The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-02-18

~ pAt VIII 4
the welfare OF the spirit. Not clear
ing house reports, but the returns OK
religion constitute the real index OF
a nations welfar3.
Such experiences of the soul as
Abraham had undergone are the sort
or thing that makes a nan grow.
The Independent" recently had an
article on the poise Of the masters of
business and finance. They were pic
tured as serene, strong men, ~unrufied
by petty gusts n tempests. superior
to little jealousies AND feara In a
nobler degree. this was the poise to
which Abraham had won trough
soul-testing experiences. and through
a sense Of the reality Of his relation
ship with his Creator.
h WaF OF the Servants.
Thus 1t came about that. with a
s~paciousness OF temperament. Abra-
ham could view the petty bic
quarrelings OF the retainers Of
himself n Lot The thing itself
Is as old as life. All over Arabia
shepherds are s%Quabbling over pas
turage. even as the New England
farmers bickered over the line fence.
Across the Jordan from this very
scene I was told by a leader In the
Circassiap settlement that there had
been endless QuarrelIing and fighting
between the Bedouins and them
selves. until the Circassians had laid
down q Law that for every Circas-
sion killed there would be two
Bedouins killed. and that stopped the
Abraham took a better way, The
encampments were rather overerowd-
ed. Not Abraham and Lot and
their retainers were to be considered,
but the rights Of the natives who
had preceded them But it remem-
beFed thai this was not virgin coun-
try, like the western American prairie,
to which the patriarchs went. The
Canaanite and Peruzzite were in the
land.
Magnanimous, which means "great-
, minded" is the adjective that de-
scribed Abraham. He saw things
from a lofty altitude. He was big
enough to be generous n to love
peace. Being the man that he was,
he could not stoOp to petdnesa. So
he proposed to his nephew that as
l the whole land was before them, Lot
should choose what he pleased. This
was Lots chance to prove himself
a big man. He should have replied
that he was he younger and Abra-
ham h Older; he was the follower
and Abraham the leader; and that
8 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 smallness and selfish.
a ness he chose what seemed the hes,
! for himself. He did not realize tina,
] while this decision might favor him
IN estate, 1t marked him as mean il
9 soul; and the only riches are SOU
riches. Better be a great man Will
e a small portion than a small mar
with a great portion.
n Tenting Toward Sodom.
. One Of h most fertile spots il
e all the world is hat deepest rift il
!. earth's surface known as the Jordan
Valley. as the river pours into tn,
Dead Sea. Viewed from the height
from which the patriarch saw it, j
is q garden spot fair to the eye. Tn
% stately date palms, the rustlin,
d banana trees. the orange groves, tn
d groves Of sweet lemOns-nO travele
e who has ever carried Jericho sWee
lemons in his s~addle-bags can for
get them-make the visit a deligh
to the eye. To the right simmer
the Dead Sea. giving no indicatio
ID to the eye Of its deadness; and yon
KS der rise the peaks Of Pisgah, fror
is which Moses looked westward tOWar
IN the land where Abraham and L.
I'd were %pasturing their sheep. At tn
time of which we study there wer
lie great cities in the Jericho plain, eve
lie as in the later Greek and Roma
Mt days, ruins of which have since bee
n excavated and may now be seen b
any traveller.
as Lot chose this garden spot. Shame
lessly greedy, he wanted the be:
ne for himself. He preferred to escaI
r the cold winds of the uplands. III
es tropical fruits of the valley allure
ng him. and then. too, he had an ey
rn on the cities Of the plain. Was the
reputation shameful, even mo-
it sOden than that Of Egypt. from Whie
'e- the travellers had escaped? L
"a closed his eyes to this and pitche
ri his tent hard by Sodom. 1t was ca!
ks to see which way his mind incline
ne No life can front toward sin witt
out soon residing in sin: even as L
is found. subsequently in h stor
N as inhabitant Of Sodom. Only Il
fidelity and magnanimity Of the unC
= zAa.a H. saaoa 10 hLils- aa5.a IL