The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-02-09

1918. The Golden Text, ST will
bless thee, and make thy name great
and thou shalt be a great blessing. y
Gen. 1872.
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
Somewhere between the ancestor
worship of the yellow race, and the
gelf-madeness and consequent self-suf-
ficiencv of the western white man. lies
the golden mean of a proper regard
for ones forebears. No one ever -es-
capes the influence of his grand
father; yet the living man is more po-
tent than the dead ancestor The
paralysis which has ienthralled the east
for centuries. is due to a dispropor-
tionate regard for the people who have
passed away; the dead hand has
throttled nations. Among all the an
clients of whom men have boosted as
ancestors. none have had so many
proud descendants as Abraham, who
may be called the famous ancestor in
got the new name of Abraham) broke
with his old home and his old family
associations and ties.
In the shadow of his greater son
glands the ss,, dim f figure Of T renah
outer. He. like his son after him, was
OF the sort who blaze new pathways.
He left Ur of the .Chaldees and took
his family toward Canaan, though he
rot only as far as Haran. Probably
not one Sunday-school scholar out of
a hundred knows aught of AbramS
father; and, if questioned, would say
that he was an old heather living back
in Ur of the Chaldees. Thus does honor
that rightly belongs to parents and
teachers and friends concentrate upon
one who is often less great than they.
Many a mans worth and character are
but the extension of the worth and
character of his parents; for it often
happens that a mans success is at
tanned in his son. Unknown parents
or welI-known men, would make a re-
vealing book; Abram is inexplicable
without Terah.
The Call of the Wilderness.
Some spirits are essentially pioneers.
They cannot be content to tread life's
Journey over paved highways. They
must be breaking a way where other
feet have never gone. This lure or
the wilderness is often an awakening
of individuality; it is the souls asSer-
ton of itself, and of its right to a new,
free expression. The spirit which ex-
perienceS this tumult and hears the
cry, 81 am I, and 1 must go out and
prove myself in new ways and in new
places must hearken as unto the
voice of Jehovah For it is by Obed-
fence to this call that the borders of
all kingdoms of heaven and earth are
pushed outward.
Abram heard this summons. and
knew it to be divine. He heard and he
answered, both of which facts proved
him to be a strong, and not weak
soul. The feeble personality wants
protection, shelter, comfort and free
dom from responsibility; the great life
exults in responsibilities and great
deeds and daring. Abrarn showed on
which side of this dividing line be-
tween the weak and the strong he be-
Not that it was easy. The weak can
never know how hard 1T is for the
strong to make the surrenders which
ne affCinnNV
Doubtless a great battle went on in
Abrams breast before he came to a
decision; and 1t is these struggles OF
the soul that make history. These
unseen, inner, individual conflicts are
the really epochal events in history
All the din and turmoil OF the worlds
barter and delxfnE counts for less than
these silent determinations of a spirits
relationship with God. All future his
tory was affected by Abrams decision,
q decision of which his neighbors did
not for an instant see the significance.
A bit of neighborhood gossip was all
that they saw in the event; When, at
the call of God. Abram left prosperity
and family and set out upon untried
ways he was voted a fool by these
sages, whose memory
scarcely lasted beyond their burial.
The mediocre people whom he left
shook their heads over him; it is hard
for the commonplace. whose thoughts
seldom rise above bread and ease. to
comprehend a spirit which counts
these as small things. Yet these who
go out, with misunderstanding and
contempt, are often called back in
honor. The world has ever had to
build monuments to those to whom it
denied a living. The Abram type. |
which greatly dares, is greatly reward
ed. The secret of success is Goodness. |
more holiness, and ever holiness"
Furthermore, to such warriors is
given a peace to which small and tim
orous men are strangers. Despite dan
gers and hardships, Abrams lot was |
happier far than that of his neighbors |
left behind.
A wedding and a birth are sacred |
things, because they represent a new
beginning. The deepest significance of |
this lesson story is that 1t is one of |
Gods beginnings; the spring of an |
endless and ever-enduring river of in |
huence. And the water was released |
by one mans right decision. This |
election Of a family and a people for a |
peculiar work in the world hinged en-