The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-10-30
4 MAN AS A
The InternstfonaI sunday School Les- son for Oetober 31, is "Paul Prisoners The voyage1
 Acts xxvii, I-20.
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

I F.
 Everybody faces trouble some time. It may be only a little trouble. but IT 1t seems big. the problem Is the same. The stronger the person the greater and more numerous his troubles. Out ward serenity of life, and freedom from soul-turmoil. are goals which all who would live nobly must resign. The tempests of truth are better than the ease of error. Whoever follows the knlghtly Christ must share the turmoil and tumult of which He was. and is. the centre An exciting experience of the Apostle Paul brings the Sunday Schools face to face with the question of how to behave in trouble.
 man is bigger than mountain, a soul is greater than a storm. As we read this dramatic narrative of PauPs experience in a fierce Northeastsr. we note that 1t is he. and not the ripping, roaring. resfstiess winds; or the over whelming waves. that commaads our attention. The mariner is of m ore fn- terest than the tempest. The s.rng- gles of human spirit are more ab- sorbing than all the fury of the aie- ments. This great Mediterranean hur- ricane seems to have as its centre the mild-mannered little Jew, " tn eyes like coals of fire, who had likewise teen the centre of many stormy human scenes.
 May Man Turn sours
 It is not the troubles that como to US that count, but the way we meet th- m. For the first office of trlhulatioa ''. to serve as. .trials--testi iSs--of character. Into the human junk heap of useless tools must go the man who whimpsrs and lies down at the frs. 'approacE of hardship. wailing comm -a.iy ther'lf- ter his grievance into the ears of all who can be made to hear 1t. There Is no more sensible test nf Pauis real size than the fact that ho never whined or complained about ,is trcrbles. lie had enough, surely: but he did not turn sour. He kept his faith in men, -and in God. The victim of piled-up fnjus- tices. he remained throughout a suave and smiling gentleman. He was good company even for his jailers. Note how cordial is his relationship with Captain Julius. on this eventful voy- age. Incidentally. it secured for Paul the special consideration which digni- fled courtesy usually wins.
 The actual events of the voyage are best told in the words of Luke. After his address before Festus and Agrippa, Paul was sent towards Rome. at the first opportunity. One ship carried the prisoner and his military escort over familiar seas. from Caesarea to a port in Asia Minor called Myra. There they transhipped to what was then es- teemed a large ship, a grain vessel from Egypt, bound for Rome. In this they made a slow journey against winds until they reached the Island of Crete. which newspaper readers recog- nize as the present scene of interna- tlonal complications. They worked their way gradually around the island to the port of Fair Havens. This was poor harbor, and the ships cap tain did not want to winter there, al- though Paul warned him that to leave would be destruction; so in the face of dangerous storms, as October is the ship tried to make Phoenix. another port on the same island of Crete, in order to lie up for the winter. This effort failed, and the throwing over of the cargo, casting out of anchors and binding the hull with great ropes, all failed to avert shipwreck.
 All Winds are Good Winds.
 whichever way the wind doth blow
 Some heart is glad to have it so.
 Then blow 1t East or blow it West,
 Whatever wind doth blow Is best -"
 Paul was not of those wlo find fault with the weather: he recognized 1t as Gods weather. on the same errand and serving the same Master asshkmself. It is comforting assurance that the 'ftuler or Wlnd and wave" uses both men and natural elements to work out His purposes. The very heart of faith is to believe that whatever God sends Is good. His winds never thwart His will. He had decreed that His minis- ter, Paul. should go to Rome: to ac-. complish this end He would, if neces- sary, unleash the winds that He holds in His fist. We'll could Paul be at peace. for he knew that there was not
 
 to drown the man whom the Lord need ed at Rome.
 Few experiences call for more faith than storm at sea. The landsman cannot understand the seeming omnip- otence of the waters, and the utter helplessness of mortal power in a great tempest. I have sailed this same tempestuous Mediterranean, in a vessel not much larger than Paul's; and I have been nigh to death in a still