The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-05-04


son for May is. Joseph the Wise
Ruler in Egypt" Gen. 41:S8-49.
The Golden Text is. IF Any of You
Lack Wisdom, Let Him Ask of
God" James Is.
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
Who can remember what was last
years "best selling" novel? Or last
months? Modern stories seem but
horn to die; what contrast is afford
ed by the compact, living, dramatic
Old Testament tale of jealousy, IN
trigue, heorism, abject suffer1ns Tor
the sake of principles, and conPIete
and splendid triumph over all elrcuIn-
stances and Goes which go to make up
ff1e narrative of the life Of the young
man Joseph. Absorbing human IN
terest. which grips youth ana age
alike fs found in these few old pages:
A 11er,IsaI of the story-it can be read
from bcminning to end In hfreeh HIN
1Ites-r1akes one think of how mod
ern writer would dribble over |eEls
wealth Of material -.
Tn connection with the moving tale
of Joseph's experiences Is WoFtn
while to point out the dlHefshc5 %
tween the literary style or the BioIo
and the literary STYLE or an 4 TIIr-
iist literature, Prof. ]. H. Garalner, o.
harvard university, has recently Nrit-
fe,, that "above all other DOCKS ~
English the Bible mas the pot 49,
hnrrvine runfnation of the sast
,neIres o,.r modern food OF hterature
sacr1 sarruIous and chatter1ng; even
g. lat literature of the Greeks
loses beside the compression ana mas
aiveness of the Old Testament II y
this cool so1idfty CT potse, TINS graye
and weighty compressor Oh sp -,
fures so foreign. 1t has no pr1de OF
art no interest in the subjective I'M
nressions OF the writer no care even
FOR. the preservation OF his name; II
a. austerely preoccupied with the last
inc and the real, and above all, un-
ceasingly possessed with tne sense u
the Immediate presence or a Goa VINO
Is omnipotent. and inscruta pie; rms
constant preoccupation with the
eternal and the superhuman gives to
this literature a sense of proportion
which again separates 1t from other
literature. In our modern literature
A. ia hardly possible to find an au-
thor who has not some touch of the
restless egotism that is the curse OF
the artistic temperament; in the Bible
there is no author who was not free
from it.
an this art which is not art. then.
In this absorption with the solid facts
of reality and the neglect of mans
comment and Interpretation, in the
and the sense of the constant and i'm
mediate presence of an omnipotent
God, .he Bible stands apart in our
literature"
The Climax of a Career.
The portion of the biography of Joseph
which the worlds Sunday schools are
this week studying shows him at last
crowned with glittering success. tri-
umphant over all his enemies and adj
versities the object of the favor of a
nation, Of its king and of the King of
kings. Here we see indicated the truth
which short vision so frequently OBJ
scures namely, that Gods laws are yet
operative. He is still managing his uni
verse IN his own way. And while he is
running an immeasureable universe he
is not too busy to give heed to the per-
SonaI affairs of every mortal that de-
ponds upon him. In the days renais-
sance of ideals. 1t is well to be reminded
by Joseph that the man who pins his
faith to Gods eternal principles cannot
fail He may for a time be cast down
or obscured. but failure cannot come to
him who Identifies himself with a d.
vine truth. without the fall of Jehovah
from his throne. During the two long
lonely years between the making of the
buffers promise and its fulfllment,
yoseph's faith must have been sorely
tried. But he believed God notwfth-
standing all: he kept his flag flying in
that miserable old Egyptian prison, and
eventually IL proved to be flag of vic
tory.
Getting Ready for the Big Day.
OF course Joseph's chance came; the
Lord never lets go to waste such an
equipment and fidelity as Joseph's If
he can help it. The man who has drill
ed himself to fitness in the school of
hard, dark days is, certain to come up
eventually with his great opportunity
The trouble with not few young peo-
pie is that they are bewailing their
lack of a chance in life, instead of ser
iously preparing for the day of their Wis
itation. Opportunities are only judg-
ments to the unprepared. There are
full many men grumbling and gossiping
on street corners or in village stores
who should be hard at the task of per-
&ecting themselves to obey their call