Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-04-13

JSdlS idICTs Snepn6EQS
the minstrelsy of the skies:
Jehovah is my shepherd; shall not
want.
He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures;
He leadeth me besides still waters.
He restoreth my soul;
He guideth me in the paths of righte-
BUSINESS for his Names sake.
Yea, though / walk through the valley
of the shadow of death,
l will fear no evil; for thou art with
me;
Thy rod and thy staff. they comfort
me.
Thou preparest a table before me in
the presence of mine enemies;
Thou hast anointed my head with
oil;
My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and loving kindness
shall follow me all the days of
my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of Je-
hovah forever"
Some Shepherd Traits
What can the city dweller in Amer
lea, or even the occupant of the sheep
wagon on the western plains, know
about the intimacy and simplicity of
the shepherd life of Syria? How of
ten have 1 watched it, by night and
by day-the shepherd leading his
flock homeward, piping musically the
while, beneath the eastern slope of
Mt. Carmel; or the watchers hud-
died over tiny fire beneath the cold
starlight of the regions east of the
Jordan. Very friendly and close is
the relationship between the oriental
shepherd and his flock. A glimpse of
the qualities of the Saviour-Shepherd
who called himself "the good shep-
herd" may be obtained through it.
In moving book, "Beckonings
from Little Hands," Mr.. Patterson Du-
bois tells of the scrawl found among
the possessions of a child who had
been shepherded into the heavenly
fold: God is love. He loves lambs"
That babe uttered the first great fact
about the Good Shepherd; his care is
tenderest for the weakest. He who
gathers the lambs in his bosom has
led the race into a new solicitude for
the welfare of childhood. Out of this
quality in Christ sprung the modern
Sunday school movement, and the new
pedagogy. and universal education and
civilizations slogan, women and chill
dren first"
The Good Shepherd knows his
sheep. There is not a weakness nor
a perversity in any one of them that
he does not wholly understood. He
makes allowances. To him sheep are
not mere sheep, as they are to the
abattoir; they are his own flock, each
named and loved for itself. The stu
pendousness of this truth, that God is
not too great to condescend to the
slightest need of the lowliest life,
needs the simple faith of childhood to
grasp it.
In weak times lee lers do not lead; |;
tney follow the crowd. But the Good
shepherd always goes before his flock.
His leadership is real and active and
continuous. Difficulties do not daunt
him, problems do not perplex him.
There is no standing still for the
flock of Christ. They are not Gagged
creatures in park. They go in and
out and find pasture, when they follow
him. Life is large and enlarging;
varied and abundant, when the shep-
herdship OF Jesus is accepted. In the
graVest and greatest times, such as
we are now witnessing, the leadership
of the Good Shepherd is adequate; he
will lead his flock into new, sweet
pastures through all the Scared and
bloody paths of war.
One other truth about the Good
Shepherd is that he lays down his
life for the sheep. That is the su-
preme test OF love and loyalty Let
us tarry for moment to consiher the
millions who have been gloriously
meeting it in the past three years
Men of most of the nations of the
earth have given this last full meas
ure of devotion; they have laid down
their lives for the cause and country
they loved. We are to prone to listen
TO the shriekings Of sentimentalists
who think that the loss of life is the
worst thing in the world. They stay
at home and spend money CASUALLY
other peoples money! in propagatinp
the craven creed that physical hurt
is the supreme evil; and that life is
to be preserved at all costs. Rather
let us head the unboasting practice of
tne millions or men - supported in
their action by mothers, wives and
sweethearts-who have deliberately
and definitely offered their lives on
the altar of love and loyalty. In the
light OF our own day, we read new
significance into the words of the Good
Shepherd. Therefore doth the Father
love Me, because l lay down my life"
A Man as a Door
When l travelled through India. nv
servant would every night curl IN ~
the door of my room and sleep. No
body could enter or leave except by
stepping over him. The fact illumi-
mates the figure of the Good Shep-
herd, that he himself is the door of
the sheep. Shepherds sometimes close
IHS eHlTdHCe 10 Ine Sheep-fOld in this
same fashion. The imagery is ner-
fectly clear to an oriental: there is no
entrance into the fold of Christ ex-
cept by Christ himself. That is the
cardinal truth stressed by the Refor-
nation, the four hundredth anniver-
sary of which is beink kept this year
No church. no creed, no minister and
no council can save a soul; the only
door into life is by Christ himself.
In the face of Jewish ecclesiasticism
Jesus uttered this. The leaders of the
Jews had communicated the blind
man whom the Master had healed.
The comfort Christ gave him was,
What matter? They really have no
authority. alone am the door. There
is no entrance except by me-"
Men, love three, serve thee. praise
thee not,
The Master praises-what are men ?"
Life for the Christian is wholly a
matter of loyalty to Christ. The
great truth of spiritual independence
underlies the figure of the Good Shep-
herd. BY him, and by him alone, we
find life. A Christless creed leads only
to barren pastures. But all who hear
his voice-and he says his sheep can
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