The Topeka state journal., 1913-07-12

blow that Moses struck was the life
that he lived and the thoughts tndt
he had been thinking
Lesson i'm Ingratitude.
The first jibe and threat hurled ct
Moses after he had smitten the
Egyptian who oppressed the Hebrew
slave came from a Hebrew That
was startling. How it must have
made Moses sick at heart Thou
sands of readers of these lines can
sympathize with him. Men who have
served the church have suddenly
wakened to find the church, instead
of star ding Loyalty by them, become
their bitterest critic. Men have de-
voted themselves to public welfare
only to find the crowd voting for
some other man who has sought first
his own advancement. 1t is a COM
mon experience for good citizens to
labor in behalf of the community, to
find their motives misjudged and
their Iabors the object of petty nag
ging and fault finding. Moses drank
a bitter cup on that day when the He
brew reproached him with the muir
der of the Egyptian.
Every one of us has to be taught
equally with Moses. that no man is
prepared to serve God or the world
in great fashion until he is willing
to do so without the favor of men.
To learn the lesson of the worlds
ingratitude is essential to strong, Sc
rene service. Otherwise the milk Of
human kindness turns sour in ones
breast. They who greatly love and
greatly minister rise to an apprehen-
sion of truth that God is kind to
the evil and unfaithfuL" A higher
motive and higher reward must be
sought than the approval of our
fellows. The true servant of his kind
keeps right on working even as his
master. who cried, Father forgive
them. for they know not what they
90"
The Exile That Educates.
Moses had to flee. He became one
more illustration for that clear mes
sage of the fifteen hundred years of
Bible history that the human soul is
prepared for service by separation.
Our own hurried day needs to learn
anew this truth of detachment The
world is too much with u.s." We
are enslaved by many things. Our
civilization is suffocating US. Con-
trast the equipment of Moses for his
journey over into indian, where he
was to remain for forty years, with
the outfit which even the simplest of
US takes for summer vacation
We are numbered with many
things. First we have things; then
things have US. Most of US plead
that we have not time for meditation
or for great books or for leisurely
friendships or for prayer or for the
Bible, because we have calls to re-
turn and clubs ard committee meet
ings to attend, and newspapers to
read, and clothes to conform to the
new fashion. We are slaves in the
treadmiIl of material trivialities. One
good sound reason for Gods send
ing Moses into INDIAN was that he
might get proper perspective. Like
Moses, like Paul, and like Jesus, all
of US need to go apart into some
desert places awhile.
a Courtesy That Won a Wife.
When Moses fled in haste from
Egypt across to the Sinai Peninsula,
he had no idea that he was to be
gone forty years, and that not only
his destiny but that of a race was to
be affected by the act. We cannot
tell what hinges upon our turning
to the right instead of to the left, as
we come to crossroads. Every few
days we read in the papers of some
body left a fortune because of a for
gotten act of kindness to needy per-
son.
chivalry of character by driving away
the shepherds who were rude to some
young women at the well. Because
of that act he found friendship and a
wife, and a home in Midian. Thus he
came to know the Sinai land intimate
ly, so that he could later lead the en-
ancipated Hebrews thither.
In the solitariness of the shepherds
life, Moses grew to a new kind of
greatness He proved his strength and
awaited his hour. Probably like Yuan
Shih kai, China's president. when in
exile he kept in communication with
the nations leaders. He was close
to Egypt, and it would be natural that
he should maintain relationship with
his Hebrew and Egyptian friends. His
task, however, was to simply equip
himself with fitness. The occasion
must come from God.
IF only we strive to be pure and
true,
To each of US will come an hour
When the tree of life shall burst
into flower,
And rain at our feet a glorious
dover
OF something grander than ever
We knew"