The farmer and mechanic. [volume], April 13, 1915, Page 3, Image 3

About The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??

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3
"Ip Ho The "ifl
i RELIGIOUS WORLD 7
I !
y v vJ
- v j
)' i
THAT SETS
SINGING.
SPIRITS
"lb
International Sunday School Les-
l or April 18 Is "The Shepherd
l'. llin."-l,sjnm 23.
WILLIAM
T
ELLIS.
London I
! i r"C
, i.rint shop in London I once
.)( i photograph ofa remarkable
:.J called "The Good Shepherd,"
! have never been able to learn
in ' about the original. The pic-
-hws a steep hillside, covered
arid briars. One whose ra-
i.rnu nrociaims mm me uouu
v.r.i is clamoring toilsomely
.'to where a lamb is caught amid
horns. The sun is setting; the
v.,.n will be gone. In the sky
j ;,n eatrle: and the beholder
ives that if the Good Shepherd
.. . . i a
n, , ,t get tne lamo me uiru oi yiey
More of Scripture teaching is
ht into the painting than one
in anv other treatment of the
theme.
.. ureal teaching which repre
s man :us a straying sheep, and
;,.,! the Shepherd of souls, is
fn ii ! in two great picture passages
it: th I'.ihle. one in the Old and one
in th" New Testament. The old
writers, who took more time for care
( :! study of the Bible itself than we
lay. were fond of pointing out
trail el ism.
:btless the most popular piece
i attire in all human speecn is
ri' ient hym of trust, which
:. v to thrill forth naturally from
-wft thite of the shepherd boy
oti the hills of Bethlehem. Yet
th
It!"
I"
wi
wn
Oh, foolish SOUls! corn.
My'sheep should never fPar vr-
I am the Shenherd tmo
The Iroraise of P
ro vision.
have cast all thy
of the sea."
sins in the depths
The feet that are lifted up after
stumbling are guided. God ladp
We
b-
t'
t'
ill
ih on fields, it bears the profound
C"-ni -tions of a man who has suffered
ply. and having, drunk life to the
dn is returns to the childlike faith of
hi boyhood. The poem sounds the
ir.hersal note:
.biY;th is my shepherd; I shall not
want,
H" fnaketh me to lie down in green
pastures;
He Uiideth tne beside still waters.
Ho restoreth my soul:
eousness for His name's sake.
a. though I walk through the val
1 of the shadow of death.
1 a ill fear no evil; for Thou art with
me;
Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort
me.
Tho i ireparest a table before me in
the presence of mine enemies:
Thou hast anointed my head with
oil;
My onp runneth over.
St:r!y goodness and lovintr-kindness
shall follow me all the days of
my life; ,
And I shall dwell In the house of
Jehovah for ever."
The Common Need,
v.'hen the old prophet wrote "all
like sheep have gone astray" he
lou-rd no new sentiment. Every man
at ill aware of himself knows his
own sheep quality. His proneness to
' follow a multitude to do evil:" his
tendency to lag from tested leader
chip; his aptness for folly; his weak
ness and defencelessness, all are
borne in upon the introspective man.
In his sincerest hours he is surest of
hi rieed for shepherding.
This deep human sense of depend
ence breathes from the oldest litera
ture. The comfort of the Scriptures
consists in such teachings as "My
times are in His hands"; "Casting all
ur rare unon Him for He careth for
';"i"; "God is our refuge and strength
w-y present help in trouble."
VYe want n. shnhprd for our souls.
never get beyond the need for
otnfort of God's tender, patient
Some one who is wiser than
;iro, and stronger and sufficient
"ur spirits' needs, is the hunger
ill hearts. Such simple songs as
stir us, when the grand epics
us unmoved.
" is wandering sad and wreary
i)"n my Saviour came to me;
'ho ways of sin grew dreary
'! the world has ceased to woo
me;
I 1 thonrrh 1 hoard Tlim S,1V.
Nh came along His way,
foolish souls! come near Me:
heep should never fear Me;
m the Shepherd true.'
W.
the
c-tr.-V
for
HC-
I
Oh
It.
At,.
A-
'nh
My
I
St I stopped to listen;
voice could not deceive me'
v.- His kind eye glisten.
anxious to relieve me;
1 thought I heard Him say.
went along His waj.
lying souls! come near me.
dieep should never fear Me.
am the Shepherd true.
une is in a croodlv ffii
ne ieeas nis smnt oron navinv. t: v,
oiu rsaim, ior millions of devout
nwuia uirougn tnousands of years have
uone so Jewish patriots in exile
f V ri ion -v- r . . -. , .
tient sufferers on beds of pain; hosts
Of the DOOr. knowiti ir not vuViorn tKax-
would get their next meal- 51 n d m nrt
ern business men in a perplexity
which the ancients srarrpiv VTio-r
Nobody is too high or too low for the
comfort of this Psalm. Tt is lttY-
medicine for the soul-carking disease
of civilization than anything the doc
tors can prescribe.
Take the little Psalm apart, and
note its promises. Above and under
all is the presence and power and
provision and protection of the Good
Shepherd, who is God over all, bless
ed forever.
No comfort counts that is not bed
rocked on God. Much of our modern
jejune optimism fails in life's real
crises because it leaves God out.
Reams of modern poems and epi
grams and philosophy to the contrary
not withstanding, man is not self-sufficient.
He craves and must have a
power outside of himself to help him
become his best possible self. A shep
herd God is the soul's surest solace.
"Green pastures" are promised in
the Psalm. That figure is easier for
us to imagine tnan for the oriental
shepherd. Sparse and dry picking is
the food of most of the sheep of Bible
lands. I have wondered how those in
Arabia manage to exist at all. When
the figure is applied we must admit
that God's people, however unworthy,
have had the best provision in the
world.
Christians own most of the earth.
They possess the bulk of the wealth,
they live in the best cities, and in the
best homes; they have the greatest
number of luxuries, and the most
stable order of life. Their safety and
health are far above that of non-
Christian peoples. In the large, this
promise has been fulfilled for God's
people. The misery of our modern
life is only comparative. Civilization
has nothing to compare with the pov
erty of Arabia, for instance.
Not only may God's sheep lie down
serene and in safety in green pas
tures, but they are also led beside
still waters, or as the Hebrew beauti
fully puts it, "waters of rest." Satis
faction for soul-thirst is a boon God
reserves for His beloved. "All my
springs are in Thee," cries the devout
soul. God Himself is the refreshment
of His sheep. The world's spiritual
Questing, never more intense than
today, fulfills itself only in God.
After a Downfall.
Critical reading often discerns in
literature the personal experiences of
the author. Back of the single line,
"He restoreth my soul" we may read
the word "Bathsheba." Out of the
bitterness of a terrible sin that was
yet forgiven, the psalmist wrote this
tremendous truth. Here is the beacon
of hope that flames from the cross of
God's love. "Let the wicked forsake
his way, and the unrighteous man his
thoughts; and let him return unto Je
hovah, and He will have mercy upon
him; and to our God, for He will
abundantly pardon." God Is great in
mercy. He has a plan for forgiving
sins. No message is needed by this
stumbling, sinning world more deeply
than this.
Dan Crawford, of Africa, one day
drew out of his wallet and read to me,
in that rich voice of his, these lines
by an Irish factory girl:
"I wilPcast in the depths of the fath
omless sea,
All thy sins and transgressions, what
ever they be;
Though they mount up to heaven,
though they sink down to hell.
They shall sink in the depths and
above them shall swell
All my waves of forgiveness, so
mighty and free.
I will cast all thy sins in the depths
of the sea.
"In the depths, in the depths, where
the storm cannot come.
Where its faint echo falls, like a
musical hum.
Where no mortal can enter, thy faults
to deride.
For above them forever flows love s
mighty tide
Of their sepulchres vast, I thy God,
hold the key.
I bury them there, in the depths
of the sea
those He loves in a plain path,
do not have to irron or bbinder
ward righteousness: we are eiven
Shepherd s guidance.
The Club With a Knob.
From a shepherd boy in Gable one
morning I bought his rod the same
Sort of rod that is earrif-d r.ftpnfr lv
far than a crook, by all shepherds in
the East.and has been from earliest
times. Probably the rod of Moses
was like it. At one end of the stout
stick is a heavy knob, cut from the
root of a sapling. The shepherd's
rod is a bludgeon. There is a deal of
"comfort" in it. in a land of danger
and violence. Now
may have slain the
There is safety
Good Shepherd.
we see how David
lion and the tear.
for the sheep of the
The Bible frankly
Sabbath was made for man. Jtnd not
man for the Sabbath," of course,
thai is a misuse of noble words.
Clearly, the Sabbath is made for
man's highest us, and not for hi.
lowest: for his b :t and not his worst.
The M 'str meant this day to minis
ter to th- diviner nature of mun. So
Christ Himself used it for deeds of
helpfulness, for worship and for rest.
To attempt to justify th perversion
of the Sabbath into a mer- play-day
by the words of Jesus is to wrest
Scripture from its clear and obiou
i mean inc.
The physician, the economist, and
the political scientist add their vuc-
to the preacher's in preclaimit.,; the
henwieent place and purposes of n:i
day of rest in seven. The bow that
is never unbent loses its power. The
recognizes the fact of enemies. It
pictures God as a protector as well as
a provider. His presences drives out
fear even when we walk through th.
valley of the deep darkness. How
many death-beds havee choed in
these words of David the supreme
comfort, "Thou art with me." Even
the last great enemy loses his terrors
when the Shepherd accompanies the
sheep.
The Overflowing Cup.
Metaphors are mixed as the great
song draws to its close. This is lit
erature beyond the rules of rhetori
cians. A master song, it breaks the
restraints of literary form, that its
spirit may be free. Heretofore the
figure of the sheep has been preserv
ed: now there is a table spread, a
head anointed, a cup overflowing. No
one metaphor is great enough to ex
press the completeness and exhuber
ance of the care of the Good Shep
herd for the least of His own.
So the cup of praise overflows, even
as does the cup of providence. The
psalm ends, in a pean of exultation,
like the closing crash of all the in
struments of an ochestra.
surely goodness ana loving-Kmuness
shall follow me all the days of
my life:
And I shall dwell in the house of
Jehovah forever.' "
field
bears
from
turns
Thr
occasioiKiiiy
b.
fallow
t hat
best. The life that turns au!
the day's duties regularly re
to them with renewed vior.
life that looks up rise. Th
ui man
ted to :
requires one
contenipla-
that belon.c to
1:
the
riek
a vines
Saun-
and wife keep
MAKING
PROVISION
BEST.
FOK Till
Terse Comments on the Uniform
Prayer Meeting Topic of the Young
People's Societies -Christian En
deavor, etc. For April 18: "One
Day in Seven for the Highest
Things." Ezek. 20:1-20.
And
(By William T. Ellis.)
When we tarry for serious thought,
amid the feverish rush of our days,
we know that the most important of
all concerns is the welfare of our
spirits. Spiritual values are highest.
In this mood we glimpse the divine
economy of the Sabbath. It is the
day dedicated to God and the higher
life. All its observances bid us think
upon eternal things. Lifting us above
the fog of every day's material cares
and anxieties the Sabbath opens a
vista of the heights and the heaven
lies. Life must be mean and sordid
and burdensome to us if we deprive
it of its Sabbath outlook and uplook.
"A Sabbath well spent, brings a
week of content."
Such is the witchery of words that
a single phrase may illuminate a vast
theme. In two words Charles Lamb
throws a shaft of light on two worlds:
"Sabbathless Satan!" God has ordain
ed a Sabbath, because God's other
name is love. But Satan, whose name
is synonymous with hate and hurt, is
Sabbathless.
Yea, child of suffering, thou mayest
well be sure,
He who ordained the Sabbath, loves
the poor.
Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Courage, as well as conscience, is
needed for the making of an idealist.
No other test of character not even
the sudden rush of a mighty and un
expected temptation is so great as
the subtle and insidious inducements
to lower one's life standards. Real
greatness of soul is required to hold a
person up to his own noblest concep
tions of living. The foes of the spirit
are many and persistent. All possible
reenforcements are needed to main
tain the soul against their siege. Of
these divine aids the Sabbath is sure
ly one. It fortifies the soul to fight
for its freedom. It is allied with the
best in us as we war against the beast
in us. The munitions of the Lord's
Day are all for the conservation of
man's highest qualities.
"O day of rest and gladness.
O day of joy and light,
O balm of care and sadness,
Most beautiful, most bright.
On thee, the high and lowly.
Through ages joined in tune.
Sing, Holy, Holy, Holy,
To the great God Tribune.
spiritual progress
day in se en dev.
tion of the themes
eternity.
The Sabbath Pay
bank of humanity.
ders.
A loving husband
their wedding anniversaries joyously.
Upon the day is written "Remember. "
It recalls the whole content of a
life of love. So the Sabbath Day
bears the message, "Remember." Re
member God the Creator: that
thought carries back into the un
plumbed reaches of eternity, with all
its implications the adorableness of
the Supreme Being for whose wor
ship the Sabbath is employed. Re
member God the Provider: the latest
and best scientific thought is only be
ginning to catch up with the signifi
cance of the beneficent provision
which God has made for man in this
one day of rest and recuperation and
uplook. Remember God the Redeem
er: for now our Sabbath is the Lord's
Day, a memorial of the burst bands
of death and of the new life which
the resurrection has brought to the
world. At the portal of every truo
Sabbath the devout vision may read,
"This do in remembrance of Me."
A home day, with sweet family re
unions, and a church day with a
meeting ol the lathers children m
the Father's house these are char
acteristics of a well-kept Sabbath.
The emancipation which the"Lord's
Day is designed to bring to everybody
has been missed by the person who
finds time to read a Sunday news
paper but no time to read the Bibl.
SEVEN SENTENCE SERMONS
Mean to be something with all your
might. Phillips Brooks.
Xo labor is hard, no time is long,
wherein the glory of eternity is tho
mark we level at. St, Hieroii.
Knowledge by suffering en tore th
And life is perfected by death.
Mrs. Browning.
The wealth of man is the number
of tilings he loves and blesses which
he is loved and blessed by. Carlyle.
were affrighted
'I 'bought His love would weaken.
V- more and more He knew me,
it burnetii like a beacon.
And its light and heat go through
me,
And I ever hear Him say.
As He goes along His way,
. .And as they were affrighted and
bowed down their faces to the earth,
they said unto them. Why seek ye the
living among the dead? He is not
here, but is risen; remember how He
spake unto you when He was yet in
Galilee. Luke 24:5, 6.
Whom the heart of man shuts out.
Sometimes the heart of God takes in.
Lowell.
You never can tell when God will
take a little word you may drop, like
an arrow shot at a venture, and cause
it to strike some hearer between the
joints of the harness and bring him
down. Schauffler.
USES BAT TO BEST BURGLAR.
"In the deep silent depths, far away
from the shore
Where they never may rise up to
trouble thee more.
Where no far-reaching tide, with its
pitiless sweep
May stir the dark waves of forget-
fulness deep
I have buried them there. wrhere no
mortal may see,
"On thee, at the creation.
The light first had its birth;
On thee for our salvation
Christ rose from depths of earth;
On thee our Lord victorious
The Spirit sent from heaven;
And thus on thee most glorious
A triple light was given."
Whenever a person wants to debase
the Sabbath to everyday uses he takes
refnee in the words of Jesus: "The
Baseball Implement Scores in Battle
Waged Amid Jam and Pickle Jars.
Philadelphia North American.
A baseball bat was used by John
Kearney of West Philadelphia, to
subdue a burglar who attacked him in
the cellar of his home. After pum
melling the intruder until he ..owied
for mercy Kearney turned him over
to the police.
Kearney awakened before daylight
and smell ed gas. After careful exam
ination of the rooms of the first floor,
he made his w-nv t' r'"' c' !1,r
At the bottom of the stairs a mai
jumped on Kearney's shon Witts .'ukj a
struggle followed. Jars of raspberry
jam, tomatoes, pickles and other pre
serves were smashed during the com
bat. One of Kearney's hands closed
on a baseball bat as the two men
rolled about the floor.
Wrenching himself loose, he swung
the bat against the burglar's head and
repeated the operation until the man
cried "enough."
The relations between officers and
men in the Russian army are of the
most friendly kind; indeed, in speak
ing to an officer a man says 'Tii-at"
(brother), or "Batooska" (little fath
er). An officer calls his men "my
children." and he frequently writes
their "home letters" for them, reads
to them, teaches them, and takes
them to cinematograph shows, where
pictures of educational value are b
. tng shown.