The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-11-14
~ WILLIAM ID. ELLIS.

By WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
This fad-ld,ving, scatter Drained day
has found a new fancy, the "God of
Happiness" named "Billiken''; and
plaster images of the grotesque little
idol may be bought at any of the de-
partment st ores for as small sum as
ten cents. The doggerel that goes
with "BilIiken" asserts that he surely
brings happiness; and as there is
nothing the world more ardent1y de-
sires, or more vainly seeks at TWEEN
tieth-century bargain counters tnan
happiness this machine-made idol
which, with the idlest, can provoke
only a momentary grin-is installed
upon something corresponding to an
altar.
for a season upon hat-bauds belts,
scarfs. watch-fobs and in a dozen 9TH
er ways, without finding that IL en-
hances happiness, our modern Athen-
fans turn to this new god OF happ1-
ness. In all the changeful panora-
ma of our modern life there is moth
ing more appealing than the logged
pursuit, In many guises, of that elu-
sive condition called happiness. Man
vaguely feels that, somehow, happi-
ness is his right, and his royal in
heritance and he persists to the end
in this search for his own.
On ''The Great White Way"
What many persons understand as
happiness, or. at least. the pursuit
thereof, is often pictured as The
Great White Way In New York, as
Broadway by night is designated. A
few nights ago, amid these scenes, l
had an experience Of the artificial and
the real; the none essential and the VI
tai Broadway was ablaze with lights,
and thousands of brilliantly dressed
men and women promenaded the
sidewalks, or dashed to and fro in car
riages and automobiles, while from
the opening doors of sumptuous res
taurants f1oated the strains OF or
chestral music with which after-thea-
ter diners were being entertained. 1t
was all a wonderful picture of Van
ity Fair; more graphic. in some
ways, than that oft-described nightly
scene in Piccadilly, London, at the
same hour.
Proceeding down Broadway to
Twenty-fifth street I came upon
vivid contrast. In a dark corner, hud-
died close together in four orderly
rows, stood more than hundred
shiverfng men, not an overcoat in the
crowd-an abject company Of down
and outs" It was not a bread line"
but a bed line, for in the custody of
the big-hearted chaplain of Black
Wells Island, these men were waiting
for chance doles from passing pedes-
trians. which their leader quickly
transformed into lodging tickets,
dollar providing a nights lodging for
seven men. Here was need. deep, VI
tai sgnawing need, such as only those
who have been sleep-starved. as well
u, l.
was a note of genuineness sounded
alongside of chorus of unreality;
the primitive human crying out for
the primal physical necessities. as con-
trasted with the petulant querulous-
ness of a luxury stated people in search
OF a new sensation. q
Following the Oldest Trail.
These two extremes and all the
wide range between, are eagerly in
quest of satisfaction. They are on
A., 1I.5 oh oil oh
dren of men have followed. All the
little piles of rice that were today
freshly put in front of Japanese idols;
all the incense now burning in China;
all the garlands and libations offered
upon Hindu shrines, are only dumb,
inarticulate cries for guidance to this
supreme goal of heart happiness.
Is there any trustworthy guide to
the end of this great search? Verify.
We find him a shepherd boy upon
ancient Judean hills, then a warrior,
a statesman, a king; and there is his
word of proved wisdom; the morsel
of truth for which the whole vast
heart of the race is hungering:
Jehovah is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green
He Ieadeth me beside still waters.
He restoreth my soul;
He guideth me in the paths of
Righteousness for his names
Yea, though I walk through the VAL
ley Of the shadow of death.
I will fear no evil; for thou art with
me-
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me-"
Religions Ultimate Offering.
Poor, foolish, weak and laundering
sheep that men and women are they
need above all else the complete care
of the Good Shepherd. This is the
message of religion to the world.
God is a Shepherd; he loves his sheep,
and he wants them to yield their lives
to him for all things needful. Simple
Yes; it is our childhood psalm. But
we do not outgrow it; instead, we
grow up to it, as we are taught, by
nfe's pitfalls and briars and beasts of
prey; that our supreme need is to
surrender ourselves to the tender
keeping of the wise and mighty shep-
herd Of our souls.
Some men are arguing that man
kind needs new machinery of
civilization Others say we need a
new theology. One school declares
that we need more of the worlds
material benefits, and another protests
that we need fewer. Really what
men and women need, fundamentally
and finally, is a new consciousness OF
the benign and shepherdly love of
God, with consequent yielding of
their lives to his care. Out of our
unsatisfying and superficial sophisti-
cation, We should return to our
childhood trust in the good shepherd.
That was the faith of the early
Christians; whose goes through the
Catacombs of Rome may find the
good shepherd craven at every turn
on the walls of those eloquent SUBJ
terranean passages.
The EnIarging Flock.
There IS no other figure in Holy
Writ so beautiful, and so meaningful,
as the one of the shepherd. used here