The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-11-03
RUTS AND ROUTES.

the aeshly tendencies Of the time
RUTS AND ROUTES.
Tcrse Comments On The UnliOrm
PRAYER Meeting Topic of The Young
Peoples Societies-Christian I'm
deayor. Etc.-fOr Nov. 8, "Gcttins
Out Of Ruts and Keeping Out
Amos els.
WILLIAM L. ELLIS.
One of the contributions of Chris
tan Endeayor to modern religious
life is it's gift of versatility in service.
The enterprise and ingenuity of youth
have been applied to the work or the
Christian church. Without changing
the goal Of all religious effort, these
Endeavorers have devised new meth
DDS Of progress toward it. Thus the
freshness and attractivenesS OF CHRIS
tianity have been newly revealed to a |
world that had econ Injured to con-
v~entionalized forms Of religious work.
Routes need not become ruts. The
new movement for good highways has
made this fact clear in a material
sense. There is no reaSon why a re-
ligious organization, simply because
it is travelling an old road, should not
have smoOthness and variety in its
progress. A good road is one with
the most liberty for the traveller. And
roads that are ruts give the opposite
Of liberty.
The deeper the rut the harder it is
on the vehicle and the more it re-
tards speed. Find a new way of doing
the old work: be a roda-builder and
not a rut-maker.
Some conservative folk ooh ask
| ono0 at n rOnthn1 &C if II Hyoro
a new heresy. New methods are to
work as words are to thought. I'm
less thoughts be clothed in fresh and
varied language they lose their vital
ity. The most living organism needs
the most contemporaneous expression.
If church-workers were as solicit
Gus about being modern in their
methods as their individual members
are about being up to date in their
apparel there would be a new vigor
shown in all Christian activity. The
most successful of modern evangelists
is startlingly contemporaneous in his
vocabulary.
Charm in al individual has several
secrets, and one of them is the quail
ity Of unexpectedness. "She is a per-
son Of infinite variety" said a friend
admiringly of a middle-aged woman.
1IldI Is d real tribute 10 the persist
ence OF a robust personality. TO be
an original, and to save ones self from
being trimmed down to fit the con-
VentlOnal mold, is to achieve a real
and rare success: and hat is equally
true Of a Christian Endeavor Society.
There is no comfort in this topic
for the person who wants to get off
the main highway: such as those
scatter-brained folk who are forever
chasing after some new religious fad.
The thought for today is merely that
{ the grand trunk road Of principle
) should be made smoother and easier.
t A Christian Endeavor Society, like a
church. becomes a failure if it ceases
; to do the essential things for which
it exists: no desire for novelty should
lead it astray from his.
{ Old Deacon Jones always prays the
same rayer in public. His phrases
{ never vary. Everybody in the con-
: knows when he has reached
the middle and when he is near the
end. And nobody feels a throb OF
s gladness when Deacon Jones gets up
e to pray. His sincerity is beyond cues
0 tom de means every word Of that
( ~ prayer-or, at least, HI did when
: first he began to pray it. But now
it is a form OF words. it chokes
OP LIZ AOCAAt, even 0S a SlX-1nCh D1De
cannot contain the waters OF a flood
Old Deacon Jones needs a new yocab.
e ulary. for his own sake as we'll az
for the sake OF his hearers. If pro.
fessional writer's keep Robots The
e saurns Of English Words and Phrases
On their desks. surely Deacon Jone,
n needs some studied help in making hi.
G u~tterances really represent his pres
ent mood any experience.
is -
is Fresh from the hands of the Gre
d ator, a baby is a thing Of surprise,
n and variety. The quaint and origina
sayings Of little children, and their
le free, untrammeled ways, before GUS
at tom has done it's d~eadening work witt
ot them, have a lesson for us. The NOR,
)r original we are the closer we are +,
Ii the thought Of God for US. Some O
n us have conv%entiona1ized ourselves ON
ii of all nnSSihilitY of delirorinn -