Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1900-02-09

tianity collnpses under the INGRAM
NAUTICAL but sincere statement. The
aiheisIic professor of natural philoso-
ply goes down under the story OF that
backwoodsman' conversion.
The New Testament suggests the
power of the tale shat Is told" Christ
was the most effective story teller of
all the ages. The parallels are only
tales well told. Malchless stories
That of the traveller cut up by the
thieves and the Samaritan paying his
board bill at the tavern; that of the big
dinner. 10 which the invited guests sent
in fictitious regrets; that of the shep-
herd answering the bleat of the lost
sheep and all the rural neighbors that
night helping him celebrate the faat
that it was safe in the barnyard; that
of the bad boy. reduced TO the swines'
trough. greeted home with such ban
quoting and jewelry that ii stuffed the
older son with jealousy and disgruntle-
ment: that of the Pharisee full of brag-
gadocio and the publican shifting his
breast with a stroke that brought down
the heavens in commiseraiion; stories
about leprosy, about paralysis. about
catalepsy. about dropsy, about ophthal-
ma-stories that he so well told that
they have rolled down 10 the present
and will roll down through The entire
future.
The most Of the Old Testament IA
made up of inspired anecdotes about
Adam and Eve. about Jacob. about
Esan. about Ahnb and .Jezebel. about
Jonah. about Daniel. about Deborah.
about Vashti. about men and women of
whom the story gave an accurate photo
graph long before human photography
was born. Let all Christian workers.
prayer meeting takers, Sunday school
teachers and preachers know the power
Of that which my text calls the "tale
that is told"
II you have had experiences Of par
don and comfort and disenthrn llment.
tell of II. Tell il in the most pointed
and dramatic way you can manage.
Tell it soon. or you may never tell il al
all. Oh. the power of "the tale that is
tod!" An hours discourse about the
fact that blasphemous behavior is
sometimes punished in this world
would not impress us as much as the
simple story that in a town of New
York state. al the close of the last cen
fury. 36 profane men formed them
selves into club. calling them.
selves Society of the Druids." They
met regularly to deride and damage
Christianity. One night in their awful
meeting they burned a Bible and ad
ministered the sacrament to dog
Two of them died that night. Within
three days three were drowned. In
i've years all the &c came 10 bad end
Before justices Of the peace il was
sworn that two were starved 10 death
seven were drowned. eight were shot
five committed suicide. seven died or
the gailows. one was frozen TO death
and three died accidentally. incidents
like that. sworn TO. would balk any pro
posed irreverent and blasphemous be
havior.
In what way could the fact that in
fidelity will not help anyone die wei
be so powerfully presented as by the
incident concerning man falling Ill In
Paris just after the death of Noltaire
when professional nurse was called ii
and she asked: rs the gentleman 6
Christian" why do you ask thnt?'
said the messenger. 81 am the nurse
who attended Volta1re in his last i'll
ness. and for all the wealth of Europe
| would never see another infidel die.
What discourse in its moral and spirit
ual effect could equal tale like that?
You might argue upon the fact tina
those fallen are our brothers and sis
tiers, but could we impress ANYONE
with such truth so well as by tn,
scene near Victoria park, London
where men were digging II deep drain
and the snoring gave way and u grea
pile of earth fell upon the workmen
A man stood there with his hands il
his pockets looking at those who wer
trying to shovel away the earth from
those who we're buried. but whe'
some one said to the spectator: "BilI
your brother is down there" then tn
spectator threw off his coat and wen
to work with an agony Of elrnestncs
to fetch up his brother What cours
Of argument could so well as that in
cident set forth that when we toll 70
the salvation of a soul it is a brotbe
whom we are trying 10 save?
A second reading Of my text re
minds me that life is not only stor
told. but that it is brief story.
long narrative stretched out indef
nitely loses its interest. It is genera
~ the story that takes only a minut
or half minute to rehearse that al
rests the attention. And that give
additional interest TO the story of OH
life. 1t is short story. Subtrac
from our lives all the hours of ne;
essary sleep. all the hours Of incapa'
, ity through fatigue or illness, all th
hours of childhood and youth befor
we get fairly to work. and you hav
abbreviated the story Of life so muc
that you can appreciate the ApostI
, James expression when he compare
life 10 "a vapor that abpeareth for
little season and then vanishes away
) 1t does not take long to tell all I'll
? vicssitudes of ufe-the gladness an
the griefs, the arrivals and the d,
) partures. the successes and the fai
ures, the victories and the defeats. III
ups and the downs. The longer "
live the shorter the years. We hare
5 Iy get owes the bewldering fatigue (
: selecting gifts for children ar
, friends and see that the presents g,
J off in time TO arrive on the appropr
: ate day than we see another advan
I ing group Of holidays Autumn