The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-02-20
(BY WILLIAM T. ELLIs.)

Parenthood, priesthood. piety and
power are the fourfold themes of the
living pictures from the old Book
which is this weeks Sunday school
lesson. One does not have to search
Of progress and reform for our own
land and time.
The cynical proverb about Preach
ers' sons and deacons' daughters Is
not true. as repeated statistical show.
tngs have demonstrated. Children OF
the manse do not ordinarily go wrong:
quite the contrary. Sufficient excep-
tons remain, however, to give point
to the saying. The preachers son VINO
strays is sure to be noted because ne
II a preachers son.
Some ministers are so engrossed IN
the larger concerns of spiritual truth
and moral progress that they lmper.
oeptibly drift into the state Of mind
Of that statesman who said that ne
had no time for individuals
Home to every minister and teacher
and Christian worker comes the lntl-
nation that no amount OF pubic serV-
ice can atone for failure to be true
to ones responsibilities in ones own
home.
The American Fathers Failure.
Eli. the priest of Israel at Shiion'
was a good man and efficient priest.
He was devoted to the altar and TO
the glory of God. He was kindly,
considerable character, as his dealings
with Hannah and Samuel showed. but
his love was lax in his own housenoio'
where a firm hand was needed.
Old Eli was prototype OF the
American father, engrossed IN large
concerns, who let's his sons have their
own way. prominent business man
in New York said to me one day, 1
really do not know my son. You see,
~ at school and COL
lege, and on summer vacations most
of his life, and when he Is home Tor
a short time, he has evening engage
ments and friends at the house.. That
in spite of the success that had mace
him a marked personality In the
great metropolis, he had not done
mans full duty by this time
A moral menace today Is this lax
ity on the part of the American par
without woodsheds. and without that
discipline for which the woodshed
proverbially stands. The idea OF law
and discipline is lacking from myriads
of American boys, whose parents SEND
them off to private schools in the
hope that hired teachers will make up
for parental neglect. 1t is not uncom-
mon for wealthy fathers to give their
boys huge automobiles as toys with
which to break speed limits ana
der why the new generation is grow
ing needless of the rights OF man and
of the laws of the land. We are SOW
ing the wind of self-indulgence and
we must expect to reap the wh1riwind
of moral anarchy. Old Eli returns
from the distant past to challenge
every parent to his primary duty as
man and father.
Glass Houses.
1t is easier to find fault with Ell
than to train our own sons. He did
fail in the rearing Of Hophni and
Phineas, his sons. They abused their
position and their opportunity. and
because he was SO very lenient with
them, God sent him a warning by the
lips of the child Samuel. Even then
Eli was not equal to the drastic meas
ures required, and the corrupt priests
continued in their positions of influ-
ence. Eli bent beneath the sorrow OF
his life in pathetic dignity, perhaps
exercising the grace of resignation
when he should have employed the
virtue of swift, strong action.
When we are thinking about the
failure of Eli with his sons, we mus
not forget that he also had much t.
do with the rearing of Samuel. Is
rael's greatest prophet. 1t Is true
that Hannah helped more than lit
tie, but it was under the influenced
of Eli that Samuel became states
man of God. Lest we be moved tt
condemn the old priest too much, WI
are reminded that SamuePs own som
proved unworthy.
Since we live in glass houses, lie
us be easy on Eli the aged. He has
real nobility of character. The blow
that killed him was not a persona
bereavement. but the news that tn
ark OF the covenant had suffered cal
amity AS we look about us, we cal
not escape the fact that godly par
ents may have wastrel sons. Evel
the best of fathers and mothers cal
not wholly determine the moral ant
spiritual life Of their children-al
though the home where holiness i
made attractive is the best co-operat
ing agent that the Lord Almighty ha
on earth.
The Preachers and the Acid Test.
Quietly and soberly. as they tall
by firesides and over luncheon tables
thoughtful Christian men are sayin
today to one another that the prob
lem of the church is the problem O
the preacher. This is no unmanly eff
fort to shift responsibility from thei
own shoulders. But the proven
Like priest like people" was neve
more true than now. The worl
wants spiritual leadership. 1t is cage
for tidings of truth and for a clea
note of gertrude from the man VIII
speaks for God. The Opportunitie
before the Christian ministry wer
never greater than in this year of 'ou
Lord nineteen hundred and fifteen.
While the vast majority of tn
preachers of the gospel are men o
clean life and of goodness and of self
sacrifice, there is nevertheless a lac
of leadership. of vision and of power
The church is confessedly not meet
ing the needs of our time. ReluC
family. we are forced to say. as wa
the verdict of old Israel at the tim
of our lesson. that the weakness G