The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-12-05

| 'eet and pain struck limbs into the venice.
Bolster him up with the pillows and let MIN
take lingering look at his bright. apart
nent. for perhaps the Hebrew captive may
| ,e mistaken, and the next time Naaman
ZONES to that place he may be dead weight
! IN the shoulders of those who carry him, m
| expired chieftain seeking sepulture amid the
| lamentations Of an admirin9 nation. GOOD
oy. Naaman! Let the charioteer drive gen.
| hy over the hills of Hermon, lest he Jolt
| The invalid. Here goes the bravest man
of all his day captive of q horrible disease.
As the ambulance winds through the streets
| of Damascus the tears and prayers OF all the
people 20 after the world renowned invalid.
| Perhaps you have had an invalid 20 out
| rom your house on health excursion. You
| NOW how the nelghbors stood around and
hid. "Ah. he will never come back again
Alive" Oh, II was a solemn moment, I tell
you, when the invalid had departed, and
you went into the room to make the bed,
and to remove the medicine Walls from the
shelf, and to throw open the shutters, 80
that the fresh air might rush into the long
closed room. Goodby, Naaman!
There Is only one cheerful face looking at
him, and that is the face OF the little
Hebrew captive, who is sure he will get
cured, and who Is 80 glad she helped him.
| As the chariot winds out and the escort OF
mounted courtiers. and the mules, laden
| with sacks of gold and silver and en-
broidersd suits Of apparel, went through
the gates Of Damascus and out on the long
way, the hills of Naphtalie and Ephraim
look down on the procession. and the re-
tinue goes right past the battleaelds where
Naaman In the days Of his health used to
rally his troops for rearrul onset, and then
| the procession stops and reclines awhile In
| The groves Of olive and oleander, and
| General Naaman 30 sick. so very, very sick !!
How the countrymen gaped as the process
ZION passed They had seen Naaman 20
past like a whirlwind in days gone by and
bad stood aghast at the clank OF his war
equipments, but now they commiserate him.
They say: "Poor man; he Will never get
home alivel Poor man"
General Naaman wakes up from restless
sleep in the chariot. and he says to the
,harioteer, Chow long before we shall reach
the Prophet ElishaW The oharioteer says to
waysider, Chow far is 1t to Ellsha's
house2" He says, 1.-TWO miles," "Two
miles?'' Then they whip up the lathered
and tagged out horses. The whole procession
brightens up at the prospect OF speedy ar
rival. They drive up to the door OF tho
prophet. The oharioteers shout "Whoa" to
The horses, and tramp:ng hoofs and grinding
wheels cease shaking the earth. Come out,
Elisha, come out. You have company. The
grandest company that ever came to your
house has come to It now. No stir inside
Elisha's house. The fact was. the Lord had
Informed Elisha that the sick captain was
coming and how to treat him. Indeed, when
you are sick and the Lord wants you to get
we'll, He always tells the doctor how to treat
you, and the reason we have 30 many
bungling doctors is because they depend
upon their own strength and instructions
and not on the Lord God, and that always
makes malpractice. Come out, Elisha, and
attend to your business.
General Naaman and his retinue waited
and waited and waited. The fact was,
Naaman had two diseases-pride and
leprosy. The one was as hard to get rid OF
as the other. Elisha sits quietly In his
house and does not go out. After awhile.
whom he thinks he has humbled this proud
man, he says to q servant, eco out and tell
General Naaman to bathe seven times In the
river Jordan, out yonder FIVE miles, and he
will get entirely wen." The message comes
out. "What p 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.
"Whatl Isn't he coming out to see me?
Why, thought certainly he would come and
utter some cabalistfo words over me or make
some enigmatical passes over my wounds.
Why, T don't think he knows who I
am. Isn't he coming out? Why, when
the shunamite woman came to him, he
rushed out and cried: is 1t well with thee?
Is It we'll with thy husband? Is 1t we'll with
thy child2' And will he treat q poor un-
known woman like that and let me, titled
personage, sit here In my chariot and wait
and waltz I won't endure it any longer.
Chartoteer, drive onl Wash In the Jordan
Ha, hal The shiny Jordan-the muddy Jor-
dan-the monotonous Jordan I 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 jaspar paved river Of Pharpar. Be-
sides that we have in our country another
Damascene river, Abana, with foliaged bank
and torrent ever swift and ever clear, under
the fickering shadows OF sycamore and OLE
ander. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers
OF DAMASCUS, better than all the waters OF
Israeli"
I suppose Naaman felt very much as
Americans would feel II, by way Of medical
prescription, some ore should tell US to 60
wash In the Danube or the Rhine. We
would answer, "Are not the Connecticut and
the Hudson Just as good2" Or as an Eng
lishman would feel II he were told, by way
of medical prescription, he must go and
wash in the Mississippi or the ST. Law
rence. He would cry out. "Are not the
Thames and the Shannon just as well2"
The 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 60 and do
it,whether you understand the reason or not.
Take the prescription, whether you like 1t 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 everlasting wasting away.
Obey and live /; disobey and die. Thrilling,
overarching, undergirding, stupendous
alternative!
Well. General Naaman could not stand the
test. The charicteer gives jerk to the right
line until the bit snaps inthe horses mouth,
and the whir OF the wheels and the flying OF
the dust show the indignation of the great
commander. "He turned and went away in
rage" So people now often get mad at
religion. They vituperate 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 a rage.
So, after all, 1t seems that this health ex-
cursion of General Naaman is to be q dead
failure. That little Hebrew captive 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 going away In high dudgeon and
worse than when you came? As his chariot
halts moment bis servants Chamber up In
it and coax him to do as Elisha said. They
say: "It's easy. If the prophet had told
you to walk tor a mile on sharp spikes In Or
der to get rid Of this awful disease, you
would have done IT. It is easy. Come, my
lord, Just set down and wash In the Jordan.