Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1905-03-30

A WAYSlJE WONDER.

r. WAYSIUc WUVUeh.
All this story of a wonder which viii
engage the attention of twenty-five mil
lions of persons next Sunday, fell out b!
the wayside. because the gentle teacher
from Nazareth. as he went to and fro or
his journeys. had an eye for chance oppor'
tunities to help men. 1t was AS ht
passed by" hat Jesus saw the man. blinc
from his birth, and taking pity upon HIM
sent him to the pool of Sloan, where ht
was to annoint his eyes, after covering
them with clay, and thus to find sight.
AS a background for this vivid Incident
there Is the greater blindness OF the Phar..
sees who could not see. because as the
proverb says. None are so blind as those
who will not see" 1t CHANGED to be upon
the Sabbath day that this miracle OF heal
ing was wrought. and the Pharisees were
more stirred up by this infraction of their
traditions than by the great sight-giving
wonder that was wrought upon the long
tine b,ind man. Like most of the bible
stories, We hall find in this one a picture
OF conditions that strangely resemble
those which surround us in the year 1905.
Problems, and How to Faoe Them.
There Is some warrant in the fact for the
hoary jokes about the missionary women
NaaO - 81 " Nv itSd tioS
their own children are neglected. 1t is pos
sible to become so Interested in large
causes that small, present duties are over
looked. The disciples of the young Rabbi
were so enamored of the great mission to
which he had called them that 1t seems
not to have occurred to them that this
blind man by the wayside could be any
thing more than a cause for specula ton,
or careless charity. They began to wonder
vytAp ha 1ryo Ilt,l or. Hhn
fashion of their time, that either he or his
parents had sinned. His immediate need
OF sight appears not to have appealed to
them.
This dilletante attitude toward grave
problems Is a common scandal. The re-
lief of the poor becomes a mere fad for So
ciety id,ers. Momentous questions are
viewed simply as topics for table talk. 1t
is considered 1.-The thing" to be interested
In lectures on social questions; and SO men
and women sit for an hou listening to a
lecture which they do not understand, in
It's deeper meaning. and do not care to un-
derstand: and hen congratulate them
selves that they are dealing with social
problems.
No one Is deeply or truly interested in a
social question, unless he Is, at the same
time, putting forth some practical. self
sacrificing endeavor to make 1t less Of a
question. The Experimentation to serve
IS the hallmark of the true reformer and
philanthropist. There Is too much of this
Following In the footsteps of the disciples
who dubbed over the cause OF the i'll
which confronted them, rather than tried
to remedy 1t. Nor are life's problems gen.
orally as simple as these men affected to
find this one. 1t IS easy to talk glibly and
conventionally about the 'slums' and
about the Submerged masses" Just as
these men talked about the blind mans
sin. A few minutes of brotherly converse
with the afflicted man would have been
more to the disciples credit than all their
airy theorizing.
n woman who leaves her own cool
with a raging headache and a full days
work to do. while she goes Off to a club
to discuss current questions, has not the
root OF the matter In her. The only noble
attitude toward the problems of our time
Is one OF an earnest desire to contribute Ia
their solution. While waiting for the
world to become beautiful It is well ia
clean up ones own back yard.
Mans Chief End.
CARLYLE said that the longer he lived the
more he became convinced that the true
philosophy Of life was summed I'D in the
answer to the first question Of the old
Westminster catechism, MANS chief end
= TO glorify God and enjoy Him forever
This Is the spirit of the answer which
Neither has this man sinnad no. u, hsa PIES
ents: but that the wort. ~ Ca ~ ah ns par y.
made manifest in him."
for everyone Of us. to zee himsa,, m u "a. as
of a vast scheme or th.ne. Tha oas ppaa.
close at hand shut out : u,,a," one rae.
vision to him. He was h.,rd. os ~orIo o,
he for anything else? Vet tn. tsaas, cale ~
Jesus was that hv mi. man,. h',n, VI
there should be served In the r,or,, ne nas
which always means the hi1ha.t $1,000, =. ~
of man. Had nc not been q ms v.,da res
gar that dav he So,,ht,as. wayslue peg
have come into contact r,tth ~ nevs,
Healer who could cure The ne ~ " W. en.u
1t. as well az the lesser lila Of tho ~. sp'-
The supreme GOAL Of life tho one ha..
worth spending every Last ,.n :. one yes.
in Nm effort to attain, n the so.I ~ ~ c C,oUo
glory. He who lives for the nrs,. oi ~ Soa !
Lord. lives for the holm 10 III. .s,,Se VI tne
for his own Happiness, The thn,"s. .ho
wonderfully anat,'n. .nousnt ID q