The Topeka state journal., 1913-09-27
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.)

1919 than ever before at any time
Modernity is become master passion
To keep abreast with the latest fash
ions in dress, novels, plays, slang and
amusements seems to be the life work
of thousands of men and women. In
their eyes anything is utterly condemn
ed by being called 'out-of-date' or
behind the times
In the face of all which is never
theless to be written the day
mood in this respect is one of shall
lowness, foolishness and danger. Many
a woman'S future would be saved IL
she could but be persuaded to give up
the mad quest after the vogue OF the
minute, and cultivate the old-fashioned
virtues of her grandmother The calloW
Youths who adorn our street corners
and poolrooms, versed in the very last
word of smart speech and able to tell
the athletic news of the past hour
are desperately in need OF an acces-
sion of the sort of homely, SOBER
minded and antiquated ideas of indus
try, thrift. integrity and ideansm
which William Penn and Benjamin
Franklin and Andrew Jackson ana
Abraham Lincoln have written INTO
American history.
In word this twentieth century
needs to bark back to fundamentals.
1t would make for a better social or
der and for nobler citizenship, IL we
were all to discard for a time the
--latest issue" of our varied Htera-
ture and dig steadily in this ancient
mine of Old Testament literature
which tells the story of nations be-
sinnigs. and of a world leaders work
and training. These old teachings nave
a more direct and potent application
to our owr times than anything witt
ten within the present year The classes
in sociology, in current events, and IN
good citizenship. could do not better
than to unite with the Sunday schools
in studying the story of Moses ana the
Exodus. Behind the present times, ana
vitally influencing them, are principles
and forces older than our CIVILIZATION
Let us look to the fundamentals
The Big Tree.
ONLY the rare person is called TO
be an explorer or a pioneer Most OF
us are needed on the beaten paths anu
main highways of the world WnSre 15,
the work of the world is done The
present tendency to stray off from
the well marked ways is anarchlal'
rather than exploratory. Restless
minds, rather than high and purpose
full spirits are the reason deal OF
the present unrest in the world means
merely that people have shipped tnelT
moorings, and are looking h1ther ana
yon for something fixed 10 Wnlcn en- ny @
may tie. So we go back to the pc
ginning of the Hebrew nation 1or tne
three oldest and most important oplI-
cations of life, which apply always
and everywhere. IIeS -,
many of us moderns to THINK
All three principles are found in the
ouarter's Sunday school lessons Tney
are, mans loyalty to Goa as ITS ii
LOYALTY to his nation as second; and
his LOYALTY to his family as thlru-
These three abide. To them all oraVe
spirits are true. Their outworklng
has made the most snlhllS paS1os $50
in history. And where people nave
failed in these supreme loyaltles' they
have made a wreck of life; :, chic
The man or woman who. IN TINS
vear of our Lord nineteen thirteen, is
not holding steady to these three opn- !
cations but is running frantlcally |
after the fashions of the hour' Is @ ols-
tortinS his career into hopeless con-
fusion. For first things mu9v tuentiefh a1Mef |
things will leap into the saddle and
drive the life to destl'uct1on-
In the Beginnings.
Whether the sense of God IS fadinS
out of our modern life or not Is dl1il- /
o,,i+ 70 sav Each observer but speaks
from, his own experience and obSerVa-
ton. Certainly there are some @ @oilll-
mons signs on the horizon The state
of church attendance is alarming. The
restiassness of the ministry argues at 4
least a lack of gertrude. The secular
jzation of sunday is symptonatlc.
There is much to be said on the othe[
side. an ardent concern Tor the great
snirituaI verities is manifest among
multitudes. :, ;.1,
unshaken conviction, tnat GOO Is
sentiaI to man. We may get along
without airships or skyscrapers OF
automobiles. or any of the other ac-
cessories of life which modern clNlllZa-
ton is piling upon US IN s9cn p1i+ prolu
sion. but we simply cannot do without
God He is mans oldest and deepest
need. The spark of the divine in the
human is this Unsuitable quest after
God Breathed in the oldest literature
eStant the longing for God is written
in the aspiration of the latest real
thinker
This proposition may fairly be made:
Whoever stops to think at all about
great and fundamental subjects. is GER
tain to think about God. In the hour
of his deepest need. or in the hour of
his highest exaltation. mans spirit
turns toward the Deity as a bird to-
ward its nest
president of the British Association for
the Advancement of Science. treated !
in his annual address the persistence of :.
personality after death. expressing T.
himself as convinced of this truth. His /
address, which has attracted world
wide attention, concluded with the
words: Genuine religion has its roots
deep down in the heart of humanity
and in the reality of things.
We are deaf and blind to the imminent
grandeur around US, uhIeSS we nave
insight enough to appreciate the whole
and TO recognize in the woven fabric of &.
existence, flowing steadily from the l.
loom of an infinite progress toward per-
fectfo-l. the ever-growing garment of T.
a transcendent God.
This great allegiance steadies and
holds true all lesser allegiances. The
person who is loyal to God is not go
ing to fail man. He will be true to his
every obligation whether that be to
vote for a righteous man or measure. |,
or to pay his own smallest debt Ma J.
ton, home and neighbor may count on /
the person whose life is dominated by i