Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-03-19
is THE KINGDOM COMING?
The International Sunday School les.
son for March 20 is Lessons by the
Way" Luke 13:18-35.
BY William r. Ellis.

Anybody who takes real brains to
| the task of reading the daily news
papers and current periodicals and
books, knows that the greatest theme
under present discussion is, Where
are We going? What is the meaning OF
this tremendous social upheaval? Will
worldwide unrest. with all its new pc.
litical, economic and social theories,
! lead to chaos or to better order OF
humanity"
All Of which is to say. rs the king.
dom Of heaven coming?" There is a
wider. deeper interest in this question
than when Jesus himself travelled
on foot over his little world, talking
everywhere about the kingdom. Our
own new experiences lead us 10 COM
prehend, perhaps better than did our
fathers. how dominant was the king
dom note in the thought and teaching
of Jesus. His goal was nothing less
than new and better order Of society
"a kingdom wherein the ideals and
sovereignty of God held sway.
There is not a political or social re-
former before the world today, neither
Lord George nor. Woodrow Wilson,
who has so complete and basic a
scheme for the betterment of human
life as that which Jesus proclaimed. All
that is wise or worthy in today's 500 ial
urge is but a coming to their own OF
tho teachings of Jesus. Pity the blind.
ness of the person who can see no
relation ship between the utterances
and practices Of Christ. and the Up.
heavals that are going forward before
our eyes today These are kingdom.
coming times. beyond the compass OF
our minds
BY Law or BY Growth?
What a child wants, he wants right
away. Only the mature can await pa
tionetly for the fulfillment of desire
We are we'll advanced in our under
standing of life before we begin to
grasp the great truth of the patience
of God
Candidly. we are today childish in
our attitude toward social reforms. We
want them enacted into laws as soon
as we have sighted them. The latest
theory must be rushed on to the stat
ute books Social. reformers blithely
turn their backs on the long experience
of the race. and demand that the very
newest idea of the most radical theor-
list shall be put into general practice
at once. whether that idea be human
eugenics of a cattle breeding type, or
anarchy in child life. masquerading as
a new educational method. Our light
and easy disregard of the principle OF
natural, growth has crowded our state
laws. with immature legislation, our
schools with fads, and our literature
with extravagances that make the
judicious grieve. r."
No hasty. or ill-considered reforms
were launched by Jesus. In the ut
terances concerning the kingdom of
God which form the present Sunday
school lesson. he likened the growth
to that of a mustard seed or to the
spread Of leaven in the meal. 1t be-
gan small, hut it was to grow large.
At first a rejected teaching in an OBJ
scrre Roman province, of man sub
seuuently executed as criminal, 1t
later became the dominant power or
the world. Today two-thirds Of man
kind are under nominally Christian
rule The genius Of the kingdom is
working out in a new world order. Ihe