Democratic messenger., 1894-11-24

the prospect Of speedy arrival. They
drive up 10 the door of the prophet Th
chariotecrs shout "Whoa!' totho horse j,
and tramping hoofs and grinding wheels
cease shaking the earth. Come our, Eli
sha. come out You have company. The
grandcSt company that ever came 10
vour house has come to il now. No stir
inside Elisha's house. The fact waS,
the Lord had informed Elisha that the
sick captain was coming and just how
IN treat him. Indeed, when Won arr
sick and the Lord wants YOU tu get
well. ne always tells the doctor how "a
treat ynu. and the reason we have 50
many hungling doctors Is because they
depend upon their own strength and
instructions. and not on tn" Lord Got
and tina, always makes malpractice.
Come out. Elisha. and attend to ycur
business.
General Naainan and his rclinuc wait
cd and waited AMI waited The fact
was, N;:aInan had two disoascs-pride
and lcprosy. The one was ~ hard To get
rid of as the other Elisha sits quietly
in his house and does not 20 out After
awhile. when hc thinks h. has humbled
this proud man. he saws ;n a servant,
'tio out and tell General \aaman o.
bathc seven times III the river Jordan.
on; Wonder five miles. and he will get
entirely well. : The message comes out
What says the commander in CHIEF
of the Syrian forces. his eye kindlins
with IN animation which il had not
shown fnr weeks and his swollen foot
stamping on the hottrm of the chariot,
regardless nf pain. What Isn't he
coming ont To ste me: Why. | though,
certainly he wnuli come and utter some
cabalistic words over me ar make some
enigmatical passes over my wounds.
Why. | don't think he knows who
am. Isn't he coming ont: Why. when
the Shunamitc woman came To- him, he
rushed out and cried: Is il well with
thee: i il we'll with thy husband: l.
il well with thy child And will he
treat "a poor unknown woman like that
and let me, "a titled personagc, sit here
i'll my chariot and wait and wait:
won't endure it any longer. Chariotecr.
drive on. Wash in the Jordan, Ha. ha.
The Shiny Jortian-the muddy Jordan
tho monotonous .IOrdani / wouldn {
be seen washing in such river as that
Why, we watercd our horses i'll better
river than that ON our way here-the
beautiful river, the jasper paved river OF
Pharpar. Besides that we have in our
country another Damascenc river, Aba
ma, with foliagcd bank and torrent ever
swift and ever clear, under the flicker
ing shadows of sycamore and oleander
Are not ALBANIA and Pharpar. rivers of
Damascus. better than all the waters Of
Israeli
suppose Naaman felt very much rs
Americans would feel if. by way OF
medical prescription. some one should
tell US Ia go and wash in the Danube OF
the Rhine. We would answer. Are
not the Connecticut and the Hudson
just Us good CDR rs an Englishman
would feel if he were told by way OF
medical prescription. he must go and
wash in the Mississippi or the 81. Law
renee. He would cry out, Are not the
Thames and the Shannon just rs wcll:"
Tho fact was that naughty Naaman
needed To learn what every Englishman
and every American needs to learn
that when God tells you To do thing
you must 20 and do il, whether You
understand the reason or not. Take the
prescription. whether yuu like il 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 :s Christ commands you
you will bc seized upon by an everlast-
ing wasting away. Obey and live; dis
obey and die. Thrilling. overarching.
undcrgirding, stupendous alternative.
a Dead Failure.
Well, General Naaman could mol
stand the test. The charioteer gives q
jerk To the right line until the bit snaps
i'll the horses mouth, and the whir of
the wheels and the flying of the dust
show the Indignation of the great com
mandcr. He turned and went away in
n 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 no been
doing: 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 a rage.
So. after all. il seems that this health
excursion of General Naaman is to be
q dead failure. That little Hebrew cap.
tive might rs we'll have not told him Of
the prophet. and this long journey
might as well 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 moment his servants Chamber
up in il and coax him 10 do as Elisha
said. They say: 1T easy. II the proph-
ct had told you to walk for mile ON
sharp spikes i'll order tn 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 a
bath every day anyhow. and in this eli
mate it is so hot that it will do You
good Do it 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" hc says. Ito please
you l 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
his attendants. gets down out of his
chariot and painfully comes 10 the brink
of the river and steps i'll until the water
comes TO the ankle and goes on deeper
until the wafer comes To the gir,ile. and
now standing So far down in the stream
Just little inclination of the head will
thoroughly immerse him. He bows once
into the flood and comes up and shakes
the water ont Of nostril and eye, and
his attendants look ut him and say,
why. general. how much better You
do look And he bows second time
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