The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1909-04-17


the Brotherhood should lend itself i.
of minor Importance, if the Bible il
the centrifugal force which impels it
The Bible illuminated the pathway fol
the Jews and has become the basis fol
Christian conquest of the world A
Brotherhood whose heart is warmed a;
the altar Of prayer and whose find is
stimulated IN the school of the scrip
lures, cannot be measured by numbers
or limited to narrow field.
Point of Contract.
Friendship is the Point of Con-
tract through which Brotherhood
nen are to exert their best influence.
Around the beautiful story OF Damon
and Pythias a thousand forms of fra
ternity and Brotherhood have been
organized Emerson once said, Our
chief want is some one who car make
! US do what we can'-when the Galilee-
} an fishermen were admitted to the
friendship of Jesus they were born in
to new kingdom of privilege and
glory
Jesus graphically painted the pic
ture OF the victim OF sin as man who
has been robbed and left dying by
the wayside. The first to pass that
way was a priest, the type of a pro-
fessional religion and an age of eccles-
iasticism, cold, pitiless, and Indifferent,
in which religion was reserved for the
temple. The second man to pass that
way was Leyite, the type of culture
and of an age of reason, curious, criti-
cal but heartless, which pauses to con-
template human suffering but does not
stop to alleviate it, The third to pass
that way was a despised Samaritan,
who forgetting prejudice and race
hatred, yields to the. impulse of a low
ing heart and tenderly performs the
offices of brother to the fallen man.
The crying need of the times is such
a brotherly kindness We make our
tables groan with appeals to the
stomach and tickle itching ears with
novel programs when the strongest
appeal should be made to the heart.
The origin forces of evil have put
enough counterfeit friendship into cir
culation, it is UP to the forces Of right
eousness to give them the real thing.
Human Instrumentality.
Men are coming to a fuller realiz-
alton of the fact that God has made the
use of human instrumentality impera-
tive in the evangelization of the world.
Back in the days of Prophet Hosea
God said, Il drew them with the cords
of man, with bonds of love'-God
not only uses human methods but hui
man instrumentality. The highest ex-
preston of the divine use of the hui
nan involved the incarnation of
Christ. Other religions reflect the
sense of its need. How else are we
to understand the Hammer of Thor
the Wounded Foot of Brahma or
"Prometheus Bound"-The influence
of all history is that God is working
out an eternal plan through the use of
human instrumentality. In a world
where the ravenous beasts of lust and
greed prey upon men. God has raised
up human instruments of salvation.
/ The prophet has beautifully expressed
this truth "A man shall be as an
hiding place from the wind, and
covert from the tempest; as rivers of
water in a dry place. as the shadow or
a great rock in weary land A great
rock in the desert resists the drift
of deadly sands and under its shelter
springs of water burst forth, fruits
and flowers spring up to refresh all
who seek refuge there Graphic pic
ture Of an ideal Brotherhood.
( A visitor in a great pottery noticed
that the coarser vessels were machine
made, while the f-er and choisest
wares were shaped by hand When
asked why, a workman replied-"No
machine has ever been found which
can do this finer work. Some how or
other nothing can take the place of the
human hand for these choicest eff
fects"
We have invented new machine
for religious work 1t is ponderous
and interesting. Results may be ex-
pecled when We're never known be-
fore But the machine cannot take the
place of personal touch. The Broth
erhood is not merely a machine OF
carefully related parts We are not
bolted and pinioned and grooved into
fixed relationships. We are living
organism possessing individuality in
each part and each bearing responsl
blity for the whole. If the men OF
America are to be won to the man OF
Galilee every man must do his part"
mn 49,,