The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-06-10
(BY WILLIAM T. ELLIs.)


Ngeat Passover" 2 Chron. 80
(BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.)
Fl HAT is the power that most
KW strongly binds a people tor or
gether? other nations
frankly express their amaze
ment at the closer relations
now being established between Cahao t
and the United States, and between
Great Britain and the United STATES.
They seem unable to explain the phe-
nomeua. Small wonder, for tney look
no deeper than the selfish concerns OF
statecraft whereas the strongest Colu
in this new international tie is reilsI ,IlL
just as religion is the greater uhiIy IIS
factor in each of these ratlons itseLI-
1t never occurs to the man who is en-
crossed in concerns OF hlgn pollllco
that such an inconspicuous tactor as
the international Sunday School MOVE
ment. or Christian Emo eavor. or the
Young Mems Christian Association
Movement might be conslderaOle
forces In this new state OF mIIlu. NH
Such. none the less, Is the case. me
law that Hezekiah observed still holds
good TODAY. When the old Hebrew
king wanted to draw all his people TO-
gether and even the alienated horth-
ern kingdom also, he sounded the aP-
neal TO a common past III GLIB AONS
It was faith in Jehovah, a faith otten
dim and ignored or deserted, but still
the one common heritage of the peo-
ME that made the Jews q nation. That
note was still the deepest ana strongesI
appeal. There are immense posslDlll-
ties of human welfare In the trutn lIa'
the two most powerful nations In the
world are fundamentally CHRISTIAN.
Teachers with an eye open for straWs
which reveal prevailing currents are
not blind to the deeper meaning OF the
incident when King of Great Brltaln
entertained at luncheon Rev. Dr. j. ii.
Jowett non-conformist clergyman
about TO leave England to become a
New York pastor; or when the same
monarch received in private audience
Dr%Grenfell the missionary to Lab
= Stirring the Deep Springs.
Petty divisions and local abuses of
many sorts tended to separate the Jews
of Hezekiah's time into groups and
mutually antagonistic communities.
This was especially true with respect
to the great division between the
northern and southern Kingdoms. The
king might have taken up these one by
one, and tried to patch them up. But
he knew a better way. He realized
that there was a deep, hidden sentt-
ment in the hearts of all Jews, of 10y
atty to the God Of their fathers. Like
wise he understood that neglect of re-
ligion was the fundamental failure of
the time.
All religious visions, and most per-
sonal and national calamities, are due
to an inadequate loyalty to God. The
cure for all the ills of the church is
simply a deeper devotion to the
church's Lord. The blight of denom-
national rivalry will disappear from
North America as soon as Christians
learn to love Christ more than their
own way and their own past. All the
little ponds and eddies along the shore
are submerged when the tide comes in.
The floods of God will submerge the
differences and disagreements be-
tween Christians.
There is a profound truth here, indi-
Gated by the lesson story, that needs
close bordering. When the disciples
of Christ find themselves engrOssed in
devotion to him they will be in realiza-
ton of practical Christian unity. The
greatest Christian Union meeting ever
held did not have Christian Union as
its object; it was the Worlds Mission
airy Conference at Edinpurg a year
ago. In the face of a world service,
all the divided branches of Christen-
dom realized their unity. A young
Philadelphia Friend, who had been a
practicing physician ere he went to
Canton to represent the University of
Pennsylvania in the mission there, told
me with a sparkle in his eye, as we
walked amid the graves outside of that
ancient Chinese city, that he found
himself unable to maintain an interest
in the trivial differences in the Society
of Friends, about which he heard from
home, for they shrank into insignifi-
canoe in the face of China and it's need
for Christianitys fundamentals. Only
a very narrow-minded person can re-
tain sectarian prejudices or the mis-
sion field Both church and nation
rise to higher unity and loyalty in
the face of the call to return to the
E5et love.
A reform for the Preachers.
Thanksgiving Day is a great national
asset, a powerful promoter of patriot
ism. As Hezekiah called 20 the Jews
everywhere to come up to the City of
David for a national religious festival,
a Thanksgiving Day and feast of re-
membrance, the national Passover, he
urged appropriate preparation. Deep
experiences CALI for earnest self-ex-
animation. Imagine a man or a wom-
an going thoughtlessly to the marriage
altar. Every important act in life
should be preceded by careful consid-
Grafton.
And as first step in this great Jew
ish celebration, Hezekiah called for the
ratification of the Levites and the