The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-10-22
fi.Y WILLIAM L. ELEiS.)

At Today ) bledkldSt tdDle We Iedu
last nights notable speeches delivered
Il thousand miles away. We are used
Il this and cpect it. We want the
things and events of the world served
not like our break faSt coffee. our
times are 50 accustomed to these won
ders that we take for granted all the
marvellous enginery Of ganda. II
Is difficult to throw our lm~aglnaiOnS
back TO the time before there were
newspapers and tidlngs could Only
travel as fast as a man or beast could
move. 1t is profitable to muse for u
momen on how men got their views
before the people in the days Wnen
the printing press had not been IN
vented. Specifically consider the
problem that confronted Jesus IN
publishing His good news TO all man
kind.
We think in terms Of express trains
He had 10 so afoot or at best on me
back OF a donkey, d horse or a camel.
The primitivcneSs Of the lie tlat
Jesus led is incomprehenSible to US.
Most men today III our land do not
know what it is to become pnySlcalIy
tired from a days walking. Inat was
q conmon experience or the foot-Sore
Teacher Who went about with HIS ut
tie group Of pupils from village 10
village. from city TO city. True, lie
had time to observe closely ana 10
think deeply, but His progress was
stow. 1t took Him longer to go from
C~apernaum to Jerusalem than IL takes
US to cross the continent.
Striking for the Cities.
The quickest n SureSt way OF
reaching all the people within a given
radius nowadays is to advertise in the
daily press. Jesus could not do this;
He had to carry His message by word
of mouth. There were no great DANES
circulating in those wonderful cities
OF the TRANSFORMS region where
Greek civilization had flourished SO
richly. A certain circle Of ten cities
was called the Decapolis. Jesus could
not be content to live within each
OF these without bearing to their
forums the word that was life. What
we would give for some Of His way
side conversations, or the sermons
that He preached to these cultivated
crowds. or the miracles that He
wrought amid them. Instead. we
AVE only a fleeing glimpse.
Anybody but a classical student
finds it hard to credit the advanced
state of civilization that had been at
tanned east of Palestine in these great
cities. / have seen for myself the
wonderful ruins Of temples and thea
tres and palaces. After two thousand
years the grandeur Of the ruins stirs
the imagination. l have in my desk at
the moment a quantity Of ancient Ro-
man and Greek coins that I gathered
in one Of the cities of the DecapOlis,
visible reminders Of the civilization
that reigned here. 1t is in one Of these
transit ordan cities that the occasional
traveller Who p~enetrateS SO far may
see the wonderful mosaic of JeruSa-
lem which has helped scholars in de-
termining the geography Of the city.
The culture Of Greece and Of Rome
found a home in the DecapoliS.
Ever a StrategiSt, Jesus was APP
pealed to by these flourishing cities.
He faced the problem which we rash
~ think is peculiar to our " day,
that Of carrying the gospel to the
great city. Possibly this study Of an
old message will help to awaken some
Of our modern churches out Of their
Darochial ideals and help them to
work together in terms of the whole
city.
Now a Railway Route.
The ~raveler of today goes by rail
way from Damascus down through
the region Of DecapoIis, skirting
the lower end Of the Lake as he
strikes west to Haifa. Still. as of yore,
the land is fertile, s. granary for a
wide region. The Druses and the
Arabs cultivate it, although robbery
oppression and ignorance keep them
in poverty and SqualOr. Spectacular
valleys, lovely waterfalls and rich
gardens brighten the journey through
this region. The Mecca Railway also
passes through the Dccapolis terri
tory.
The swift-moving traveller pictures
in his mine the patient Master toiline
over this country and the imagination
is stirred to a desire for the utilization
of all the modern agencies for the
swift spread of the story. The gospe
which then travelled in the heart o.
Christ has fired the brains Of a new
civilization so that today that same
story may be carried with romantic
SWiftnesS all Oyer the earth.
Railways may come and custom!
may change. but people are people
n world around The mother witt
their SOre-eyed children whom Sau