Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1894-11-23

bathe seven times In the river Jordan,
out yonder five miles, and he will get
entirely we'll" The message comes out.
What" says the commander in chief
Of the Syrian forces, his eye kindling
with an animation which it had not
shown for weeks and his swollen foot
stamping on the bottom Of the chariot,
regardless Of pain. "What! Isn't he
coming out to sec me? Why, thought
certainly he would come and utter some
cabalistic words over me or make some
passes over my wounds.
Why, / don't think he knows who l
am. Isn't he coming out? Why, when
the Shunamite woman came to him, he
rushed out and cried: ; Is it well with
thee? Is it well with thy husbandI Is
II we'll with thy childI' And will he
treat poor unknown woman like that
and let me, a titled parsonage, sit here
in my chariot and wait and wait? l
won't endure 1t any longer. Charioteer,
drive onl Wash in the Jordan Ha, ha!
The Shiny Jordan-the muddy Jordan
the monotonous Jordan l wouldn't
be seen washing in such river as that.
Why, we watered our horses in better
river than that on our way here-the
beautiful river, the jasper paved rivero
Pharpar. Besides that we have in our
country another Damascene river, Aba
ma, with foliaged bank and torrent ever
swift and ever clear, under the flicker
ing shadows Of sycamore and oleander.
Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers Of
Damascus, better than all the waters Of
Israeli"
suppose Naaman felt very much as
Americans would feel if, by way Of
medical prescription, some one should
tell us to go and wash in the Danube or
the Rhine. We would answer, "Are
not the Connecticut and the Hudson
Just as good!" Or as an Englishman
would feel If he were told, by way Of
medical prescription, he must go and
wash in the Mississippi or the st. Law
renee. He would cry out, "Are not the
Thames and the Shannon just as well!"
The fact was that Laughty Naaman
needed to learn what every Englishman
and every American needs to learn
that when God tells you to do thing
you must go and do It, whether you
understand the reason or not. Take the
prescription, whether you like it or not.
One thing is certain. Unless naughty
Naaman does as Elisha commands him.
he will die of his awful sickness. And
unless you do as Christ commands you
you will be seized upon by an eyerlast-
ing wasting away. Obey and live; dis
obey and die, Thrilling, overarching,
undergirding, stupendous alternativel
Dead Failure.
Well, General Naaman could not
stand the test. The charioteer gives a
Jerk to the right line until the bit snaps
In the horses mouth, and the whir OF
the wheels and the flying Of the dust
show the indignation of the great COM
mander. HE turned and went away in
a rage" So people now often get mad
at religion. They yituperate against
ministers, against churches, against
Christian people. One would think from
their irate behavior that God had been
studying how to annoy and exasperate
and demolish them. What has he been
doing2 Only trying to cure their death
dealing leprosy. That is all. Yet they
whip up their horses. they dig in the
spurs, and they go away in rage.
So, after all, it seems that this health
excursion Of General Naaman is to be
O dead failure. That little Hebrew cap
tive might as we'll have not told him Of
the prophet, and this long journey
might as we'll not have been taken
Poor, sick, dying Naaman! Are you go
ing away in high dudgeon and worse
than when you came? AS his chariot
halts q moment his servants Chamber
I'D in it and coax him to do as Elisha
said. They say: cts easy. If the proph-
ct had told you to walk for mile on
sharp spikes in order to get rid Of this
awful disease, you would have done it
1t is easy. Come, my lord, just get down
and wash in the Jordan. You take
bath every day anyhow, and in this eli
mate 1t is so hot that it will do you
good. Do 1t on our account, and for the
sake Of the army you command, and for
the sake Of the nation that admires you.
Come, my lord, just try this Jordanic
BATH" We'll" he says, ito please
you will do as you say. The retinue
drive to the brink Of the Jordan. The
horses paw and neigh to get into the
stream themselves and cool their hot
fianks. General Naaman, assisted by
bis attendants, gets down out OF his
chariot and painfully comes to the brink
Of the river and steps in until the water
comes to the ankle and goes on deeper
until the water comes to the girdle, and
now standing so far down in the stream
lust little inclination Of the head will
thoroughly immerse HIM He bows once
into the food and comes up and shakes
the water out OF nostril and eye, and
his attendants look at him and say
why, general, how much better you
do lookP" And he bows second time
into the food and comes up and tho
wild stare is gone out Of his eye. be
bows the third time into the food and
comes up, and the shriveled flesh has
got smooth again. He bows the fourth
time into the food and comes up, and the
hair that had fallen out is restored in
thick locks again all over the brow. He
bows the fifth time into the fiood and
comes up, and the hoarseness has gone
out of his throat he bows the sixth time
and comes up, and all the soreness and
anguish have gone out Of the limbs
why" he says, II am almost we'll,
but will make complete cure, " and
he bows the seventh time into the flood,
and he comes up, and not so much as
tester or scale or an eruption as big as
the head Of pin is to be seen ON him.
His Wonderful Cure.
He steps out ON the bank and says, is
Il possiblei" And the attendants look
and say, "Is 1t possiblei" And as with
the health of an athlete he bounds back
into the chariot and drives on there
goes mp from all his attendants wild
"Huzza, huzza" OF course they 60
back to pay and thank the man OF God
for his counsel so fraught with wisdom
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