Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1894-03-29
The Broken Circuit.


upon the roof promenade de was
an electrician. He was supplied with
his outfit. He had climbers strapped
about his feet, nippers in his hands, a
coil of wire upon his shoulder, and a
portable battery hung from his neck
In reply to my question as to what he
was about, he said that he was search
inc for defect. "There are twenty
miles Of wire in this town reaching
out in all directions from one plant
and somewhere a wire has formed a
connection with the earth, 30 that the
current of electricity is being lost l
have been all day trying to ind the
leak. I haye traced it to his house.
I do not like the job. It's q hard one
but it must be done" So he went
from one incandescent lamp to an
other, and after taking apart many
fixtures, testing many connections, al
last he said, II haye found it." The
little bell IN his portable battery be-
gan to ring violently, indicating that
he had found the trouble at last
The defective part was carried away
to the factory to be repaired. How
did you know that the circuit was
broken?" I asked. l shall not forget
his reply: "The moment any little wire
IN all the system forms q connection
with the earth, the great machinery
at the power house feels it. The
great engine groans, the sparks tly'
the enormous belt flaps, and all seems
confusion. The power must be in
creased. The engine is over taxed.
An immense amount Of power is vast
ed. We could not stand it very
long"
Is there not much to be learned
from electricity in moral as well as
scientific way? Is not the church
of Christ the spiritual power house?
Is not the divine current sent out In
all directions, until it reaches every
family and home and heart? 1t Is
not needful to insulate the family and
the christian home from contact with
an ungodly world, if the full benefit
of religion is to be obtained? Is not
the efficiency Of the church impaired
and the work of the church vastly ln-
creased when an alliance is formed
between the member and the unbe'
lever? Do we not hear sometimes
asked: What is the matter with our
church? What is the matter with
our minister? What is the cause OF
this spiritual deafness? The secret
of it all is that somewhere the circuit
is broken. At some point the life,
and power and spirituality of the
church is being carried off by con-
tact with the world. The paster is
sick at heart. The exertion necessary
to keep the church alive is enough to
kill almost any man. The strain is
very great, The machinery of the
church can scarcely avail, The evan
gelist is called for. The special effort
is demanded for a limited time. How
many times it would be discovered if
the trouble were traced to Its real
source, that some VOW of insulation
from the world and flesh, made once
at the time of conversion and repeat
ed many times at the sacrament, has
been broken, secretly or perhaps pub
licly, and your carelessness had done
all the mischief. To your home is
traced the defect which causes every
other home IN the church to suffer
Make haste to repair the damage,
Don't send to the power house for
more meetings, or more ministers, OF
more prayers, but dedicate yourself
and yours to God. Come out and be
on the Lords side. Let the whole
force Of the church machinery be em.
ployed in Illuminating other homes
and hearts into which the light ha'
never yet come. Let the whole
spiritual energy of the church b.
spent IN the salvation of those wht
are unsaved, rather than dlsciplinint
the delinquents or trying to cure th,
incorrigible. Let the paster put il
new panes instead Of mending crack
ed ones, gam new territory instead o
merely recovering lost ground, 81
each day at fresh banquet rathe
than warm the cold dishes over.
If only every home and family Gil
Gle should be incandescent with d
! 4 i