Semi-weekly herald., 1908-04-27
WHEN THE DAWN OF
PEACE WILL COME

From Goodwins Weekly.
II the modern churchmen were
asked how old Lent Is. how many
could answer? Each one might tell
when 1t was adopted by his particu-
lar creed, but how many could tell
the origin OF the sacrament?
Arabia was peopled long before
the days of Solomon, and those peo-
Pile had Lent. 1t was the month OF
their year, which they called Rama
dan, and during all the days of this
month. from the rising to the going
down of thesun,, during all those
hours IL was sacred duty to fast.
During the day, If one passed wick
ed man who was smoking. they
would hold hand over their mouth.
lest Whit of the forbidden fragrance
should pollute them. In those days
the very devout retired through the
day to remote spots away from the
habitations of men and spent hours In
self communion, looking meanwhile
loWdlQ iAC dbod0 VI 1itah. A@S
Old Testament tells Of trading with
the men of the desert" and many OF
them embraced the religion, or at
least part of the religion of the
hammed was born. The truths and
the fictions OF thousands of years had
come down from father TO son and
was the history of that region when
"the prophet" was born, and with WV
Id oriental imaginations to add the
marvellous to simple facts, 1t was not
\ strange that after awhile a legend
took form that Amina, his mother,
was possessed of all the graces. and
his father, the young and beautiful
Abdallah-the name means the serv-
ant of Allah-was SO wonderfully
sSF hhtss hjs III maEETAeSs S,s xith 4i AplHa sJt1a
that he had not married them. And
more wonderful still that Mohammed,
the moment he WAS born, cried out
Allah is great! There is no god but
Allah, and l am his prophet" And
the legend continuing tells that on
that day great earthquake caused
the minarettes on the palace of great
Chasroes in Persia TO topple and fall.
and certain high officer saw In n
vision wild campbell overcome by
an Arabian charger ad the sacred fire
that for thousand years had burned
unquenched on the altar Of Zoroaster
went out.
That was 1888 years ago. The his
tory Of "the camel driver" is pretty
well known, all his trials, all his per
lis and hardships until through the
steadiness of his brain and courage
he was acknowledged to be a real
prophet. But he died at last, and
ever since the believers in his creed
have made annual journeys to Me-
dina. where he died, and to Mecca.
where the kaaba fell Thousands and
hundreds of thousands have died ON
that journey. but of late years the
camel has been discarded and steam
ships have taken the thousands TO
near the sacred cities and now a rail-
road Is pushing its way across the
sads to Mecca and the last news is
that man has contracted to light
the sacred temple with electric lights.
This shows how the world is growing
together.
What is to be after little more
VIII there be softening and blend |
ing of creeds and men that learn
that God and Allah are the same
AS modersn creeds pick up the meth |
DDS Of the earlier ones. as peace con-
crosses beat down one violence after
another. will not men grow nearer to
each other and find that after all men
diner little save through their envir
onments and that God does not
change at all. viii not the dawn OF
peace wrap the world in divine lightY