The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-10-20

4
the church to- teach 10 ever since we
knew anything. we would have beed
like the heather. Our forefathers
f, once worshiped many gods, and II
we will consider the names OF their
old gods we shall underrtxnd IL bet
ter. The nance OF the old English
gods are known to US all: the days
Of the week are named after them.
The old English kept time by weeks.
, as the old Jews did. and named their
days after their gods. Man must worship
something. and these simple men
looked up to heaven above and rourd
on the earth beneath. and asked them.
selves. "Who Is 1t who IL calling for
US? Who gives us everything. Whom
ought we to obey and who may hurt
us IL we make him angry?" Then the
. first great thing they saw was the
sun. What could be more beautiful?
What more benehcent: From the won-
derful sun came light and heat. the
growth OF all living things. So they
thought the sun must surely be a god.
so they worshiped the sun. and called
4, the first day OF the week after him
/ Sunday.
/ Nothing seemed so grand to them
after the sun as the moon. SO she
became their goddess. and Monday was
named for her.
Then the wind. What a mysterious
power the wind possessed. always
moving. yet no one knew how. AS our
blessed Lord said Himself. THE wind
bloweth where il listeth. and thou
nearest the sound thereof. but canst
not tell whence 1t cometh or whittier
it goeth.''
With the old English. as with the
Jews and Greeks. the same word that
meant wind meant spirit. and SO they
came to believe the wind was a type
of the spirit or soul Of man. 1t was
supposed to inspire man to be brave
and do noble things. to keep his soul
unfettered. and the wind was called
Wooden. the mover. the inspirer: and
Wednesday was named for him.
Next the thunder. which seemed ter
rifle and yet SO full OF good. They
called him Thor. and SO Thursday was
named.
Now when Thor's hammer. with
which he split rocks and melted the
winter ice. drove away cold winter.
then came spring. wonderful goddess,
whom they called Felya. the free and
cheerful one, and named Friday FOR
her. After her coming all the wonders
Of the beauty of spring were theirs.
and later came the harvest. the ripen-
ing Of the golden grain. and they felt
this must be the working of some
powerful spirit who loved men: and
they called this power Seator. the
setter. the planter. the god OF the
seed field. and after him Saturday was
named.
And so, instead Of worshiping the
Creator. who made all things in heaven
and on earth, they turned to worship
the things created-like the foolish
Canaanites. This was all great mis-
take. and none Of those worshipipg
these numerous gods could be helped
or elevated. 5ecause. after all, they
were only worshiping things tenn
poral. and in a way no more powerful
than man. because created by man.
The results proved this-here ana
there might be found places where
affairs had been raised to Thor and
Wooden. and an everlasting fire started,
the ground about black apd crusted
with the blood OF men sacrificed there
to a god whom men believed loved and
exacted such butchery.
Surely those were days and works
Of darkness. In other words. here
were men making gods and making
them as bad as themselves. attributing
to them their own fierce passions and
revengeful feelings.
At last, however. Christianity dawned,
and oh, wha: marvellous change: Men
now were to know of the true God
He who desired not the sacrifice Of
human life. but wished all men to
know of the forgiveness OF sin
What a wonderful exchange-to give
up the old gods who quarreled with
mankind. who had variableness and
revenge in them. for the one true
God. the Father Of light and love, and
in whom is neither variableness nor
shadow of turning" Then they learned
that from one God came every good
and perfect gift. that God filled the
sun with light and warmth. that God
guided the changes OF the moon; God.
not Thor. gave to men courage and
industry; God, not Wooden, inspired
them to speak noble words and do
noble deeds. He sent the spring and
the harvest. and filed the earth with
good and sIadnsss.
But what was IL about this new
God even the true God. which won the