Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1910-11-12
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GODS PARENTHESES.

In this matchlcss chapter of st. John,
amid its pearls of comfort and hope.
there occurs this little parcnthesis that
we skip over in our eagerness to feast
our eyes and hearts on the words of
our departing Saviour. The apostle,
quoting Judas, takes pains to assure
US that the speaker was not the traitor.
Judas had seven nameSakes In the
Bible, and probably none of them rel
ishcd his cognOmen resemblance to the
bctraycr st. John realized that all
future readers would confuse the
speaker with his odious double, whose
name was to be Kissing and a by
word, and so carefully adds, Not Is
cariotw Good. A parcnthesis of God
outweighs a paragraph of man. We
are careful to place dollars and cents
in separate columns, but we confound
men, motives, errors and truths.
The Rarity of Charity.
Accuracy is divine. Mathematics
arose in the councils of God. To err
is Humankind human alone. Occa-
sionally it is inhuman. Voltairc, Paine,
as convenient pegs to hang ilustra-
tons that lack but one feature to be
forceful-they are not true. Phillips
Brooks of beloved memory was care
full to write Not Iscariot." One
searches his sermons in vain to find
a hasty imputation or thoughtless at
tack. We public speakers sometimes
I Of n
color that any good student of history
knows will not wash. Labels are cX
cellent things, but they should be prop
erly applied. When we remember our
own leanings from the perpendicular
we ought to be shy of calling every
Judas an Iscariot. 1t is a little CON
fusing to think that some day the mag
unanimous sod will cover us all without
reproach. Among men of my craft
many a good "Call' has been carefully
boxed. its freight paid and the train
started with prayer, only to be tagged
by a jealous brother who forgot the
parenthesis, Not 1Scariot." | do not
know where either of the Judas broth
rem may be. leave that to those who
like to map the world above and that
beneath l do know that Gods ledger
is evenly ruled. No confusion there
No auditing required. Judas, the true.
has one page. Judas, the false, an
other. In our ardor we quickly gum
and affix our little tags. We use the
terms crank" "ecccntric,' fanatic"
"unbeliever," but Gods directory of
"Who's Who" remains the same. With
him every Judas Is not an IscariOt. |
am glad the higher critics allow this
little parenthesis to remain. 1t is a
little gem of charity hidden amid the
exhaustless mine of Gods word
Drawing differences.
"Mose." said the employer to his
colored teaInstcr, "can you draw an in
ferenceT "Deed. boss, dem mules
can tote any inference you want if de
tugs hold out" An ancient story, of
course. But differences and weakness
of harness go together. In drawing in
fcrences one is apt to forget-"not Is
CARROT" An inference is defined as "a
probable conclusion toward which facts
point, but do not absolutely establish"
When Hannah knelt praying In the
temple her lips moved. but her words
were not audible Eli the priest, in
ferred the godly woman was drunk
and so accused her. When Paul was
shipwrecked at Malta he helped gather
the sticks to make a fire. A deadly
viper fastened itself on Pauls hand.
The barbarians Immediately inferred
that he was a bad man. mo doubt a
murderer He escaped drowning, but
the viper is Gods avengcr on him for
his crimes" When Paul didn't fall
dead from the vipers venom they
drew another inference-"he must be
god" When John came neither
eating nor drinking" some inferred he
had a devil" When Christ came
doing both they inferred he was "a
glutton and wine bibbcr" or John
Christ said, "None greater born among
women" OF Christ God said, This
IS my beloved Son" Not Iscariot."
Mrs. Jones eyes look red as she de-
sends the steps. Her neighbor lin
fers' that she has quarreled with her
husband. DO you notice how often
our pastor goes to Browns? He
knows on which side his bread is but
tered" Go slow in your differences
You may later have to write with
shamed face, Not lscariot."
Your Neighbours Name.
We owe 1t to our neighbOr not to do
him an injustice. A mans character
is one thing, his reputation another
His character is what he is, his repu-
tation is what you say he Is. Jesus
Christ had a good character, none bet
ter. He could say truthfully, Satan
cometh and findeth nothing in me-"
And yet his reputation during most of
his public life was bad, very bad.
Many men in public life have good
character and n bad reputation. Wash
ington was such a one. So was Lin
coin. Want to make your blood boil?
Just read the journals of their time
You are anxious that mot Iscariot"
should follow your name. If your
mornings paper says man in your
town was arrested for some crime, you
feel like writing a note to the editor
something like this:
Dear Sir-Please call the attention of
the public in your next issue to the fact
that the John Smith who was arrested
yesterday for beating his wife was an
other John Smith not the one who lives
in my street and at my number. Respect
fully yours, JOHN SMITH,
No. 10 Peaceful avenue.