The First Submarine (Jonah Had No Periscope)

1917

The first submarine of which we have any record was invented by God, and the first passenger to travel in it was his disobedient prophet, Jonah. This submarine was created and on hand at the moment of Jonah's greatest need. God's providence was over him even in his sin, and God would not let him perish until after he had had time for serious reflection. In this submarine Jonah was the only human passenger, and he had no periscope to show him what was going on outside and to distract his mind. Those few days of undisturbed communion with God, while it did not broaden Jonah into a prophet with a world vision, did lead him to decide to obey Jehovah, and through his obedience to save his own life for worthy service for God. This decision being made, Jonah was carried, free of charge, in God's submarine, and landed at a point nearest to Nineveh, where he was able to do the greatest work of his life. — Watchman-Examiner.


Shallow Waters and Deep

I remember walking across the intervening mile between Loch Lomond and Loch Long. Loch Lomond is an inland lake, and when I left it its waters were disquieted and boisterous, lashing the shores with angry waves. Loch Long is an arm of the sea, and its waters were perfectly calm, and I could look through its lucid depths and see the seaweed rooted on the rocks beneath. And the life of the soul, when it is like a small, measurable lake, is easily disquieted, and little disturbances toss it into convulsions. But when the soul knows God, when it recognizes its vast relationships, when it feels the tidal flow of the infinite within the waters of the breast, it has the secret of a great calm, and the little things leave it undisturbed. When the soul knows God it can be still. — Rev. J. H. Jowett in The Christian Herald.


"The bird that sings in winter is dreaming of the orange grove, and the land of sunshine, and of flowers. We learn to sing in our winter of trial as we dream of Canaan, the Lord's land."