Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-29

spread their glorious faces to the sky, and
one Is not surprised TO learn that these
are the flowers Of which Jesus said: Con
slider the lilies Of the field, how they
grow. they toll not. neither do they spin:
And yet / say unto you, That even Solo
mon In all his glory was not arrayed like
one OF these" 1t is the Rose Of Sharon.
the lily Of the field, and It grows today as
II did when the Canticles were written and
when Jesus preached His sermon on the
mount.
And then, as II 10 complete the deluslon
and to force one to forget that this is the
twentieth century, there are the people.
The wagon makes It's way across the road
less plain. A companion sees a deer in
the distance and wonders at the abund-
ance Of wild game in this old country.
But his wonder ceases when the driver
stops TO chat with two men armed for the
chase with spears. Think of men serl-
ously carrying spears as weapons of sport
and defense in the year 1909!
The wagon halts for luncheon at a we'll
In the plain. There is a small village
hidden by mud walls at the crown Of the
hill, from whence come the girls down to
the well to get water. They are dressed
in flowing robes Of yellow and green and
carry great earthen water Jars on their
heads, just as did Rachel when she won
the heart of Jacob Of old. They come
down to the well, which is a hole twenty
feet square and thirty feet deep, and walk
down the steps built inside to the spring
flowing at the bottom, where they fill
their vessels with water. They are not
disturbed by any notions OF modern life
and they greet the Europeans with wide
eyed establishment.
At sunset one sees a shepherd bringing
in his flock from the days feeding. He has
pilotod his obedient charges in the narrow
spaces between the fields OF growing corn,
he has kept them from trespassing upon
the grain, and now he brings them in to
put them in the fold that they may be
guarded during the night against the dep
relations Of the wolves and jackals. He
stands with his crook at the double door
Of the mud walls Of the fold and divides
the sheep from the goats. One looks on
and wonders anew at the pastoral sim
plicity of the parallels OF our Lord.
Occasionally the ancient simplicity OF the
country is varied by a ruin which at
tests the departed glory of the wranglinR
nations which have fought to possess this
fair land. One sees at the very edge of
the ocean a cluster of ruins which have
lost al! semblance Of their original form,
all that is left of the once mighty city
OF Caesarea- This was the place where
Herod, by grant from the Emperor Au-
gustus, built a breakwater and made an
artificial port, which was the only rival
Jaffa has ever known. 1t was a prosperous
city in the time of Christ, although dis
tinctly Roman and not Jewish. The ruins
of Its amphitheater are al that now can
be seen. 1t was in this city thai Paul
delivered his famous grafton before the
Roman Governor Felix, and here he de-
Tended his religion before Festus and that
King Agrippa, who was almost per-
suaded," to be a Christian. And it was from
here that Paul appealed to Caesar and
svom here that he sailed for his last jour
ney to Rome and martyrdom.
Occasionally one sees in the plain, a
ruined building, whose Gothic or Roman
architecture identifies it as a relic of the
Crusades. Such were the hospices built
along the road from st. Jean of Acre to
the holy sepulchre at Jerusalem, to, serve
for the shelter and entertainment of the
pilgrims from Europe who visited this
country during the two centuries Of the
troubled reigns of the Christian kings of
Jerusalem. Most Of these are now quite
deserted. but one or two serve to house
a village of natives.
The Pain of Sharon, with its Garnet of
green and scarlet, with its mud walled
villages, It's ancient wells, its shepherds
and their flocks, preserves today the es-
sential features of the life of the people
Of Judea in the time of Christ, although
the grandeur that was Rome, lies buried
in the ruins of Caesarea, and the Knights
Of the Crusades rest In their graves be-
meath the inscription: His Sword is Rust;
His Bones are Dust; His Soul is With the
Saints We Trust"
NJ F1EDERIc J. HAsKM.
TomOrrow-THE HOLY LAMD.
TX. A Modern zion.