Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-02-20

raham had won through soul-testing
experiences, and through sense of the
reality of his relationship with his Gre
| ator.
The War Of tho Servants.
Thus it came about that, with spac-
| iOusness of temperament, Abraham
could view the petty chickering's and
quarrelings Of the retainers of himself
and Lot. The thing itself is as old as
life. All over Arabia shepherds are
squabbling over pasturage, even as the
New England farmers bickered over
the line fence. Across the Jordan from
in the Circassian settlement that there
had been endless quarreling and fight
ing between the Bedouins and them
selves until the Circassians had laid
down law that for every Circassian
killed there would be two Bedouins
killed, and that stopped the fighting.
Abraham took a better way. The
encampments were rather overcrowd-
ed. Not only Abraham and Lot and
their retainers were Ito be. considered
but the rights of the natives who had
preceded them. Be 1t remembered that
this was not virgin country, like the
western American prairie, to which the
patriarchs went. The Canaanite and
Peruzzite were in the land.
MdSIdHlIlOuSs WHICH H0dnS great
minded" is the adjective that described
Abraham. He saw things from lofty
altitude. He was big enough to be gen.
erous and to love peace. Being the man
that he was, he could not stoop to pet
tiness. So he proposed to his nephew
that as the whole land was before them
Lot should choose what he pleased.
This was Lots chance to prove himself
big man. He should have replied that
he thn and A hYQ a m tho
older: he was the follower and Abra-
ham the leader: and that Abraham
should choose and he then would take
what was left. But Lot was not that
sort of man. He did not realize what
was fitting, and in pettiness and small
ness and self1shness he chose what
seemed the best for himself. He did not
realize that while this decision might
favor him in estate, it marked him as
mean in soul; and the only riches are
soul riches. Better be a great man with
a small portion than a small man with
a great portion.
Tentins Toward sodom.
One of the most fertile spots in all
the world is that deepest rift in earth;s
surface known as the Jordan Valley, as
the river pours into the Dead Sea.
Viewed from the heights from which
the patriarch saw it, it is q garden
spot fair to the eye. The stately date
palms, the rustling banana trees, the
orange groves, the groves Of sweet
lemons-no traveller who has ever
carried Jericho sweet lemons in his
saddle-bags can forget them-make
the visit a delight to the eye. To the
right shimmers the Dead Sea, giving
no indication to the eye Of its dead
ness; and yonder rise the peaks of
Pisgah, from which Moses looked west
ward toward the land where Abraham
and Lot were pasturing their sheep. At
the time Of which we study there were
great cities in the Jericho plain, even
as in the later Greek and Roman days,
ruins Of which have since been exca-
waited and may now be seen by any
traveller.
Lot chose this garden spot Shame
lessly greedy, he wanted the best for
himself. He preferred to escape the
cold winds of the uplands. The tropical
fruits of the valley allured him. and
then, too, he had an eye on the cities
of the plain. Was their reputation
shameful, even more sodden than THAT
of Egypt, from which the travellers had
escaped? Lot closed his eyes to this
and pitched his tent hard by Sodcn1 Il
was easy to see which way his mini
inclined. No life can front toward sin
without soon residing in sin: even as
Lot is found, subsequently in the story,
as inhabtant of Sodom. Only the fidel-"
ity and magnanimity Of the uncle
whom he used so shabbily1 saved Elm
later from the fate Of Sodom
AS for Abraham. if m-'st have teen 4
relief to him to have his selfish, guile
full and squabbling nephew out of the
way. He was content with tho harder
place on the heights. He had the fields,
and he had more leisure for medita-
ton. When Lot went, the Lord came,
and there was given to Abraham a ne"
vision, and a new promise concerning
the land that was to be his and his
children's forever