Evening star., 1907-11-17
Sunday Morning ak
Trolley Car Theology.

Jamnled together On the front Of an
electric car the other afternoon, four OF
us, mainly strangers to one another,
struck up an informal conversation We
were homeward bound, and the labors Of
the day being ove-, and the anticipations
of the evening being keen, we were dis
posed to little more familiarity than had
we been headed toward our tasks at the
days beginning. But even then, the con-
versation took a somewhat unexpected
turn.
One of the men had asked me about a
certain mutual acquaintance. and l had
told him of her prostration by paralysis.
What" said he has that saint been
called upon to pass under the harrow?
Why. supposed she was so ripe for heav-
en-, so free from b.emish that she would
go as Enoch or Elijah did without suf-
fering any of the disagreeable processes
of decay and death" YES" 1 rejoined.
Least of all women whom l know, does
she seem to need disciplining at the hands
of Providence. It's pretty hard to explain
mysteries of this sort. In fact we need
another world to right UP the many injus-
tees that we witness here My inter-
locutor-who is an elderly man ana some
what sad-faced-went on to say that the
most undeserving here seem often to eX-
perience most in the way of sorrow and
hardship, while as to the other world he
said: I'VE don't know anything about
that, for no one has ever come back from
it."
A period of silence followed this mourn
full observation, which was broken by the
motorman's bold assertion, 'One man mas
come back
Pretty good for the motorman," said
the fourth member Of our group, a jolly
fellow in early middle life, ana L at once
took it upon me to support the motor
mans contention. saying, Yes, indeed, l
do believe that one man came back, and
that the world has not clung to that De-
lief for nineteen centuries IN VAIN, at
which the jolly stranger SAID. sure
enough, it can't be that all that Is best
in civilization and art and human life Is
built on a mere dream.
The elderly cynic, while not olsputlns
the proposition, began TO comment upon
the unsatisfactoriness and queerness OF
this human world 'Three-quarters OF the
inhabitants of the globe" said he, have
a desperately hard time to get along, they
have scarcely enough to eat and to wear
while the other quarter nave enough ana
to spare, and some Of them more than
enough" But the Jovial member OF the
quartet would not let such remark as
that go unchallenged. He burst out with
this ejaculation: Its bully world. -
Whereat | ventured to say. well, it's as
good world as any of US ever got lnto'
and the motorman said, That's So.
By this time we were nearing the trans
fer station and the group began to scatter
the motorman remarking in his cheery,
Irish brogue, as we said goodnight to HIM
and to one another. This has peen
very interestin conversation
AS went up the street to my own
dwelling I mused how there on the front
of the car the chief problems OF theology
had focused themselves. We four men, to-
gether for half an hour by pure accident
had in our talk reflected what is going on
in the minds of people everywhere today
when once they stop to think and lay bare
to one another their inmost connections.
We were certainly typical modern group
There was the cyntc and the oesslmlst, a
man who, as l happen to know, mad ac-
uIIired a good deal of property, put VINO
.ooked forward to old age with forebodlng
and uncertainty of mind. There was the
Jolly, forward looking optimist. who re-
fused to be disheartened even by the pam
full facts of life, and there. too. was the
plain man of the people, reader than any
of us In the group to profess his unstudleo,
but confident, faith that Once man
came back
| shall not soon forget that talk on the
front platform. 1t gave me nope touch-
ing the underlying soundness of the great
m iority of men in the essentials OF the
faith and the words that will echo long
est In nv mind are there: There was
once a man who came back and tnls is
a bully world IHE fAhoON'