The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-04-12
IN THE" REL|G|OUsW0RLO
What Church Folk Are Think
ing About and Doing
/, GREAT NATION WITH THE
Blues.
The I~nternationai sunday S>,ioot Les
ar for april Il is The Question
cf John The Baptist.
BY William L. Ellis.

Ry William I. Ellis.
The President of the United states
in a recent address at Newark opened
his heart. showing the acknowledgements
which comes to 2 public man. mat
sIa President should be so sensitive
t. the barbs OF the newspapers n
publicists came to some persons as a
surprise: vet it may be questioned
ahether every strong man does not
Aave his hours of depression, when
ne would willingly give up his work,
and retire to obScurity. 1IEJah had
81 under the juniper tree. The second
Elijah, the brave and rugged Jonn,
who had dared the vengeance OF the
powerful Pharisees and the
and lecherous Herod, had an attack OF
~tre blues" that gives US this passage
"a the Gospel which has been assign
sd as the Sunday school lesson Tor
she present week.
T~heo!ogians have talked about
Johns eclipse of faith: they forget the
physical factors. Many a man thinks
he is suffering from religious depres-
sion when it is only a torpid liver or
overwork that ais him. A few hours
III the open air and sunlight Will work
wonders with his faith. John, his
wilderness man with the bark on"
This BeduCin of the desert, was now
shut up in the grim fortress Of
Macherus. In h darkness n loneii-
ness Of the dungeon to which Herod's
hate had assigned him, he had per-
hapS ~Succunbed to mOrbidneSs. It
was one of the occasions which test
the strongest men. He fed III his
own heart. His thinking became con-
fused: he needed the strong winds of
the desert to blow the cobwebs from
his brain. He began to distrust him
self and his past experiences. He had
doubts of the coming. One to whom
lie had borne witness by the Jordan.
Events had not developed according
TO his programme.
Isolated souls are always subject to
the danger of distorted thinking. That
IS why single men and women are SO
prone to become queer and it is one
Of the reasons why cit is not good for
man TO be alone" John needed the
corrective of contact with other peo-
pie. So does everybody. There is a
time to go apart from men, and there
IS a time to feel the pulsing life Of
humanity all about one. Every lonely,
seqUestered Christian should count a
visit to & convention or q conference
rs essential as clothes or food. There
are many men in North America VINO
are deeply envelOped in the blues:"
let them go to the National Mems Mis-
slonary Congress in Chicago in Nav.
or to the Worlds Sunday School Con-
CANAo ht Gci, q Lew Weeks
hence, or TO any one 1T the great eccle-
SiaStlcai gather .ngs OF next month, or
70 the Worlds, Missionary Conference
I'll Edlnhueg. and learn how mighty
are the hosts OF the Lord, and what
victories his cause is having.
When Il Nan is Down.
john III prison had the good sense
10 take his doubts straight to Jesus.
He did not brood over them in secret.
rs do the foolish. When resolved into
definite questions. and put sQusreIy
forward for answer, most doubts dis
appear. John was a mar of action.
SO he sent two disciples-thank God
Tor these unnamed friends, who stand
by III the hour Of adversity.-over
mt" the cities OF Gaiiiee where Jesus
was itinerating alone, the twelve being
absent on their mission.
III PRISON, his spiritual vision mo-
mentarily clouded, lonely and rest
less, great John nevertheless had no
word for himself. He did not send an
tfnbasSy to seek deliverance. He did
not cry, 80 Wonder-Worker. get me
out Of this vile place." Never q whin,-
per Or a whine was heard proceeding
from this one OF Macherus' dungeons,
John was still the servant of the
Kingdom. He cared more for that
sreat Coming than for himself. The
supreme idea of his mission still doml-
mated Ill He was primarily solicit
ious about Gods truth. This noble
self-abnegaton which today finds,
~sneasurably, q parallel in the Russian
prisons, contrasts with the conduct Of
@~convicted Pittsburg CRATER, who re-
Gently from his prison sent out whinn-
pering appeals for pity and assistance
10 his friends.
The great question of John is the
turning question Of today: art thou
lie that cometh, or look we for
nother?' 1t is a question more i'm
ooftSnt than the tariff question, the
labor question, the woman suffrage
question. the Far Eastern question, or
the question OF the high price Of food
SITE struggles in the Ages breast
MIN deepening agony Of quest
1he old entreaty: sArt thou He.
rr Dok we for the Christ to be- -"
The Unanswerable Proof