The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-05-21

The Strength OF the Secret Life.
Publicity is coming to be increas-
inrly valued in all departments or
orr modern civilization, yet 1t a It's
grave dangers. Everybody who aSSo-
GATES with public workers knows how
lecturers and e~vangelists and secre-
taries scan eagerly the morning pa
pers. not for news Of the world, but
for the mention of themselves and
modern time sets toward the exal-
tation of the printed opinion as a
measure of q man success. we
have even known men-and IL
point is touched upon by Jesus-to
send their prayers for publication in
the newspapers-prideful, over-pol-
ished sentences.
Only a vigorous secret life, lived IN
communion with God, can preserve
one steady and true in public activity.
Said a young Korean missionary, Tine
only way a missionary can keep safe
amid the peculiar temptations OF his
life is by guarding his secret commu-
Mon with Christ
Many will recall the figure of
Drumsheugh, in THE Bonnie Briar
Bush" who had a reputation for
and unsentimenta1ty, but
who, it was revealed at the end, had
oIlo v ~ OSo
great romance-that the son OF his
hoyhood sweetheart, who had married
a ShiftlesS man, might have the edu-
cation that the mother coveted. That
is an oaken type Of character. 1t was
strong enough to seem in the eyes OF
men worse than it was in the knOWl-
edge Of God. It could smile with a
breaking heart and haggle for pennies
in the service of a noble ideal. The
stanchest type Of religious character
is that which has it's deepest relation
ships a confidential ma Ser between
itself and God.
The Man With a Prayer Wheel.
From Darjeeling 1 brought home a
couple Of Thibetan prayer wheels,
such as I had seen the monks and
mendicants twirling as they went
sightseeing about the town. Some Of
them carried very much bigger prayer
wheels than I cared to bring home,
but l could not see that their interest
in the process was any less mechani-
cal than that OF other men who
twirled smaller cylinders, containing
fewer prayers stamped on strips Of
paper. This Thibetan practice car
ried mechanical praying to it's limit.
The ~ief is that every time the
cylinder re%vo1ves the prayer is said.
Up in the mountains Of Thibet it is
CpO lCu %Iidl AQS0 1dySl 11CS1S Oh =
affixed to water wheels.
All is for outward seeming; there
is no relation between the prayer
wheel and the life.
In like ann one may see in
Darjeefing, as we'll as throughout al
Of India, Hindu holy men" whose
holiness chiefly consists in their ex-
~traordinary appearance Of long hair
and boards, and ash smeared faces
n nd h~IiO, TTbnr orn fho o-tiflo~1c
of the ray man described by
Jesus, who shut himself up from the
yes of men, that he might pray to
the Father who seeth in secret
Let 1t be said, as strongly and a.
often as possible, hal the religion
that exists for the eyes Of men i:
heathenish and unChristian. It runs
squarely against it's reaching and tn
mind Of Christ. True Christianit.
has it's highest and hottest hours il
the prayer closet. It is not concerned
with mems praise, but with God
favor. Thus, to be a leading lay
man" or conspicuous Christian work
er, Exposes one to all the perils 0
man-serving heathenish religiosity
!, Praying h Big Prayers.
This great lesson closes with tn
) model prayer which we commonl
call the Lords prayer. Jesus NEAR
it for a model. 1t in itself is not
!, sufficient petition for the Christian
. life, because of its impersonal char
$ acter: but it does show how all pray
t ing should include the big petition!
It recognizes hat God is on tn
!, throne ever more than it recognize
that the petitioner is on his knee.
) Its first supplication is for the glor
Of jehovah; the second is for tn
coming Of His Kingdom; the third
!, for the doing Of His will. What
= sweep and a horizon and an atmos
. phere we have there! Anybody VIII
: lives in the spirit of the Lords Pray
: ell is lifted UP out Of petty self-inte1
> est. There is one petition for tn
II things hat keep a man in life, an
then it is followed by the great pra,
er for the spirit Of forgiveness, whic
n is greater than bread. After tn;
comes the cry for deliverance fro
8 sins thraldOm.
e By this prayer. as by all His u
o terances. was not the Master tryir
, to teach His disciples to live worth
Of the Kingdom of which they we,
~ ~o----