The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-05-26

that are laid upon children, few are
more important than the exhortation
to mind your nner The peo-
pie or this western world are prone
to forget the place of gratitude. Fa-
vorS and cOurtesies go unacknowledg-
ed. The paying Of dinner calls is a
disappearing fashion. In our y |
we give more time to pleading tina
to praise. One small boy known to
me has ingeniously formulated a COM
p~rehensive phrase, Which disposes Of
the whole subject, by saying nightly
the things we have to be grateful
for"
The clear teaching of the Old Tes-
lament and the New, and Of every
modern philosophy Of life, is that a
symmetrical and beautiful and effect
i've character peeds the grace of graf
The Lepers by the Wayside.
n episode upon which this les
son is based, was a typical Oriental
scene. The traveller to Jerusalem to-
day may find a group Of lepers, sew
en- or eight in number, sitting by the
little bridge that crosses the Kedron,
between the city and the Mount of
Olives, near the garden of Gethsem-
ane.
OF all the abject figures on earth
the leper is the most pitible. The
memory Of them remains with the
traveller as a nightmare, as he sees
them still putting their fingerless
hands to their fOreheads, bending low
hib.' The Mission to lepers is one
of the most appealing of all Christian
philanthropies.
The gentle hearted Master himself
could not resist the call of the group
of ten lepers whom he met outside
0f thu &c hN two Il cDa,<H
toward Jerusalem along the Jordan
Valley. They cried with raucous inn
portunity, bowling themselves to the
earth as they spoke. or holding forth
their manned members, Master, have
mercy on u.s." OF course Jesus heard
and answered. In a brief word he
babe them GO and show yourself
unto the priests which was accord
ing to the Mosaic law.
The lepers took him at his word
They didn't wait TOR written instruc,
tons, or for formal credentials; the!
set forth, in the selfshness Of need
each to his own priest. In the &C
faith. "As they went they wer
, cleansed." If they had sat still, the,
would have remained lepers until the,
5 died. Obedience IN action brough
deliverance.
!, A Literary Classic.
81 Only one, however, and he a Sa
E marian whom good Jews regarde'
as q heathen. returned to thank tn
: benefactor who had delivered hin
from a living death. Luke's own word
4 tell the story most ~vividly-'And on
OF them, when he saw that he wa
I healed, turned back, with a kou'
t voice clarifying God; and he fell upo
: his face at his feet, giving him thank
K and he was a Samaritan. And Jesu
- - sold vyoro not tho 70
d cleansed but where are the min
a Were there none found that return
ed to give glory to God, save tn
$ stranger And he said unto hin
arise, and go thy way: thy faith hat
O made thee whole"
There never was a father who we
not pleased when a child showed al
n probation for fatherly deeds of loS
! and bounty. God is like other fatf
ers in this. The tremendous trut
is written large over this lesson, tn;
the gratitude Of man is desired /
God and pleasant to Him.
;. Yet the way Jesus rose to the higl
g er significance of every occasion
~ shown by His comment on the graf
III full leper. He praised him for h
50 gratitude, but more for his faith. "
E, grateful mind is a great mind Wro
old William Seeker; a mind of fat
lt is still greater. The highest exc
:. else of any human faculty is II
re ability to take God at his word,
~ when his word seems against reasO
10 The lepers had no token that the di
oy ease which had smitten them beyol
as earthly cure and which had ma
re the ma noutcast from their fellow
IN could be healed by Jesus, yet tn
were wise enough to do the seeming
e, foolish thing, by accepting the plan
us Christ; in that acceptance they prov
IT, it. Then, as ever. faith was the vi
tory that overCame the world.
UNDERSTANDABLE" CONSECRA
n TION.