The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-13
This is Taught fh The International Sunaay School Lesson For To- Horr0w-On "Eneas And U Dorcas,o From Acts
 fxt Sl.l8. .
RY WILLIAM T. ELLIs.

| Ks 81-46
 | ..=
 BY WILLIAM 1T. ELLIS.
 Here we have a story without vil-
 lain. Everybody acts handsomely and heIpfully. The background Is peace | and progress; in the forefront are men and women seen at their best. There has been turmoil and excitement In most of the past ten lessons: dramatic
 incidents have at no time been lack | ing. Now the. quarter closes with a peaceful. quiet. constructive lesson. comprising the two incidents of the healing of Eneas. wbo had been pal sled for eight years. and the raising to life. also by Peter, of Dorcas, the woman who was full of good works | and almsdeeds which she did" The lesson of the lesson Is two-fold. and 1t lies on the surface: The Gospel of Jesus Is attested by its power to transform feebleness into strength and death into life; and the religion of the helping hand is the imnemorial 1 result of accepting Christ as< Lord These two teachings are for today. | In other fashion. but none the less truly, the Gospel Is at the present time lifting up the broken in body and spirit and sending them, erect and rejoicing. as witnesses to the super l natural power which still resides in Christianity.
 When Cities Are Stirred. The cities of Richmond and Boston | have lately been stirred to their depths by the Chapman evangelistic meetings Especially in the conserva- tive old New England city has the im- precision been profound. Thousands of persons clamored in vain for admit tance to Gospel meetings already ovcr- crowded. Men and women in all walks of life publicly confessed that they had been made new creatures by this old fashioned Gospel. To them. and to their friends it seemed as If they had passed from death unto life. How the city's many tongues wag- ged over these wonders of Conversion. Even so the talk ran at Lydda, where Peter healed the paralytic, and at Jop- pa' where he restored life to Dorcas Ihese events were "signs"--mfracle -attestations of the divine power which inheres in Christianity. Made over men and women are the final and irrefutable argument for the Gospel. The devil Is less concerned over the books of Christian apolosetics than he Is over the converted sinners who testify to the power that made them whole again. This Is the sort of thing that sets a community by the ears and turns mems hearts to their Maker. The company of witnesses of which Eneas-and Dorcas were early members has been a steadily increasing one ever since,
 The Healing Church.
 Dr. Robert A. Hume, of India, calls himself Maker and mender of men and boys. by the power of the Lord Jesus" In other words he is a mis- sionary. As onA day rode in Ia tonga through the city of Ahmednagar with him, being greeted on every hand by natives of all ranks, realized that his great work has been done, not by the books he has written. Or by the ser mons he has preached in his Oriental church. but by his being a friendly. helpful neighbor in the ordinary rela- little speck of India with the helping, healing touch of Jesus. I am satisfied to accept him. and ten thousand men and women like him. as being in the apostolic succession because he dis plays an apostolic character and does apostolic deeds. Simon Peter, on his missionary tour. would have found many a modern missionary a >congenial companion.
 The conception of ministry which the early church held so strongly is again taking strong hold of the mind of the Church of today. The Emmanuel Movement, and various notifications thereof is permeating all denomina- tions and all sections of the country The ministry is stressing wholeness as well as holiness. Jesus the healer, Is looming large in the Christian thought of our day. Of course this fascinating theme often evokes ill., balanced views, and 1t s fraught with peril to the merely emotional and superficial. None the less, through the science of medicine and the prac- tice of faith, the Church may do for the afflicted what Peter did for Eneas. The medical missions which are cen ters of light and healing all over the non-Christian world are an immeasur- able expression of the Gospels power.
 A Woman's Career.
 The name or Dorcas has been adopt ed by thousands of organizations of helpful women. A. >HeHexample is a good one to mediate upon in this day when there is such widespread discussion of wonan's sphere. Some of us are uneasy as we see that woman Is made the commonest problem of the novel, the play,y the essay, and the lecture. The sign Is not a wholesome one. For when men begin to regard woman as a curious and complex social enigma, and try to analyze and dssect her. they cease to pay her the old fashioned deference which we like to regard as her unquestioned right. The less woman Is considered as a "ques- tion" the surer she will be to fulfill her natural destiny. If this Sunday School lesson leads older students to recall and reassert the primary place of woman in. the social Organization 1t will have done a service entirely germane to its original purpose. Old-fashioned indeed was Dorcas. She had no other thought of career for herself than to be helpful up to the limit of her powers. She was not famous church worker" nor had she the gift of prophecy. Her office was the simple lowly one of helping the needy in humble. womanlY ways. Nobody called her genius" but the poor blessed her upon every remem- brance of her name. She could not teach to edification. perhaps. but she could demonstrate her faith by her works. Many were the new babies whose first warbrobes came from her delft fingers. And even the praiseful lips of the friends who gathered about her bier could not call the roll of all the sick and aged and poor whom she had clothed. All the while, doubtless, Dorcas looked with admiration upon such Superior" women as Mary of Bethany. Little did she dream that her swift needle was stitching her own the worlds brief roll of immortals
 The Solvers of The Social Problem.
 Echoing in the wailing of those bier of Dorcas-I have heard that | lNxIai rd