The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-01-06
CBY WILLIAM T. ELLIs9

al
world heralds Who III a.
their picturesqueness' a.
only figures of speech y.
travel tales to most o. -
Tho gaiI,- dressed sais who runs ue-
fore a nabob's carriage on the - $3.50
of Cairo has been commeIlleu -! 49,
by many visitors 10 Es4 P'- <o,+b in
Chinese official who goes Aoi 49,
state. IS preceded by outrunnersi, " 49, -
= foreigner makes a formal can up9 =!
a vicerOy he is not only Do ~
state in a chair. but he IS pleee5
nv an honorary guard of soldlers' d. ~ =,
iea5i-g All Nv a redhatted official
cardbearer. who holds aloft a strip u
red paper. bearing in Chinese cna. a.,
tiers the name of the visitor All ~, silis
is for state and ceremony fdtlei a
forerunner. to announce the ministry u
Jesus was in thorough accord Win tlle
oriental conception of k1ngiy dlslli'S. .
Ou1 modern heralds are the edllOIS
who from their watch towers see tile
signs of the times: the preachers tle
sociologists. the authors. and an l y &
other SOLDIERS of the common Soou.
When we pause to consider 1t, the Iact
is thrilling that there are today so
many men proclaiming aloud the al
vent of better era The manner anu
voice of some are as harsh as those o.
John the BAPTIST. and like nm, theS
make many structures or existing con-
ditions: but the burden of their pea
is that there is d good time coming
The Optimistic Note.
1t is possible to become so interest
ed in a messenger as to miss his mes
sage The people who talk about the
way the preacher wears his HAIR, anu
his pronunciation of certain WORDS
and peculiarities of voice and manner
not to mention those who go into the
still more extraneous matters oil ms
ancestry. the fashion of his wife
clothes and the way he brings UP his
children. are often SO far astray from /
the mark THAI they overlook entirely
the fact that ne is bringing a message I
10 them. I have heard some persons (
criticize a certain young poet for his /
long hair, his mannerisms, his egotlsm; /
and miss entirely the fact that he has
spoken a living word to his day.
The outstanding fact in many per-
sons minds concerning John the Bap-
fist is that he was dressed in camelS /
hair, wore a leathern girdle, and lived
on locusts and wild honey. Probably
nine out of ten of the Sunday school
scholars would make this answer
first, when asked who John the Bap-
fist was. Now the dress and the diet,
the manners and the method of John
are purely incidental. Even the criti-
CiSmS that he made against his own
time, which proved him a fearless
herald of the truth, are subordinated
to his real message. John was great
optimist. He lost his head for what
shallow thinkers might call pessimistic
criticism, but fundamentally the bur-
den of his plea was the most Optimis-
tic of news. He heralded the good
time coming, when the Prince OF
Peace should reign.
Let us not miss the real message of
mans life Rising above Il non I
essentials, consider whittier the utter
ances and labors of our neighbor
trend. If he counts chiefly for the
best things, let US make sure that he
can count on us as friends, and not s
as petty, carping, discriminating ]
critics. S
The Herald of a Herald t
Mr.. Carnegie and Mr.. Edison and a I
few other men have been trying their j.,
hands in recent weeks at making up J.,
lists of the greatest men in the world
OF course, they have succeeded only
in revealing the tendencies and limita-
tons of their own minds Both men
have Signally failed to include the
great teachers of humanity: the men 7
who have come to the world with a
m essage. All honor to the man who
lnVents process for cheapening
steel; but far greater honor to the
man who pronOunces a truth which
anriches manhood. What the eternal
powers think of the relative impor-
lance of the various types of men is d
shown by this Sunday school lesson Z
" hich tells of the herald of a Herald (
The mere fact that John was to be =
himself only an advance courier a Il
herald of the Coming One made his n
birth of sufficient Importance that an y
angel was sent from heaven to an Z
lounce it. No king, or warrior, or
or inventor or writer
sVer had such distinction as this t
Every link in the chain of events lead 7
ing up to the ministry Of Jesus was a
counted of supreme importance in the s
heavenly realm. II
The office of John was that of b
niger board He came. not to be seen Il
himself. but to point men to the Com y
ng One. The fingerboard need not be
beautiful, but II must be straight. Any
straight stick can point. So. Johns "
nessa ge summed up was merely ~One o
Ometh after me He cried to those o
Who would eXalt him, He must in t,
rease but I must decrease" Every h
ife points somewhere. Well for it. W
f its general direction is vocalzed by s,
ohn's message. Behold. the Lamb OF
Tod. that taketh away the sin of the
vorldl" b.
\ Light in Dark Time il
The other day in the house of rep n
esentatives at Washington. say the ~
newspaper Cispatc some of the con- =
ressmen laughed in derision when -
'ersia's pathetic plea for protection y
vas read That lamentable fact indi- ~
ates a state of mind in America that ! IL
deplordble but probably passing An =,
cute British visitor to the states re- u
marked. a few days ago. Your people ~ ~
O not seem to take much interest III | -
oreign affairs. They have a peculiar ~
anse of detachment. and look at all !,
nese events in Europe and the east. =.
hitch stir tn British so deeply, mere ~
+ as a passing show" That man nut -
is finger on a weak spot in American
fe. Our people are only beginning t0
walzen to a sense of our own time OF
lone but the most alert and progress 10
we realize that this 5 day of crisis &C
IL mo no Other fiDe ~ lIile CT
E the world today is pnenemeno,1 IN
lat should ensross the interest of All sp
The conditions make II IN
lain to a student that this peculiar IN
M calls for a fresh vocalization of IN
lie greatest truths Nothing is NOR a.