Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-09-23
UPS AND DOWNS
NANATION'SL
Quarterly Review of Sunday
School Lesson Presents Study
of Facts and Teachings
By William 7. Ellis

BY William T. Ellis
II is the long look that reveals
truth. Things must be seen in rela-
tion one to another in order to be
understood. The advantage of a
quarterly review of Sunday school
lessons. such as the present, is that
| it enables us to study facts and
teachings in proper proportions. A
single lesson may concentrate our at
tention too closely upon episodes and
details; long sweep of history, like
that comprehended within the stu
dies of the past three months, gives
balance and perspective and a sense
of relative values.
Most persons need this. We are so
close to the incidents of life that we
often miss a clear view of life itself.
trees" Saint Peter had a keen word
upon this when he characterized a
certain sort of person as blind, see
ing only what is near" Now. amid
the present world upheaval, we need
especially the gift of discerning ma
jor tendencies and ultimate issues,
tails. Whatever local conditions may
be, let it be remembered that they
are as the waves, which may
be receding. though the tide is rising
This essential lesson truth has been
we'll expressed by Priscilla Leonard in
a poem in The Outlook:
"On the far reef the breakers
Recoil in shattered foam,
Yet still the sea behind them
Urges its forces home;
Its chart of triumph surges
Through all the thunderous din
The wave may break in failure,
But the tide is sure to win.
The reef is strong and cruel;
Upon its jagged wall
| One waNe-a score-a hundred,
Broken and beaten fall;
Yet in defeat they conquer,
The sea comes flooding in
Wave upon wave is routed,
But the tide is sure to win.
20. mighty sea! thy message
In changing spray is cast;
| Within Gods plan of progress
| 1t matters not at last.
| How wide the score of evil,
How strong the reefs of sin
| The wave may be defeated.
But the tide is sure to win"
Kings, Great and Small
It is startling or incredible
thought that the real mission and
efficiency of the ancient Jewish king
| dom which we are studying cam ot
| be fully understood until we have
/ seen the effects produced in Bible
! lands by the present war? A resur-
! gence of Jewish nationalism is being
4 ffr,1 J
! What twentieth century development
is to inherit the. glories of David and
Solomon?
A long look at the lessons of the
| quarter reveals David and Solomon
! as we'll as Rehoboam and Jeroboam
and Ahab, and still lesser wearers OF
! the purple. In great allegience OF
Jehovah, David and Solomon had led
| united Israel to the apex of its his
tory. The studies now in review -
and what rich Lessons they have
| been,-have included the greatest
| days of the Jewish nation. They
have also taken in the tragic times
OF the division of the kingdom. The
mightiest of the Hebrew monarcha
as well as the meanest, have been
under the study of the worlds Sun
| day schools, all within three months.
| What greatness could do for a ma
] ton, and what smallness could un-
/ do, has wildly been portrayed. God
pity the people who have pusil-
! luminous leaders in a time of great
| crises. 1t makes a sovereign citizen
tremble when he sees politicians pur-
suing their petty partisan purposes
| in an hour of national emergency
| At least we can be thankful that, as
| we sweep the worlds present trou-
bled horizon there are few, if any
Rehoboams in places of national
leadership.
Leaders and Misleaders
] One angle from which the quar-
| ter's lessons may be viewed is as a
study in leadership. I heard a man
say, in condemning a certain motor
ious ecclesiastic in one of the larger
American religious denominations
TT will take the Church twenty
years to recover from the blight OF
| that mans influence, after he is dead
| Similarly to-day the hand OF
Abdul Hamid has been removed from
| baefully upon the Turkish people
! The present saturnalia of massacres
and prosecutions of Christians in the
! Ottoman Empire is traceable to Abb
| dul Hamid's example and influence
| Jeroboam, who made Israel to SIM
| continued his malign work even aft
| er his bones had rotted. No man
sinneth unto himself. If you do not
/ believe that on first statement ask
| the historians; or ask the doctors.
who, in this mornings paper cried
| out against the social crime of per-
mitting wicked fathers to foredoom
unborn offspring to suffering and de-
spair.