The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-02-17


]: Is; Luke 3: 1-2o.
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS
A strange bit of news learned py
the traveller between 8agdad and IN
dia is that on the lower Ilg1lS, at q q
place called Amarra, IS a colony u
Sabeans who are reputed to pc SIN
disciples of John the Baptist. Ihat Is
an amazing survival Come to MOD
tate upon IT, however, is lC any fnore
amazing than the survival or the 1nnu-
ence of John the Baptist IN the mlnus
Ct mankind. so that TO TINS Gay Hls
life and words affect the thinking ~
milliOns2
Here are the hosts of Sunday school
members the world around, sitting iCl
two weeks at the feet or the marry
ascetfc in camePS hair. aid grit Dy d
leather thong. Wherever in the CIV
iljzed world today men hate shams ana
love rug ed integrity. disdaln conven
fionaIities and respect .irile lndepeno-
ence. there the name of John the Bep-
list is honored. On the pages OF MS
tory HE uuc5uth figure stands out as
a personality.
"OnIy Countryman."
Philistines and Insurgents delight in
The spectacle of this magnificent icon
oclast. John was the antithesis OF the
well dressed, carefully groomed, con-
ventionalized and sophisticated cry
man, keen TO observe the usages u
sseood FORM We can scarcely imagine
this friend Of the rocks and sands, TINS
dweIler in caves, this eater OF IocuStS
and wild honey, this hermit OF tne
wilderness, as moving IN the pollte So
cietv Of his time. The urbane an'~
rolished dweller in the town mad nttie
in common with this rough fellow from
the Wilds-
Yet the anchorite. with uncut halr
and rude garb, drew the men from Ins
cities out to the wilderness to near
him. 'Only a country fellow a Jer-
usaIem .lardy might remark, as ne
looked contemptuously upon TINS IN
conventional preacher. somehow Dy
an illogical process of public thinking
CITY folk consider the man from d!c
S,o,Intrv as a Joke "Countryman" IS
counted a term of reproach IN soin@
circles. whose members have got most
Of their manhood from the tallor' me
barber the manicurist, the oootpidSA
and the haberdasher. certainly II %
clear to anybody above the eISue ~
q Rroa dWay fOp that a man is TedlAE
no more of a man than he is When ne
goes in swimming. In all maj leSta
st is the naked worth OF character nc
counts The city man knows NOR
about hotels and theaterS ana STORES
than his cousin from the country; bue
he knows less Ibout mother earth anu
the prinordial tasks OF prlnltIlNe ~
nanfty. When it comes to takinS CO.
of ones self amid the forces OF mature
tho co,1utryrnan usually has the dd-
vantage: and even in the grand slrus-
ole for survival in the city, 1t Is gen
eratlV the COunLry-DFeu man VIZ -
4-ies Off the best prizes
respect for humanity in the raw
humanity Of the Garden of Eden, Rod |
snson Crusos sorts taught by the eA.
ample of John the Baptist. he owen
Tlo+hine to Mrs Grundy. He was not
afraid of the dark, nor of unknown
WAYS and places. Single-handed' ne
could 90 back to the most elemental
conditions. and live a great life and
do a great work.
Ill f0- he /
Ing of a great life If the seed be Wig
orous: but the desert and lonely places
produce an extraordinary proportion
BEFORE a man can do his best with men
he must live apart from men, in order
TO adjust this sense of perspective and
relative values. All boys are to be
pitfed who are denied a youth spent in
the country, but especially those who
are marked for a great work Jesus
and John were blessed with an out-of-
doors boyhood, close to life in its most
elemental and natural forms
The great ravine at the bottom of
which runs the Brook Cherith, and
along which Elijah had his cave. de-
pouches upon the Jericho plain. which
is in the wonderful Jordan valley-the
most extraordinary depression on the
face of the globe. Three hundred feet
below sea level it lies, in tropical fer
tility. Somewhere between the Dead
Sea and the Lake of Galilee, along the
Jordan. John the Baptist lived. Prob
ably he ranged over the whole region.
It is even possible that the very cave
which once sheltered Elijah also
sheltered him.
A Nazarite, whose hair had never
been cut. and who had never tasted the
Juice of the grape, the austere isolation
of an anchorite's life was congenial to
him. We know that he eschewad the
fine. flowing raiment which the orien-
tai likes. and wore a coarse, camel's
hair mantle. Instead of the elaborate
bright-colored girdIa commonly worn
a leather thong held his garment about
him. For food, he ravased the stores Of
the wild bees. and made meat of dried
locusts. Like his great prophetic pre-
decessor. he was a hairy. vigorous. out
of-doors person. careless of the ways of
courts, and fearless of the face of man.
Remote from courts. corruption. crime,
in that high shepherd land,
With God alone. his soul had grown to
stature bold and grand:
For many wild. in many a land and
many a = ak sublime
Can tell how solitude with God breeds
souls that conquer time.
Taylor.
Something in the depths of every
normal mans spirit answers to the
call Of such natures as Johns That
Is why the city dweller loves to go to
the woods for few weeks of camp
ing putting away the clothes and Gus
toms of urban society, and getting as
near as he can to the life of the saw {
age. Every age needs its John the
Baptist to call men back to the great |
simplicities. If we lived closer to the
life of earth, closer to the usages of ]
the majority of the human race. we ]
should be afflicted less with doubt. I
dyspepsia and nervous prostration
A Voice or An Echo.
One voice may set many echoes
ringing. Always voices are few and .
achnes are MANY ct q MAJ, rnnaIr a. Z