Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-09-26
SIX MONTHS IN A LIFE.
The international Sunday School
Lesson for September 29 is a
Quarterly Review.
By William T. Ellis.

The crowded life Of modern man
Is a marvel The many and different
interests which engage a successful
mans thought within single week
are fairly staggering. The worth
Wilderness of this is, of course. deter
mined by the result in personal char
acter and in human service. The
proof Of a machine is not in the num-
Der or speed of it's wheels. but in the
nature Of it's output. Assuredly, the
lives OF some Of us would count for
more if we were less busy.
Now that we have studied for
three months period Of half a year
IN the life Of Jesus-six crowded,
intense, historic months-we cannot
help remarking how much greater
was the product of this short space
than at life time OF our ,Whlrr1ng
years, with their modern machinery
which gives one man the strength OF
8 thousand The homely, everyday
and greatly needed lesson for prac-
teal life, as we survey these few
weeks out Of the activities of the
master. is that we should endeavor
to make our living fruitful in definite
results. Much of our restless striv-
ing gets nowhere: we run in circles.
One sixth of the entire public ca
reer Of Jesus is comprehended with,
ii the period which this quarters
lessons have covered. Here we find
him in all characteristic activities.
A Mission and a Ministry.
Back OF the business, lay those
VIII
ever reckoning the reverent student
The three decades of Nazareth life
were the root Of which the three
public years were the fruit. Before
our minds eye rises the figure OF
the dreamy-eyed. solitary lad, brood,
ing amid the hills and caves of Naz.
areth: and the silent, gentle helpful
carpenter whose shop was place OF
resort for little children and for the
troubled in heart. All of the life OF
Jesus was dominated by the thought
OF the work that awaited him.
That spirit which regards life as
q mission has taken strange hold OF
our own time. Everybody is made tc
feel that he must do something to
Justify his existence. Parasites are
prodded from every angle with re-
minders Of their ignominy. Once the
idle were counted the aristocrats;
now the highest honor is reserved for
him who does most in social service.
The whole emphasis of life has
changed, almost within a generation.
The old cry, '"The world owes me a
living" has given way to II owe the
world life"
No great amount of scholarship
Is needed to enable one to trace this
remarkable development back to the
ministry and message Of Jesus. In
an unexampled degree he has i'm
parted his own passion for helpful
ness to our own time. His peerless
brother-spirit is reflected in our new
social sense of human solidarity.
what means this phenomenal pres
emit political campaign in the United
States, which in important respects is
more nearly attuned In its utter
ances to the ethics Of the new tesla
ment than any other in the country's
history? How explain the extraor.
binary specialization Of Great Brit.
aims political program today? The
answer must be looked for in the hi
ography of Jesus.
The Master Words.
This man, who was more than man
was able to speak master words to
which his own Galilee responded
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