The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-04-04


Tho International Sunday School Les
son for April s Is, "Christ's Table
Talk."-Luke 14:7-24.
(By WILLIAM T. ELLIs.)
The cornwall Christ is the central
figure Of this story. No anch0rlte OF
ascetic he, but a freQuenter OF feasts.
a desired diner-Out. Because ne spent
his early life in carpenter shop Is
no warrant for CHASING Jesus as So
cially unsophisticated. The three
wears of his ministry reveal him often
in social aspects, and frequently :
feasts The boorishness which REGARDS
mark of worldliness would get NO en-
couragement from Jesus. He was 50
true a democrat that ne coulu nTes
ali men on their own level, from tue
highest to the lowliest +,a
There was good dining over IN .ne
trans-Jordan country, even as tooay.
II is a fat land. No traveller can lor
gel the fruits of Damascus. ~ sno
time Of this lesson, Jesus was soJoui ~ -
ing in Perea. where the forms o.
cnitivated society were farther az
xanced even than in Jerusalem. We
must see the story In TINS settns'
Oriental hospitality. even to TINS Gay
has more Of the outward iorm nst u tnnw
In a recent Atlantic Monthly rev. ".
i M. Rihbany, Syrian. tens nov nc ne
81 first declined dinner invitations -.
America, because they were so cur
and casual; ne was ioohi"e N
entail urgency. ...r
ont II the table talk OF dinner
nsrtv the text of this lesson IS taken;
Eood table talk is the surest MARI -.
good society. How wouid tnal % i:y va"
E,me look in a book? Not the Viau .
I,,t the guests and the conversation
,,,aLe a dinner notable. NO otnei
romment is needed upon some eiaDor.
cte dinners that are reported N III
daily press than that the neg guess neTform-
ars. thew have no resources IN tnenl-
ss1ves. To sit at some tables rs as
good as a college educaton' WnlAe 90
Far others, the school teachers eas
tba+ ali their instructions IN prope.
snaech and refined usage are nuin1leu
81 home. The best stories. tne nus ~
i,nrortant news, the discussion o. o.
that ia worth while in the WORN, "
sone at the diner table. Even .nUuS 81
W. roast be tender, II the tax oe
tv.h the dinner is a failure: 4 Know
ons family with young foiKs IN !. saaa.
bos moved it's Encyclopedias hrlttan e..
10 the dining room, as an a'u ~ =.
s"'e .sBnundcrs," Then and Now.
- ,yos so It Is. The keen words
Issns concerning the socially am
bi+ious- the persons who thrust mem
49,. FORWARD into prominence, are as
un-to-date as though spoken y.
oirht,s function. Then. as now, .n r...
were FOUNDERS" and . LEI" and
mo TO be seen in the right SET a
raSertine to the jungle for tnelr cue
- r,anners in order to attain thIS al
ri.inn The seIhshness and rutnless-
nass IF it all, and the Ditter nea
hnrnines and jealousies ense. ~
almost pass belief. ~ Mas words
1;fa can the blase Wise Man
lle 81 t-,,lv spoken, VANITY or van
ne M All is vanity" The person
- saeLs a social career as a NJ
sool 10 due to learn to the iuAA ."S
taste Of Apples of Sodom. r.
Everybody seems 70 tne ee nerson who
a,,s The hest seat for himself. Jesus
.Ht.d ont. ins few luminous sen
p.,s how such an one is sure 10 oe
called down: while the wiser mo-
modest person is set IN inc =.
Mace. This Is social sop",st ,,an-
PaII az good manners and 1unoaHie"
No trner life appraisal was eve.
x,ada than these words OF Jesus:
averv one that exalteth nimsen s
no humbled: and he tnat nn1a.
himself shall be exaltetn. Inc s ~.
- social life are strewn with the GU.
Si+tsred wrecks of the once PROUD an.
.a,feaxa,ted. And it is as common q
s,,nr;ses to see persons who despise 81
o;ai attention having it steadily snow
cred upon them. Thus the
tho kingdom work out In lie.
How a ..Set" Swaps Dinners.
We rather rub our eyes d. -,
modernity of the conoitlohs Is
~, these words of Jesus: Anu n'
~ ~ him also that had hidden MIN
WIEN thou makest a dinner or a sup
49, caII not thy friends, nor IN;
brethren. or thy kinsmen. nor TIC,
neirhbors: less haply they also u,'
thee again, and recomPehse oe
thee" That SOUNDS hhe
day social satirist. ~ ,
NV thing we call society, De
IN New York or in POdunk. Is Hao
I'M of an exclusive set VINO eAcnane
visits and dinners among tneAse1 |.
the chief charm of which conslsts
the fact that most otneI pes
the vicinity are not permitteo 20 pal
tjcinate. Rebellious complains ar
heard in private from the member
of most "sets," that they nave 10
ont night after night to meet the yer
same people over and over aea,l
Flat, stale and unprontaoie %,
verdict of even those VINO malntal
tins social barter, with Its eno!es
succession of expensive and prontles
obligations. . i,
A radical reform was proposed
Jesus. He said that the sensible an
useful hospitality is that wmcn
bestowed upon the needy. and II
socially nonelect. Pity the shaiio
and conventionalized homes whic
never welcome to their table an!
body from whom a return lnvltatio
may not be expected. They miss u
zest and immediate rewards OF re-
hospitality-to put the case on l
lowest basis-because they who ente
tain strangers sometimes enterta
angels unawares. The guest who Is
nobody's visiting list, often is the mo
entertaining and profitable. Wayfare
often have an individuality denied