Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1896-11-06
TgE CURE OF NAAMAN
oa. 1AuMAes PREAcHEs UPON
aTHE SICK GENERAL"

.,.-what General Naaman Was
,,,ur .o DO to 10 Cured-Ths True
remedy.
o,oov1yN. Nov. Rev. DIR. Tai
has chosen as the subject of to-
.A ,S sermon through the press "The
SsoL Ss, General, +" the text selected being
II Kings V, 1, "He was leper.
y uare we have warrior sick, not
- nleurisies or rheumatisms or con.
VIZ wnt;ons. but with q disease worse
ali these put together A red mark
s.s .s come out on the forehead, precursor
ps s .or,nlete Disagreement and dissolu-
u ~ / have something awful to tell
1ou ' General Naaman, the commander
u chief of all the Syrian forces, has the
iorrosvl - It is ON bis hands. on his face,
HE feet. on his entire person. The
,an-oevI Get out of the way of the pes.
.;ionceI II his breath strike you, you
80 a dead man. The commander in
ahiof of all tho forces of Syria And yet
~ would be glad TO exchange conditions
18th ~ the boy at his stirrup or tho hos
tler that blankets his charger. Tho news
GOES like wildfire all through the realm,
snd the people are sympathetic, aud
tbev ory out, "Is it possible that our
rroat hero who slew Ahab and around
ybom we came with such vociferation
,,ben he returned from victorious bat
.a-can it be possible that our grand
and glorious Naaman has the leprosyir
All Arc Afflicted.
Yes. Everybod has something he
wishes he had not-David, an Absalom
10 disgrace him; Paul, thorn to sting
bim; Job, carbunoles to plague him;
Samson, q Delilah to shear him; Ahab,
a Naboth to deny him; Haman, Nor
decai to irritate him; George Washing
ton. childlessness to afflict him; John
Wesley, a termagant wife to poster him;
Leah, weak eyes; Pope, crooked back;
BYRON, q club foot; John Milton, blind
ewes; Charles Lamb, an insane sister,
and you and you and you something
which you never bargained for and
would like to got rid of. The reason of
this is that God does not want this
world to be too bright. Otherwise we
would always want to stay and cat these
fruits and lie ON these lounges and shake
hands in this pleasant society. We are
only in the vestibule of q grand temple.
God does not want us to stay on the
donrstep, and therefore he sends aches
and annoyances and sorrows and be-
reavements of all sorts to push us on
and push US up toward ripper fruits and
brighter society and more radiant pros
perities. God is only whipping us ahead.
The reason that Edward Payson and
Robert Hall had more rapturous views
Of heaven than other people had was
because, through their aches and pains,
God pushed them nearer up to it. II
God dashes out one of your pictures, 1t
Is only to show to you a brighter one.
II he sting your foot with gout, your
brnin with neuralgia, your tongue with
an inextinguishable thirst, 1t is only be-
cause he is preparing to substitute bet
ter body than you ever dreamed Of, when
the mortal shall put on Immortality.
1t is to push you ON and to push you
up toward something grander and better
that God sends upon you, as he did upon
General Naaman, something you do
not want. Seated in his Syrian man.
sion, all the walls glittering with the
shiolds which he had captured In bat
Sle. the corridors crowded with admir-
ang visitors who just wanted to see him
once, music and mirth and banqueting
filling all the mansion from tessellated
floor to pictured ceiling, Naaman
would have forgotten that there was
anything better and would have been
glad to stay there 10, 900 years. But. oh,
how the shields dim, and how the visit
Ors fly the hall, and how the music drops
dead from the string, and how the gates
OF the mansion slam shut with sepul.
ohral bang as you read the closing words
Of the eulogiumi tHe was leperl He
was leperP'l -t
Must Have Sympathy.
There was one person more sympa-
thetic with General Naaman than any
other person. Naaman's wife walks the
hoor, wringing her hands and trying to
think what she can do to alleviate her
husbands suffering. ALI remedies have
Jailed. The surgeon general and the
doctors of the royal staff have met. and
10y "o'O nLAhou JuC1L uOhure oo AhuOh
as to say, "No cure, no cure. think
that the Office seekers had all folded up
their recommendations and gone home.
Probably most Of the employees of the
establishment had dropped their work
and were thinking Of looking for some
other situation. What shall now become
"f poor Naaman's wifef She must have
sympathy somewhere. In her despair
khe goes to little Hebrew captive, a
servant girl in her house, to whom she
tells the whole story. as sometimes,
when overborne by the sorrows of the
world and finding no sympathy any
where else, you have gone out and found
IN the sympathy of some humble domes-
nc-Rose or Dinah or Bridget help
which the world could not give you.
What scene IL was,-one Of the
grandest women in all Syria in cabinet
council with a waiting maid over the
oeclining health of the mighty general
know something" says the little
captive maid, "I know something" as
sne bounds to her bare feet I'm the
T.