The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-06-18
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

IN nj tied from our times, and the
M retailer of after dinner wit
ticisms has taken his place.
Even the children's bed time
story Is often crowded out
by the press of a hurried social life.
But the East still has time for stories,
told with leisurely RESPONSIVENESS and
fullness. AS 1 write there arises be-
fore me the recollection of village
in the mountains of northern Japan,
and the story teller sitting as the CEN
ter of an attentive group of adults,
the dim light of paper lanterns re
f1ected from their alert eyes; While the
narrafor's com panion accented certain
points of the tale with vigorous
drumming of the samisen.
The orient, with it's love of a story
of imagery and of the play of fancy
contributed the audience to which
Jequs told stories by Galilees shore.
This Oriental Bible OF ours Is full or
the pictures which mirror the life
amid which 1t was enacted and writ
ten. These people love an Illustration
better than an argument So Jesus
! spoke to them in Earthly
&iorIss with heavenly meanings.
The Boat Pulpit
This days stories, which will occupy
the attention CT he Sunday schools for
three successive weeks, were told to
crowd gathered on the shore Of Galilee
The Story Teller sat in q boat out on
the lake; pulpit, people and place all
aided to a natural and easy telling of
stories that touched the life of the
everyday folk. Is 1t any wonder that
the stories have come down through
the centuries redolent of the very air
! of Gahlee?
The tales Of Jesus are the best
f9nown stories in existence. They are
more familiar than the immortal cpl
sodes from the Arabian Nights.
Aesop's Fables have no such constitu-
ency. The Greek mythology and the
folk lore of every nation may not be
compared with these in point of popu-
larity or otherwise. The widespread
favor in which these stories are held is
lan indirect evidence Of the influence
which thu teachings of Jesus have
upon the world. It was in fulfillment
iOf prophecy that the Master spoke
thus:
"I will open my mouth in parallels;
I will utter things hidden from the
foundation of the world"
Gublinest truths may wear simplest
guise. The homely parable may cover
the wisdom of the great philosopher.
Lessons From Life.
One wonders what this consummate
Master of the art of using life's every
dayness for highest ends would say
were he to speak again in the age of
airships electricity, wireless telegra-
ply, monographs and crowded news
papers. Surely he would freight the
machinery of our modern civilization
with spiritual messages. He would set
an example to all the laundering
teachers who are going to musty COM
mentaries when the real world is
thrilling and throbbing all about them.
The peerless Teacher was content to
paint truths portrait with the mater
falls nearest at hand. He did not send
to foreign parts for feathers for his
arrows of wisdom.
From the gently rocking boat, lap
ped by little waves that could be
heard so great was the silence Of the
crowd, he looked out toward the hill
side where a farmer sowed Perhaps
st was from an actual occurrence then
before his eyes that he drew the won
derful parable of the soweT. He caught
in the most commonplace act a beau
Stful symbol. He cav the spiritual
significance of the little. ordinary
CRY the stay-at-homes. That depends.
PT'he real privilege is to have seeing
eyes. Thousands travel for and see
nothing; another sees so much in his
own village that the world throngs to
MS feet. It Is all a question Of eyes or
no eyes. How Jesus must have enjoyed
the world In which he livedl
Everything q Parable.
The suburbanite who rushes daily
Nor his train sees no meaning in the
tragic partings at the railway station;
inor in the big eyed immigrants; nor
tdsrins boy, fresh from the country.
FWell may we all pray for seeing eyes,
Rhat we may behold what is worth
while In life. The blight is upon us
iof observing t:.e latest fashions in
lClothes and ooiffure. but of being blind
ito the old, old fashions In human
EhsartA
The gift of disoernment is the first
qualification for teaching. 1t is more
important than q head full of facts
Religious duty, with his call to "con-
hBider the ines," and to consider life.
Eatoh the depth and meaning of
Filings. Learn to brood. Null over
leprtngB OF human interest. Yes, and
End a we'll within the breasts of self,
10 satisfy when other waters fail. The
Lcontemplative. self-resourceful person
BIS brother to all the world.
The Farm and the Heart.
The stories Jesus told were true to
life. Therein they lacked the flavor
Of much modern illustrative material.
They stood the test of the hearers in
innate acquaintance with the facts
The original was at hand, to prove the
reproduction, There at the backs of
the crowds, az Jesus spoke, was the
sower with his grain bag over his
shoulder; the beaten wayside path, in
lieu Of a fence; underneath all was
the rock-not a rock of rocks, but
the substratum of rock which under
lies the region; and the thorns had
left the proof of their presence upon
the bare legs of nearly every hearer.
About all was the rich and productive
good ground" All who heard It un-
derstood and appreciated the facts of
the parable; for those hearers lived
close to the soil
Parallels were used both to conceal
and to make plain the truth. These
people thought that they understood
the Master because he was talking
about farming. With respect to the
deeper meaning they were in the
plight pictured by Isaiah
ely hearing ye shall hear, and shall