The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1905-04-22

w. uallOu. Cudil IL
'G\ be a striving for
~ something better,
or a dissatisfaction and idle content
m ent with hat which has already been
attained? Shall there be a giving Up
that there may be a fuller possession,
a seeking that there may be a finding?
These are questions which some
time or other come to every heart, and
the manner of the answer, the nature
of the decision, determines the direc-
ton Of the current Of the life, whether
it shall be onward and progressive or
stagnant and unfruitful. God calls to
every soul, His hand points out the
Canaan which He would have us occu-
Ply. and the response we give to the
call, the faithfulness with which we
follow the pathway pointed out, deter
mines our destiny and our mission in
life.
Haran, beautifully located, bountiful
in her gifts, kind and generous in her as
ISOLATION of friends and loved ones, a
place we delight in, it seems just the
spot where we should dwell. Blu while
life is running smoothly and sweetly,
and perhaps just as we have settled
down TO the ease and contentment Of
permanent abode there, there the
revelation of a better LAND and the call to
% on to possess it. And then it is the
question: Haran Or Canaan-which?
Haran is better than Ur, but it is not
Canaan. It is a half way point which,
like Abraham, many people reach. The
start is made for the goodly land Of
promise, but fair Haran is SO inviting
that it becomes a resting place, and oh!
too often, at last the permanent abode.
Scripture tells us that Abraham, Te-
rah. Lot and Sarah, Abraham's wife,
went forth from Ur Of the Chaldees, to
go into the land of Canaan; and they
came unto Haran, and dwelt there
And there is where we find Abraham
as our story begins. At Haran-dwell-
ing in security and plenty, with Canaan
forgotten, and no thought Or ambition
for the journey that would lead to the
better land, the place Of larger mission,
n greater destiny.
All, if We are dwelling at Haran, the
halfway point, when we had intended
going onward and upward to a higher
| plane, to a larger place, TO fuller life and
mission. let us go out alone and hear God
call us. and feel the touch which shall
move us to follow Him to the place He
would give us for a possession!
Hurry, Brother Abraham, our father,
Terah, is dying and asks for thee. Since
yester night we nave feared that he
would not live until your return. We
have searched for thee in vain. Where
hast thou been?' and quite ~breathless
with his running and hurried speech the
speaker paused an instant by the side Of
the man whom a few moments before he
had spied coming across the fields, and
for whom he had evidently been watch
ing.
Abraham brought himself up with a
jerk and shock, much as one might when
running into an unseen obstruction in
the dark. He had been in deep medita-
ton and had not seen his brother, Major,
coming, and the first consciousness OF
his presence came with the sound of his
excited voice and his startling message.
Like one Weakened out Of a dream, he
gazed in mute questioning, while over
his face conflicting emotions were seer
to play, as though grief and joy, disap-
pointment and hope were struggling fol
the mastery within.
Well" impatiently exclaimed Major
I'VE must hurry. Our father ven now
may be dead" and grasping the arm OF
Abraham, he fastened with him toward
the tent which could just be seer
through the grove of splendid tree:
which surrounded it. Neither spoke.
Major could not understand hi
brothers mood. He was surprised, ma!
indignant, at the name in which b,
had received the news. He never hat
been able to understand him, much les;
now. A new something, a fresh ele
ment in his bearing, made him a deepe
enigma to him than ever before.
When Abraham had left Ur of tn
Chaldees. refusing to be bound by tn
religion of the place, he laughed at hin
and ~sneeringly called him a fanatic
When he had returned and induced hi
father Terah and Lot and Sarah to leav
with him for a distant land. he had an
grily refused to go with them. Later
2 when he heard that they had stopped a
Haran. and that it was a goodly land, h
had moved thither with his family. hop
ing that Abraham had given up his nc
lions and become. as he called it, sensi
BILE and like other people. He ha
brought his gods which he woIshiped i
!. Ur with him, but Abraham told hi1
. there was but one God to worship, an
. that He was invisible, but ~all-knowin
and all powerful. And while there ha