist Episcopal, Galesburg, Illinois.
The naturally religious child, and most children are naturally religious, flees to the heavenly father in and under all trying circumstances. Kathleen, for instance, had lost her dog and was heart-broken. Earnest prayer failed to restore the missing Fido, and the second evening the troubled maiden promised, tearfully: "I'm afraid, dear God, that you're vexed with me over something, 'cause you haven't brought my doggie back; but if you'll only send him back to me this evening I'll be such a good little girl tomorrow and all next day!"
The Supreme Message
Christ shall be first or not at all. In the lives of men let us live nobler, try to be better and truer to ourselves and give our testimony whenever the opportune time comes. — Rev. C. K. Carpenter, Methodist Episcopal, Galesburg, Illinois.
Jews May Yet Colonize
July 1911
Another attempt will be made to establish a colony of Jews near the Holy Land. In 1903 the late Dr. Herzel, after having failed to obtain any satisfactory concession from the sultan of Turkey in respect to Zionist effort in Palestine, approached the Egyptian government with the object of getting a grant of land for Jewish settlement in El Arisch district, between Egypt and the Holy Land, the Jewish Chronicle says. The territory between these two points includes the Pelusium plain, which at one time was extremely fertile and the original habitat of the Hittites.
A tentative offer was made to the Egyptian government of a tract of land situated within an isosceles triangle, one side extending from the east of the Suez canal to Akabah, the other going from west of Gaza to Akabah, the coast forming the base. It was rejected.
Now once again Jewish eyes have been turned to this district. The plan offered by the General Jewish Colonization Organization is far less ambitious than that which animated the Zionist leader. Instead of attempting to colonize the large territory which Herzel had in view attention has been concentrated upon Rapha, which is situated near to Gaza.
Scientific Religion
Anything that can be studied at all can be studied scientifically, and there is no reason for trying to take it up in any other way. The moral conduct of men and the ideals inspiring it — i.e., religion — should be taken up in this way.
Another attempt will be made to establish a colony of Jews near the Holy Land. In 1903 the late Dr. Herzel, after having failed to obtain any satisfactory concession from the sultan of Turkey in respect to Zionist effort in Palestine, approached the Egyptian government with the object of getting a grant of land for Jewish settlement in El Arisch district, between Egypt and the Holy Land, the Jewish Chronicle says. The territory between these two points includes the Pelusium plain, which at one time was extremely fertile and the original habitat of the Hittites.
A tentative offer was made to the Egyptian government of a tract of land situated within an isosceles triangle, one side extending from the east of the Suez canal to Akabah, the other going from west of Gaza to Akabah, the coast forming the base. It was rejected.
Now once again Jewish eyes have been turned to this district. The plan offered by the General Jewish Colonization Organization is far less ambitious than that which animated the Zionist leader. Instead of attempting to colonize the large territory which Herzel had in view attention has been concentrated upon Rapha, which is situated near to Gaza.
Scientific Religion
Anything that can be studied at all can be studied scientifically, and there is no reason for trying to take it up in any other way. The moral conduct of men and the ideals inspiring it — i.e., religion — should be taken up in this way.
Josiah's Devotion to God
1911
Sunday School Lesson
LESSON TEXT — 2 Chronicles 34:1-13
TIME — Josiah began to reign B. C. 638. He reigned 31 years.
PLACE—Judah and Jerusalem. But his reforms extended over a considerable part of the territory of the Northern Kingdom which had become extinct in 722-718, 80 years before Josiah came to the throne.
Josiah was the grandson of Manasseh. He was born at Jerusalem, B. C. 646. His father was Amon, who reigned but two years, when he was murdered by his courtiers in his own palace. The people rose against the conspirators and made his eight-year-old son king in his place. Josiah's mother was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah. They belonged in Boscath, a town near Lachish in southwestern Judah, in the plains toward the Mediterranean sea. While King Amon was an idolater, and his court was corrupt, it is possible that Josiah's mother kept the true faith.
He began to reign when he was eight years old. Like his grandfather, Manasseh, he must for several years have been guided, and his kingdom controlled by his mother or by prime ministers. The worshipers of Jehovah must have been in control at the palace, the wise and religious teachers of the true God and the true religion. So that for the first sixteen years of his life the young Josiah must have been under good influences, while he also would know of his father's tragic death, and his grandfather's sins, sufferings, and repentance. And his ancestor, David, was ever before him as his ideal, his hero, his saint.
About the time when Josiah was twenty years old, and in the twelfth year of his reign, when he had begun his reforms, there came an invading host from the far east like a cyclone, an overwhelming scourge. Jeremiah foretells them in vivid pictures. But Herodotus tells us who they were, the Scythians "from the regions over Caucasus, vast nameless hordes of men who sweeping past Assyria, unchecked, poured upon Palestine. We can realize the event from our knowledge of the Mongol and Tartar invasions which in later centuries pursued the same path southwards. Living in the saddle, with no infantry nor chariots to delay them, these Centaurs swept on with a speed of invasion hitherto unknown. In 630 they had crossed the Caucasus, by 626 they were on the borders of Egypt.
The prophet, Jeremiah, describes in picturesque terms this invasion. "The lion is come up from his thicket;" "The destroyer of nations is on his way;" "Behold he cometh as clouds, and his chariot shall be as the whirlwind;" "Their quiver is an open sepulcher, they are all mighty men;" "They are cruel and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men of war against thee."
It is easy to see how this terrible invader, coming so near, just as Josiah was beginning his reforms, must have interfered with his plans.
Josiah began his reformation in his twelfth year, but the invasion of the Scythians soon after this beginning interfered with the work. The savage and cruel host came close to Judah's borders. Scattered bands may have entered the kingdom. Terror reigned. Defenses must be strengthened. Outsiders rushed to Jerusalem and the fortified cities. How far the reformations had progressed we do not know. But the chronicler having recorded the beginning simply goes on with the story, as is frequently done by historians.
The restoration of the Temple was entrusted to a committee of three — Shapan, the secretary of state; and Maaseiah, the governor of the city, the mayor of Jerusalem; and Joah the recorder, the keeper of the records, the historian. The temple built by Solomon, was completed 330 years before. It was repaired by Joash 240 years before Josiah began his restoration. The ravages of time, with neglect and abuse during the sway of idolatry must have rendered it sadly in need of repair. It was during these repairs that the Book of Law was found.
The work interrupted by the Scythian hordes is now resumed with greatly increased intensity and enthusiasm, through the new consecration of king and people, due to the finding of the Book of the Law.
The first condition of salvation for individuals or nations is the putting away of sin at any cost. The second is the building up of the good. He that confesseth and forsaketh shall find mercy.
One of the greatest revivals of religion ever known was begun in meetings where the pastor called upon his church members on a fast day to confess and forsake their sins. "How many of you," he asked, "have neglected your family prayers?" Several arose and one was called upon to pray. "How many of you have been speaking evil of others?" Several arose. One led in prayer for all. And so through the list.
There has been a remarkable revival in the territory made famous in the Japanese-Russian war. The movement began in Llaoyang, spread at once to Mukden, and, soon after, to Haicheng, Fakumen, Newchwang, and numberless towns and villages and hamlets of less fame. A mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit came to the Christians. Immediately after the opening of the meetings, and his power became manifested at once in heart-breaking confession of sin; then in outbursts of prayer, both petition and intercession, in great Joy, and, finally, in thank-offerings to God of money and of service. It was a case of complete surrender to God.
Sunday School Lesson
LESSON TEXT — 2 Chronicles 34:1-13
TIME — Josiah began to reign B. C. 638. He reigned 31 years.
PLACE—Judah and Jerusalem. But his reforms extended over a considerable part of the territory of the Northern Kingdom which had become extinct in 722-718, 80 years before Josiah came to the throne.
Josiah was the grandson of Manasseh. He was born at Jerusalem, B. C. 646. His father was Amon, who reigned but two years, when he was murdered by his courtiers in his own palace. The people rose against the conspirators and made his eight-year-old son king in his place. Josiah's mother was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah. They belonged in Boscath, a town near Lachish in southwestern Judah, in the plains toward the Mediterranean sea. While King Amon was an idolater, and his court was corrupt, it is possible that Josiah's mother kept the true faith.
He began to reign when he was eight years old. Like his grandfather, Manasseh, he must for several years have been guided, and his kingdom controlled by his mother or by prime ministers. The worshipers of Jehovah must have been in control at the palace, the wise and religious teachers of the true God and the true religion. So that for the first sixteen years of his life the young Josiah must have been under good influences, while he also would know of his father's tragic death, and his grandfather's sins, sufferings, and repentance. And his ancestor, David, was ever before him as his ideal, his hero, his saint.
About the time when Josiah was twenty years old, and in the twelfth year of his reign, when he had begun his reforms, there came an invading host from the far east like a cyclone, an overwhelming scourge. Jeremiah foretells them in vivid pictures. But Herodotus tells us who they were, the Scythians "from the regions over Caucasus, vast nameless hordes of men who sweeping past Assyria, unchecked, poured upon Palestine. We can realize the event from our knowledge of the Mongol and Tartar invasions which in later centuries pursued the same path southwards. Living in the saddle, with no infantry nor chariots to delay them, these Centaurs swept on with a speed of invasion hitherto unknown. In 630 they had crossed the Caucasus, by 626 they were on the borders of Egypt.
The prophet, Jeremiah, describes in picturesque terms this invasion. "The lion is come up from his thicket;" "The destroyer of nations is on his way;" "Behold he cometh as clouds, and his chariot shall be as the whirlwind;" "Their quiver is an open sepulcher, they are all mighty men;" "They are cruel and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men of war against thee."
It is easy to see how this terrible invader, coming so near, just as Josiah was beginning his reforms, must have interfered with his plans.
Josiah began his reformation in his twelfth year, but the invasion of the Scythians soon after this beginning interfered with the work. The savage and cruel host came close to Judah's borders. Scattered bands may have entered the kingdom. Terror reigned. Defenses must be strengthened. Outsiders rushed to Jerusalem and the fortified cities. How far the reformations had progressed we do not know. But the chronicler having recorded the beginning simply goes on with the story, as is frequently done by historians.
The restoration of the Temple was entrusted to a committee of three — Shapan, the secretary of state; and Maaseiah, the governor of the city, the mayor of Jerusalem; and Joah the recorder, the keeper of the records, the historian. The temple built by Solomon, was completed 330 years before. It was repaired by Joash 240 years before Josiah began his restoration. The ravages of time, with neglect and abuse during the sway of idolatry must have rendered it sadly in need of repair. It was during these repairs that the Book of Law was found.
The work interrupted by the Scythian hordes is now resumed with greatly increased intensity and enthusiasm, through the new consecration of king and people, due to the finding of the Book of the Law.
The first condition of salvation for individuals or nations is the putting away of sin at any cost. The second is the building up of the good. He that confesseth and forsaketh shall find mercy.
One of the greatest revivals of religion ever known was begun in meetings where the pastor called upon his church members on a fast day to confess and forsake their sins. "How many of you," he asked, "have neglected your family prayers?" Several arose and one was called upon to pray. "How many of you have been speaking evil of others?" Several arose. One led in prayer for all. And so through the list.
There has been a remarkable revival in the territory made famous in the Japanese-Russian war. The movement began in Llaoyang, spread at once to Mukden, and, soon after, to Haicheng, Fakumen, Newchwang, and numberless towns and villages and hamlets of less fame. A mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit came to the Christians. Immediately after the opening of the meetings, and his power became manifested at once in heart-breaking confession of sin; then in outbursts of prayer, both petition and intercession, in great Joy, and, finally, in thank-offerings to God of money and of service. It was a case of complete surrender to God.
Types of the Christian Life
1911
By Dr. Hugh T. Kerr, Chicago
TEXT — Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. — John 11:5.
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Jesus loved them all. Yet he loved each of them. Martha and Mary and Lazarus. Each of them has a place in his heart. Yet they are so different. Jesus does not ask for monotony, but variety in his kingdom. The kingdom of grace is like the kingdom of nature. No two varieties are alike. In my Father's house are many mansions. One family, but many members. One home, but many hearts.
That was the revelation of God's character in the Old Testament. He was the father of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob. How different they were. Abraham — the faithful, the consecrated, the pathfinder. Isaac — the lackadaisical, the indifferent, the father of an illustrious son, the son of an illustrious father. Jacob — the Jew — crafty and cunning, yet tender-hearted and visionary, and God was the father of each and yet loved them all.
The fault with us is we want religion to level human nature at a dead uniformity, and we think Christians should all be conformed to our type, forgetting that Christ is the universal type — so universal that we may all be unlike each other and yet all be like him. It is the fault that belongs to our education. We grind all our children through the same mill. Black and white, delicate and robust, brilliant and dunderhead, they must all submit to the same polishing process.
It is the fault of our church system, also. We want to level down the whole congregation to our own miserable level. We think Christ has conceived in us the true conception of the saint. There is the Sunday school type and the Christian Endeavor type and the prayer meeting type. There is the elder type and the trustee type. The W. C. T. U. type and the Y. M. C. A. type. The temperance type and the missionary type. There is the Presbyterian and the Methodist and the Baptist type. The Mary and the Martha and the Lazarus type. But the love of God is broader than the measure of man's mind, and all may be included in his all embracing love.
Let us remember that Jesus loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus. Mary the passive, Martha the active, and Lazarus the patient. Mary — satisfied to be. Martha — to do. Lazarus — to do without. Mary — the waiter. Martha — the worker. Lazarus — the watcher. Mary content to sit. Martha content to serve. Lazarus content to suffer. And Jesus loved each and he loved all.
Jesus loved Martha. That is what the record says. The active, busy serving Christian Martha. She is in the majority today and is greatly in demand. Sometimes she is apt to think she is the only one whom the Lord loves. She has much Scripture to quote in favor of her disposition and she has the authority of great men who favor the strenuous life. What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction. "Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only."
Martha is everywhere respected and honored today because she does things. She is the Sunday school, the prayer meeting, the church services, the missionary society, the ladies' aid. She is cooking, praying, sewing, visiting, collecting for the kingdom of God, until when night comes she falls asleep too tired to say her prayers. And Jesus loved Martha. And we must love her too. A religion that finds its joy in service and in consecrated activity is apt to be a moral power. A religion that finds God nearer in moments of sentiment or musical ecstasy, instead of in moments of moral endeavor, is extremely dangerous. Jesus loved Martha.
Jesus loved Mary. Mary — the quiet, retiring sister who sat at his feet. Mary's claim to recognition came from being willing to wait upon his words. She is like the beautiful picture through which you look into the great far beyond. She is like whispering music singing comfort into troubled hearts.
In a world of sin and turmoil Mary sat in the confidence of a beautiful trust. She was like another beautiful girl upon whose tombstone her friends carved the words: "It was easier to be good when she was with us." That was Mary's tribute. "What interests the world in Mr. Gladstone," writes John Morley, "is even more what he was than what he did." What interests the world in Jesus is not so much his beautiful teaching as his more beautiful life.
It was a hard lesson for Elijah to learn. He was the child of the storm and the tempest. He lived in reformations and revolutions. "Behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and brake in pieces the rocks before Jehovah."
My dear friends, let us not take away from the boundless power the love of God. He loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus. All with their differences. And they all loved him. Mary sits at his feet. Martha hurries to supply his wants. And Lazarus is content to glorify him with his radiant resurrection glory. With all our differences and misunderstandings and selfishness we love him and each in turn is loved by him.
By Dr. Hugh T. Kerr, Chicago
TEXT — Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. — John 11:5.
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Jesus loved them all. Yet he loved each of them. Martha and Mary and Lazarus. Each of them has a place in his heart. Yet they are so different. Jesus does not ask for monotony, but variety in his kingdom. The kingdom of grace is like the kingdom of nature. No two varieties are alike. In my Father's house are many mansions. One family, but many members. One home, but many hearts.
That was the revelation of God's character in the Old Testament. He was the father of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob. How different they were. Abraham — the faithful, the consecrated, the pathfinder. Isaac — the lackadaisical, the indifferent, the father of an illustrious son, the son of an illustrious father. Jacob — the Jew — crafty and cunning, yet tender-hearted and visionary, and God was the father of each and yet loved them all.
The fault with us is we want religion to level human nature at a dead uniformity, and we think Christians should all be conformed to our type, forgetting that Christ is the universal type — so universal that we may all be unlike each other and yet all be like him. It is the fault that belongs to our education. We grind all our children through the same mill. Black and white, delicate and robust, brilliant and dunderhead, they must all submit to the same polishing process.
It is the fault of our church system, also. We want to level down the whole congregation to our own miserable level. We think Christ has conceived in us the true conception of the saint. There is the Sunday school type and the Christian Endeavor type and the prayer meeting type. There is the elder type and the trustee type. The W. C. T. U. type and the Y. M. C. A. type. The temperance type and the missionary type. There is the Presbyterian and the Methodist and the Baptist type. The Mary and the Martha and the Lazarus type. But the love of God is broader than the measure of man's mind, and all may be included in his all embracing love.
Let us remember that Jesus loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus. Mary the passive, Martha the active, and Lazarus the patient. Mary — satisfied to be. Martha — to do. Lazarus — to do without. Mary — the waiter. Martha — the worker. Lazarus — the watcher. Mary content to sit. Martha content to serve. Lazarus content to suffer. And Jesus loved each and he loved all.
Jesus loved Martha. That is what the record says. The active, busy serving Christian Martha. She is in the majority today and is greatly in demand. Sometimes she is apt to think she is the only one whom the Lord loves. She has much Scripture to quote in favor of her disposition and she has the authority of great men who favor the strenuous life. What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction. "Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only."
Martha is everywhere respected and honored today because she does things. She is the Sunday school, the prayer meeting, the church services, the missionary society, the ladies' aid. She is cooking, praying, sewing, visiting, collecting for the kingdom of God, until when night comes she falls asleep too tired to say her prayers. And Jesus loved Martha. And we must love her too. A religion that finds its joy in service and in consecrated activity is apt to be a moral power. A religion that finds God nearer in moments of sentiment or musical ecstasy, instead of in moments of moral endeavor, is extremely dangerous. Jesus loved Martha.
Jesus loved Mary. Mary — the quiet, retiring sister who sat at his feet. Mary's claim to recognition came from being willing to wait upon his words. She is like the beautiful picture through which you look into the great far beyond. She is like whispering music singing comfort into troubled hearts.
In a world of sin and turmoil Mary sat in the confidence of a beautiful trust. She was like another beautiful girl upon whose tombstone her friends carved the words: "It was easier to be good when she was with us." That was Mary's tribute. "What interests the world in Mr. Gladstone," writes John Morley, "is even more what he was than what he did." What interests the world in Jesus is not so much his beautiful teaching as his more beautiful life.
It was a hard lesson for Elijah to learn. He was the child of the storm and the tempest. He lived in reformations and revolutions. "Behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and brake in pieces the rocks before Jehovah."
My dear friends, let us not take away from the boundless power the love of God. He loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus. All with their differences. And they all loved him. Mary sits at his feet. Martha hurries to supply his wants. And Lazarus is content to glorify him with his radiant resurrection glory. With all our differences and misunderstandings and selfishness we love him and each in turn is loved by him.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Minister Nears Century Mark
Indiana, 1906
Miami County Minister Will Be 100 Years Old April 1
Wabash, Indiana, Feb. 27 — The Rev. Samuel Murray, for fifty-three years a resident of Pipe Creek township, Miami county, will on April 1 round out one hundred years of life. He was born in Lancaster, Pa., moved to Ohio, and later to Indiana on the farm he has occupied since.
Of his sixteen children, twelve are living. Three of his sons, like himself, are ministers. His children are scattered over several states.
The Rev. Mr. Murray is a German Baptist and he retired from active ministerial work eight years ago. He expects to celebrate his centenary by preaching in an Indianapolis church, his birthday coming on Sunday. He is still vigorous, physically and mentally.
—Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN, Feb. 28, 1906, p. 4.
Miami County Minister Will Be 100 Years Old April 1
Wabash, Indiana, Feb. 27 — The Rev. Samuel Murray, for fifty-three years a resident of Pipe Creek township, Miami county, will on April 1 round out one hundred years of life. He was born in Lancaster, Pa., moved to Ohio, and later to Indiana on the farm he has occupied since.
Of his sixteen children, twelve are living. Three of his sons, like himself, are ministers. His children are scattered over several states.
The Rev. Mr. Murray is a German Baptist and he retired from active ministerial work eight years ago. He expects to celebrate his centenary by preaching in an Indianapolis church, his birthday coming on Sunday. He is still vigorous, physically and mentally.
—Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN, Feb. 28, 1906, p. 4.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Don't Be a Sloven
1910
No One Can Afford to Be Untidy
No man or woman is great enough to be slovenly.
I have known — and of course you have — many people who felt justified in developing their minds and ignoring their bodies, because they thought the mental was so much more important than the physical, a writer in the Colorado Springs Gazette says.
I think that is a very wrong outlook. No mental power, however great, exempts its possessor from the care of the person.
A brilliant, slovenly person may succeed in life, but only by using twice as much force as he need have expended. He will never go so far as the man or woman who takes care to add a prepossessing appearance to a prepossessing mind.
A few months ago I was much pleased to hear that a young minister for whose brilliance I had great respect had been honored by a call from a small town where he was preaching to one of Boston's most famous and beautiful churches.
Yesterday I was saddened by hearing that his resignation had been asked and given and that he had left the church and gone back to a small parish.
And the reason was simply this: He did not keep his linen clean.
A small thing, you say?
I don't know. A very large one, I should think, if it had the power to come between the congregation and his message.
A woman in our town whose slovenliness about her dress and her person has made her a town character took the civil-service examination recently. She is as clever as she is slovenly and passed at the head of the list. She has never received an appointment. It is an open secret that her failure to do so is simply because the officials will not have a person of her disgraceful appearance in a public position.
In the college from which I was graduated the commencement part is one of the prizes for which the best students strive. In awarding it last year a girl of the highest scholarship was passed over for one who had received less excellent rank because the first girl was nothing more nor less than "sloppy." The college was not willing that a girl of untidy appearance — no matter how brilliant her mind, no matter how clever a speech she might have made — should represent it on its commencement platform.
A shopkeeper might have an excellent stock of articles, but if his window show were thick with dust and his doorway choked with litter the public would be pretty apt to pass by and go to the more attractive shop down the street, though the articles sold there were no better or even scarce as good.
Any one who thinks the contents of his mind ought to make friends and win success for him, no matter how slovenly and unattractive his person may be, is just such a shopkeeper.
The examples I have cited have been extreme cases, of course. But on that account they are the better object lessons to remind any of us who may sometimes be careless in some slight particular that it never pays.
No One Can Afford to Be Untidy
No man or woman is great enough to be slovenly.
I have known — and of course you have — many people who felt justified in developing their minds and ignoring their bodies, because they thought the mental was so much more important than the physical, a writer in the Colorado Springs Gazette says.
I think that is a very wrong outlook. No mental power, however great, exempts its possessor from the care of the person.
A brilliant, slovenly person may succeed in life, but only by using twice as much force as he need have expended. He will never go so far as the man or woman who takes care to add a prepossessing appearance to a prepossessing mind.
A few months ago I was much pleased to hear that a young minister for whose brilliance I had great respect had been honored by a call from a small town where he was preaching to one of Boston's most famous and beautiful churches.
Yesterday I was saddened by hearing that his resignation had been asked and given and that he had left the church and gone back to a small parish.
And the reason was simply this: He did not keep his linen clean.
A small thing, you say?
I don't know. A very large one, I should think, if it had the power to come between the congregation and his message.
A woman in our town whose slovenliness about her dress and her person has made her a town character took the civil-service examination recently. She is as clever as she is slovenly and passed at the head of the list. She has never received an appointment. It is an open secret that her failure to do so is simply because the officials will not have a person of her disgraceful appearance in a public position.
In the college from which I was graduated the commencement part is one of the prizes for which the best students strive. In awarding it last year a girl of the highest scholarship was passed over for one who had received less excellent rank because the first girl was nothing more nor less than "sloppy." The college was not willing that a girl of untidy appearance — no matter how brilliant her mind, no matter how clever a speech she might have made — should represent it on its commencement platform.
A shopkeeper might have an excellent stock of articles, but if his window show were thick with dust and his doorway choked with litter the public would be pretty apt to pass by and go to the more attractive shop down the street, though the articles sold there were no better or even scarce as good.
Any one who thinks the contents of his mind ought to make friends and win success for him, no matter how slovenly and unattractive his person may be, is just such a shopkeeper.
The examples I have cited have been extreme cases, of course. But on that account they are the better object lessons to remind any of us who may sometimes be careless in some slight particular that it never pays.
"God Cares for the Cattle," Said Pastor Stevenson
New York, 1901
Condemned Cruelties to Animals Resulting from the Demands of Fashion
At the Park Central Presbyterian Church yesterday morning Rev. W. P. Stevenson preached on the topic, "God Cares for Cattle." The sermon appealed for mercy and kindness to animals.
Mr. Stevenson in his introduction told of Jonah's impatience because Nineveh was not destroyed. The Lord, however, told the prophet that he had not destroyed the city for the reason that there were thousands of souls in it, besides much cattle. In this manner the speaker showed that the Lord is mindful concerning even the animals.
Of the treatment of animals Mr. Stevenson spoke in no uncertain terms. He severely condemned high check reins, blinders and severe bits for horses. The wholesale destruction of birds for millinery purposes, the docking of horses and other cruelties practiced for the sake of fashion he censured because of the moral wrong.
The tendency in man is too much toward brutality and the needless destruction of life, the speaker said. He appealed to the persons present to be considerate and help the helpless. The golden rule, he said, applies to the brute creation, even as with man.
—The Post-Standard, Syracuse, New York, May 13, 1901, p. 7.
Condemned Cruelties to Animals Resulting from the Demands of Fashion
At the Park Central Presbyterian Church yesterday morning Rev. W. P. Stevenson preached on the topic, "God Cares for Cattle." The sermon appealed for mercy and kindness to animals.
Mr. Stevenson in his introduction told of Jonah's impatience because Nineveh was not destroyed. The Lord, however, told the prophet that he had not destroyed the city for the reason that there were thousands of souls in it, besides much cattle. In this manner the speaker showed that the Lord is mindful concerning even the animals.
Of the treatment of animals Mr. Stevenson spoke in no uncertain terms. He severely condemned high check reins, blinders and severe bits for horses. The wholesale destruction of birds for millinery purposes, the docking of horses and other cruelties practiced for the sake of fashion he censured because of the moral wrong.
The tendency in man is too much toward brutality and the needless destruction of life, the speaker said. He appealed to the persons present to be considerate and help the helpless. The golden rule, he said, applies to the brute creation, even as with man.
—The Post-Standard, Syracuse, New York, May 13, 1901, p. 7.
Pastor Pleaded for Dumb Animals
1901
Rev. Dr. Spalding, Who Preached First Sermon in America on This Theme, Urges Mercy to Beasts
Rev. Dr. George B. Spalding of the First Presbyterian Church yesterday morning preached a sermon on "Cruelty to Animals" in response to a request from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which asked the ministers of the city to preach upon the topic. The sermon, which was of especial interest, was heard by a large congregation.
Dr. Spalding said that religion, in the commandments and the beatitudes, takes in God and man and every living thing.
Dr. Spalding spoke in particular of the law of Sabbath rest in the Fourth Commandment, which he said was the most tenderly humane law of the decalogue, which God intended should apply not only to "every son and daughter of mankind aching, breaking under the strain of the ceaseless toil of the week; but more than this, rest for the cattle which share man's work and strain and suffering."
Turning from the decalogue of the Old Testament to the beatitudes of the New, Dr. Spalding said the same union of heavenly and earthly relations was to be found.
"The beatitude 'Blessed are the merciful,'" he said, "stands like a queen among the sisterhood of royal blessings. There is no humanity without such mercy; there is no religion without such mercy; there is no love to God without a love which takes on this mercy towards man and bird and beast." He then continued:
"I look back to-day on forty years of ministry. It is my satisfaction that I have ministered to many a human want and spoken in defense of many of my fellows' rights, and perhaps in some way have lessened 'man's inhumanity to man,' but I rejoice with a special joy that early in my ministry I preached a sermon on 'The Rights of Animals' which has been registered as the first sermon on the subject ever preached in America.
Tail Hocking and Pigeon Shooting
"But how much, how very much remains to be done before men and even women will be truly merciful. The very hardest task still remains to be accomplished — to win society, to win fashion to humanity and mercifulness. What shall we say when the slaughter of pigeons by the thousands and the slow dying of many of them with legs and wings shot away is still the spectacle of the meetings of the shooting clubs made up of wealthy and intelligent men of the State? What shall we say when the fashion of the day demands that the horses shall be maimed and tortured before they be counted fit for public display in the market and street?
"Oh, gentlemen, oh, tender women, how long shall the awful cruelty toward these your friends escape your better thought, your natural sensibility? There are those who mock at such sentiments as weak, as womanly. They would brush it all away by affirming that no great pain is really inflicted. I know of what I am speaking. With my own eyes I have witnessed the whole awful process of torture extending through days. I have seen the sweating agony which these noble creatures suffer to make them meet the style which a merciless fashion inexorably demands.
"Is sensitiveness to such distress a turn of flabby nerve? and moral cowardice? I take refuge from such a charge in the lives of the poet, the truth of which has been proved on battlefields and shell swept decks and in the face of death in its grimmest forms:
'The bravest are the tenderest —
The loving are the daring.'"
—The Post-Standard, Syracuse, New York, May 13, 1901, p. 7.
Rev. Dr. Spalding, Who Preached First Sermon in America on This Theme, Urges Mercy to Beasts
Rev. Dr. George B. Spalding of the First Presbyterian Church yesterday morning preached a sermon on "Cruelty to Animals" in response to a request from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which asked the ministers of the city to preach upon the topic. The sermon, which was of especial interest, was heard by a large congregation.
Dr. Spalding said that religion, in the commandments and the beatitudes, takes in God and man and every living thing.
Dr. Spalding spoke in particular of the law of Sabbath rest in the Fourth Commandment, which he said was the most tenderly humane law of the decalogue, which God intended should apply not only to "every son and daughter of mankind aching, breaking under the strain of the ceaseless toil of the week; but more than this, rest for the cattle which share man's work and strain and suffering."
Turning from the decalogue of the Old Testament to the beatitudes of the New, Dr. Spalding said the same union of heavenly and earthly relations was to be found.
"The beatitude 'Blessed are the merciful,'" he said, "stands like a queen among the sisterhood of royal blessings. There is no humanity without such mercy; there is no religion without such mercy; there is no love to God without a love which takes on this mercy towards man and bird and beast." He then continued:
"I look back to-day on forty years of ministry. It is my satisfaction that I have ministered to many a human want and spoken in defense of many of my fellows' rights, and perhaps in some way have lessened 'man's inhumanity to man,' but I rejoice with a special joy that early in my ministry I preached a sermon on 'The Rights of Animals' which has been registered as the first sermon on the subject ever preached in America.
Tail Hocking and Pigeon Shooting
"But how much, how very much remains to be done before men and even women will be truly merciful. The very hardest task still remains to be accomplished — to win society, to win fashion to humanity and mercifulness. What shall we say when the slaughter of pigeons by the thousands and the slow dying of many of them with legs and wings shot away is still the spectacle of the meetings of the shooting clubs made up of wealthy and intelligent men of the State? What shall we say when the fashion of the day demands that the horses shall be maimed and tortured before they be counted fit for public display in the market and street?
"Oh, gentlemen, oh, tender women, how long shall the awful cruelty toward these your friends escape your better thought, your natural sensibility? There are those who mock at such sentiments as weak, as womanly. They would brush it all away by affirming that no great pain is really inflicted. I know of what I am speaking. With my own eyes I have witnessed the whole awful process of torture extending through days. I have seen the sweating agony which these noble creatures suffer to make them meet the style which a merciless fashion inexorably demands.
"Is sensitiveness to such distress a turn of flabby nerve? and moral cowardice? I take refuge from such a charge in the lives of the poet, the truth of which has been proved on battlefields and shell swept decks and in the face of death in its grimmest forms:
'The bravest are the tenderest —
The loving are the daring.'"
—The Post-Standard, Syracuse, New York, May 13, 1901, p. 7.
Church-Going Dog Dies
Connecticut, 1905
"Gip" Williams, a church-going dog, died in Nontville, a Berkshire village, and his funeral was held, says a Winsted (Conn.) dispatch to the New York World. Many children followed the dog to its burial place.
Gip, who was owned by a family named Williams, for years had attended prayer meetings and all the entertainments in the village church.
After the family had gone to prayer meeting recently Charles Richardson, who lives with the Williamses, said to the dog, "Gip, you can't go to church to-night." The dog walked into the next room and went through the window, sash and all.
Arriving at the church, Gip pushed the swinging door open and took his accustomed seat with the congregation.
Leaves High Station to Help Poor
Monsignoro the Count Vay De Vaya, a Hungarian priest of noble birth, has come to the United States to look after the spiritual needs of his immigrant countrymen.
Reared amid the luxurious surroundings of the Austrian court and destined by his father, the lord chamberlain, for a diplomatic career, the count put aside secular ambition and determined to devote himself to work among the poor.
Though only in his thirty-sixth year, he has lived in almost every country in Asia and Africa and has visited Australia and all the greater islands of the Pacific, studying the needs of missionary work.
"Gip" Williams, a church-going dog, died in Nontville, a Berkshire village, and his funeral was held, says a Winsted (Conn.) dispatch to the New York World. Many children followed the dog to its burial place.
Gip, who was owned by a family named Williams, for years had attended prayer meetings and all the entertainments in the village church.
After the family had gone to prayer meeting recently Charles Richardson, who lives with the Williamses, said to the dog, "Gip, you can't go to church to-night." The dog walked into the next room and went through the window, sash and all.
Arriving at the church, Gip pushed the swinging door open and took his accustomed seat with the congregation.
Leaves High Station to Help Poor
Monsignoro the Count Vay De Vaya, a Hungarian priest of noble birth, has come to the United States to look after the spiritual needs of his immigrant countrymen.
Reared amid the luxurious surroundings of the Austrian court and destined by his father, the lord chamberlain, for a diplomatic career, the count put aside secular ambition and determined to devote himself to work among the poor.
Though only in his thirty-sixth year, he has lived in almost every country in Asia and Africa and has visited Australia and all the greater islands of the Pacific, studying the needs of missionary work.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Bananas – The Original Forbidden Fruit
1910
Curiosity of the Vegetable Kingdom So Considered by Many
The banana, which the late Sir Alfred Jones did so much to popularize in England, is believed by some people to be the original forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden.
In any case, it is one of the curiosities of the vegetable kingdom, being not a tree, a palm, a bush, a shrub, a vegetable or an herb, but a herbaceous plant with the status of a tree. Although it sometimes attains a height of 30 feet, there is no woody fiber in any part of its structure, and the bunches growing, on the dwarf banana plant are often heavier than the stalk which supports them.
No plant gives such a quantity of food to the acre as the banana; it wields 44 times more by weight than the potato and 133 times more than wheat. Moreover, no insect will attack it, and it is always immune from disease of any kind. Altogether, it is a highly favored plant, and likely to become even more popular in this country than it is at the present time.
Curiosity of the Vegetable Kingdom So Considered by Many
The banana, which the late Sir Alfred Jones did so much to popularize in England, is believed by some people to be the original forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden.
In any case, it is one of the curiosities of the vegetable kingdom, being not a tree, a palm, a bush, a shrub, a vegetable or an herb, but a herbaceous plant with the status of a tree. Although it sometimes attains a height of 30 feet, there is no woody fiber in any part of its structure, and the bunches growing, on the dwarf banana plant are often heavier than the stalk which supports them.
No plant gives such a quantity of food to the acre as the banana; it wields 44 times more by weight than the potato and 133 times more than wheat. Moreover, no insect will attack it, and it is always immune from disease of any kind. Altogether, it is a highly favored plant, and likely to become even more popular in this country than it is at the present time.
General Grant's Religion
1885
Religion in the time of Grant has ceased to be a subject of difference. In his dying hours he said that he was glad to receive messages of cheer from persons of every religion and from those without any religion. Here is, perhaps, the greatest recognition from one in authority yet made on the quality of those without religious profession. Grant made it in the face of death, and how singularly clear his mind must have been of superstition is realized in that congratulation.
Every day was expected to be his last, and, having his hard back to the world, the man of faith said: "Thank you, who believe in all your different sects, for kindness to me, and my blessing on you, too, who have never thought on these subjects."
From the most radical type of Catholic to the most ancient type of Jewish Rabbi; from the Chinaman who washes clothes in the name of Confucius and takes note of every day's duties to the most sneering skeptic out of the German laboratory, the realm of toleration has grown through Grant more than through any preachers, priests or pontiffs.
He went abroad and saw how every body worshiped, looked into their temples and tied the world together with the chains of his observation and good will. — Gath's Sunday letter.
Religion in the time of Grant has ceased to be a subject of difference. In his dying hours he said that he was glad to receive messages of cheer from persons of every religion and from those without any religion. Here is, perhaps, the greatest recognition from one in authority yet made on the quality of those without religious profession. Grant made it in the face of death, and how singularly clear his mind must have been of superstition is realized in that congratulation.
Every day was expected to be his last, and, having his hard back to the world, the man of faith said: "Thank you, who believe in all your different sects, for kindness to me, and my blessing on you, too, who have never thought on these subjects."
From the most radical type of Catholic to the most ancient type of Jewish Rabbi; from the Chinaman who washes clothes in the name of Confucius and takes note of every day's duties to the most sneering skeptic out of the German laboratory, the realm of toleration has grown through Grant more than through any preachers, priests or pontiffs.
He went abroad and saw how every body worshiped, looked into their temples and tied the world together with the chains of his observation and good will. — Gath's Sunday letter.
Country Morals Vary But Little With City Standard
1910
By Rev. Eliot White
The question whether moral standards are the same in city as in country probably cannot be answered alike for every comparison of urban with suburban. Some cities are notably narrow and backward, like overgrown villages, while some country places have so much civic sense and alert pride that they rank high in what we might call moral incubation, being true hatching places of better social ideals and keener ethical perceptions.
At the same time several elements in the comparison make it in the large possible to contrast city and country morals. For example, the power of neighbor opinion is considerably less in the city than in the country. By this I mean that dwelling near another person in the city does not mean necessarily acquaintance with or notice of him; whereas in the country, neighbor censors neighbor, often than not gossips about him or her and therefore exercises a certain degree of restraint upon him. Much of the laborious and often petty casuistry that harasses the typical country place and that the city dweller finds intolerable, is due to this.
Religious intolerance, with its magnifying of theological trifles, for the same reason flourishes in the country, while the city forges ahead and away from it like an express train from a stage coach. People have other and healthier occupations for thought.
At the same time the city independence has its faults. Isolation is a terrible strain for the young man or woman. The country may mean gossip, but it means united support and "company" as well, and to be transplanted from such rootage to the lonely places of the great city involves some of the severest temptations to which a character can be subjected.
The moral standards probably in themselves vary little between city and country, much as they may differ in application in the two places.
Franker instruction by parents end schools on physical matters should help boys and girls "find out things" in wholesome fashion, instead of through whisper. Festivals, open-air dances and romps are needed to feed the hunger for companionship, color and joy. More freedom under wise supervision for the children and youth of both sexes together has promise of nobler development and moral standard for both city and country of which we can all as Americans be proud.
By Rev. Eliot White
The question whether moral standards are the same in city as in country probably cannot be answered alike for every comparison of urban with suburban. Some cities are notably narrow and backward, like overgrown villages, while some country places have so much civic sense and alert pride that they rank high in what we might call moral incubation, being true hatching places of better social ideals and keener ethical perceptions.
At the same time several elements in the comparison make it in the large possible to contrast city and country morals. For example, the power of neighbor opinion is considerably less in the city than in the country. By this I mean that dwelling near another person in the city does not mean necessarily acquaintance with or notice of him; whereas in the country, neighbor censors neighbor, often than not gossips about him or her and therefore exercises a certain degree of restraint upon him. Much of the laborious and often petty casuistry that harasses the typical country place and that the city dweller finds intolerable, is due to this.
Religious intolerance, with its magnifying of theological trifles, for the same reason flourishes in the country, while the city forges ahead and away from it like an express train from a stage coach. People have other and healthier occupations for thought.
At the same time the city independence has its faults. Isolation is a terrible strain for the young man or woman. The country may mean gossip, but it means united support and "company" as well, and to be transplanted from such rootage to the lonely places of the great city involves some of the severest temptations to which a character can be subjected.
The moral standards probably in themselves vary little between city and country, much as they may differ in application in the two places.
Franker instruction by parents end schools on physical matters should help boys and girls "find out things" in wholesome fashion, instead of through whisper. Festivals, open-air dances and romps are needed to feed the hunger for companionship, color and joy. More freedom under wise supervision for the children and youth of both sexes together has promise of nobler development and moral standard for both city and country of which we can all as Americans be proud.
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