Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-05-06
BIInyan in Prison

Bunyan in Prison.
A-many lay with him in Bedford Jail
Cut-throats and thieves and women of
the street;
| Spawn Of all evil sprawled about his
feet,
The while he dreamed his dream and
told his tale.
What mattered it to him? Within the
pale
OF these four walls, him faithful
stopped to greet
Or with stout hopeful walked in con-
verse sweet,
And Christian DER Apollyon did pre-
vail.
And so the foul wards widened when
he willed-
Let in a world in little, then, narrow
ing grew
To semblance Of the giants dungeon
dull;
Shifted to shapes Of the vale and
I, meadow, filled
/ With all the Visions glory, changed
The shining rooms of the house into
| beautiful.
''Then saw in my dreams fair
| refrain
Sprinkles the printed page, till he for
get
He had his waking hours, when the
fret
1 OF fear that just missed madness
leased his brain
Travelling with his own peculiar pain,
In every path its pilgrim knew, he
Feet that might stumble, but linger
| not, and yet
Knew not the end-that was the
dream again!
What wonder, in his book, the valley
grim
4 Stretches ere rise the mounts delect
able,
And the slough lies before Emman
uel's land,
Full many a league? Gods peace
came late to him
Who trod the road from earth t
heaven and spanned
With his rackd soul the gulf 'twix
Heaven and He'll
We are all pilgrims. We seek a bet
ter country. The pursuit of the highe
is an ineradicabie Characteristic Of
the human species. The lowest savag
doubtless has his moments of discon
tent and of eager desire for q bette
life. Because men know themselves t
be pilgrims and strangers. they low
this old book with it's perplexed an
burdened hero. BY sharing his ex
periences, they gain his wisdom. In tn
interpreters House with him the
learn great life lessons.
Life cannot be lived. Despite pop
ular theory that the final force is tn
omnipotent Ego, and that
II am the master of my fate.
l am the captain of my sou"
1t still remains true that in the high
est spheres of action the human wi
, needs supernatural reinforcement. A
rare spirits have realized their own in
ability to come up to the level of thei
: vision. Paul found two forces eve
) contending within him. The poet, pro
= ceeding beyond this truth, voiced tn
. truth when he crs>d,
! 20 that a Man would arise in me,
| That the man that l am may ceas
: There is warrant FOR Bunyan CIV
: ing to his laundering, stumbling Pi
/ grim many helps by the way to enabl
him to reach the Celestial City.
The highest and most importar
l. truth is that which pertains to tf
J. realm of the spirit; and "spiritu
! things are spiritually discerned."
;, ut Is the heart, and not the brain,
D That to the highest doth attain"
: In the Interpreters House Christia
= was shown a fire against wall whic
II could not be quenched, though or
Il east water upon it continually. TT
', explanation was given to Pilgrim whe
, he was shown the other side of tt
:, wall, where a man was pouring oil II
!, to the fire. This the Interpreter sal
was the way the devil tried to extir
!" guish mans spirituality, and he wou
s succeed We're it not that Christ is ev'
i pouring into his heart the oil OF h
Q grace. There is a power in the Chris
:. Ian, and from without the Christia
! q power which is not at all Of himsel
;. that enables him to live a godly Ii
:, amid conditions not favorite theret
] Thus Christ keeps his own. in spite