The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-10-19

,,as4irg in a Philadelphia church,
the members were grouped apoe I
chatting socially together Inc ~
opened and a roughly dressed maj
covered with dust, entered Irnmeol-
ately there was a cessation OF con-
versation. and a drawing together o.
the erouSs, who eye6 the Stfdhsel
suspiciously. In a moment one OF W
officers went up to him to inquire hls
errand. Upon his return. he reporteu
hat the man was a prosperous con-
tractor who had stopped in to puS
some tickets for an approaching lee
ture course in the church! Al ohN0
everybody present felt ashamed OF MINI
self for his inhospitality toward tiie
stranger whom he had regarded as
tramp. That the man should De d
well-to-do citizen in his Worhlne
clothes put a new face on the que9-
ton entirely
This deep-rooted sense of our own
crowd, and our instructive tendency
TO turn our backs upon the outsider,
especially if he seems an inferior, -
a fundamental fact in human ma tul ~ (,
No matter how much We talk ABOUT
brotherhood, it is difficult Tor even
the most tolerant of US to realize that
every man is brother and pos
sible equal That is why democracy
is the highest attainment of human
ity. The exclusive attitude IN pom
tics and society and in rellglon 10
easy and natural. The democratic,
brotherlv attitude can only be achieved
by conscious effort, or by a new spirit
Religious snobbery crops out IN
this sunday school lesson, which Is
the story of two persons whom the
orthodox called heather. we Hnu
them. however, the objects OF the
Masters solicitude, and subsequently
members of His fellowship and re-
cipients Of His praise.
4 Foreign Mission Journey.
One of the vivid travel experiences
is a trip down along the Medlter-
ranean coast to the region OF Tyre
and Sidon. The ruins of old Phoe-
nicia, overlaid with Crusader castles
are frequent Rock tombs, rifed oy
succeeding centuries of vandals' meet
one at every turn. The city of Sldon'
one of the most distinctive ana PIC
turesque on earth, carries the mag
nation back to unchronlcIed anti
ouitv The tour, so full of incident
and interest, recalls the visit of Jesus
over that same road when He broke
over the boundaries of Israel ana
went into the heather parts OF Phoe-
nicia-
Like a prince travelling incognito,
Jesus wanted to go quietly and with
out public recognition But He coulo
not be hid runs the significant rec
ord OF course noti Such a lie OF
ministry as His cannot be concealed.
Wherever there is human need ana
shirt hunger it will hunt Him out
let anyone do a real work and live
a real life, and the world will DIS
cover him. Our trouble is that we
are irving to inform the world or our
selves, rather than to hVe the me
and do the work Because Jesus was
himself. it was inevitable that he
should be known of men. The very
radiance Of His benign face wouio
mark Him off from the mob OF men,
Az, OutIander's Need and Daring:
This western world of ours, which IS
F,y no means lacking in racial ana re-
hgious antipathies, can yet show noun
ing like the spirit which pervaded the
Fast in Jesus time, and which IS To-Day
characteristic of this identical region
IT was in Sidon that a group of educat-
60 Christians poured out TO me tnelr
bitter plant against the 1nJust1ces
and indignities and outrages they SUI
fer AT the hands of the AIoslems. The
simple fact that a man IS non-Mos-
lem marks him for possible massacre
Then. as now, racial and religious lines
were high barriers
Jesus, be it remembered, was Jew,
who had come to the lost sheep of the
house of Isreal One day He was met
bv a Greek woman, a dweller in this
heather fringe of the Holy Land. She
was a gentle and a pagan, and accus-
tened to hear from the orthodox Jews
a deep human grief which took no ac-
count of her nationally or religion The
elemental human qualities run through
ali colors. races and creeds- As Shake
speare makes Shylock say:
Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a
Jew hands. organs. dimensions. senses,
affections, passions? fed with the same
Soci hurt with the same weapons.
subject to the same diseases, healed
by the same means. warmed and cool
e1 by the same winter and summer
as a Christian is?''
This woman's daughter was in the
clutch of an evil spirit. The predomi-
nant fact in the family life was the
illness of the child The supreme am
bition of mother and daughter was
health for the afflicted one So. brush
ing away all barriers .hat separated
the gentle from the orthodox Jew sha
fell at the feet of Jesus and entreatsd
Him, with a paroxysm of urgency such
as only they who have encountered n
oriental begger, or one asking for mer-
cy. can understand It is very cal
and human picture which the historian
records here-a mother pleading for
he child. Her great need had given
her great daring.
A Woman's Quick Wit.
Let US not get into difficulties over
the woman had been, Let the childrea
first be filled: for it is not meet to take
the chiIdren's Sread and to cast it 70
the, dogs" That word dog" sounds
harsh to US We know that to this day
Jew and Moslem speak OF Christian
dogs" The woman was not unused 70
this speech of the time. She expected
l.. az the tolerant and cultivated
Chinese take the word heather from
the unthinkfne lips of n Christian.
The quick witted woman saw that
Jesus was only testing her. and that He
spoke with a tenderness and considera-
ton that took all the sting out of the
conventional word, for instead of call
ing her by the simple, rough word