The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-12-28

poses Tor ones life and TO rail- IN with t,
them. There are great forces-which
we reverently call the providences of
God-abroad in our day: the wise per-
son will fall in with these. To every
man, woman and child it is possible
to bear a share in the great goinSs
of God in our day. Not in vain has
this war taught us new lessons in CO.
operation. Any life, however obscure,
may bear its proportionate part in the
working out of the ideals which di-
vine hand has clearly sketched upon
lie canvas of today. Stevenson puts
the idea into a beautiful figure:
so from the hearth the children flee,
BY that Almighty Hand
Austerely led; son one by sea
Goes forth, and one by land:
Nor aught of all mems sons escape
from that command.
And as the fervent smith of yore
Beat out the glowing blade,
Nor welded in she front of
The weapons that he made,
But in the tower at home still piled his
ringing trade;
so like sword the son shall roam
On nobler missions sent;
And as the smith remained at home
In peaceful ferret pent.
So sits the while at home for mother
we'll content
To have a part however slight, in
working out the divine purpose in one
day is success. This is the root con-
viction that ennobles life, and extracts
its sting and dissipates its jadedness.
Ali lesser considera tons of safety and
recognition and reward count for little
alongside of this one major achieve
ment, the helping to bring to pass the
great and beautiful will of God among
men. Some of the prophets of old
were willing and whiting instruments
in the achievement of this purpose;
but the Jewish people as a whole I'M
derwent the tragic experience of see
ing Jehovah's will done in spite of
them. and not because of them
Learning the Great Lesson.
! After all. and after all. did the Jews
learn their lesson during the five hun
dred and eighty years of history which
| this review period covers? We have
seen them rise as a Kingdom, split in
| twain and then pursue an undulating
course, until finally they were dis
persed by the captivity. which was
| the fail of Jehovah. Were they cured
of their idolatry? 1t is commonly
said that they were. Yet the archaic
oIogists are digging up incarnation
bowls which show that for centuries
after the captivity the Jews were past
master of the art of witchcraft-
Today the temporal condition of the
Jew is better than 1t has ever been
since the fall of Jerusalem. Wealth,
prestige, position, and political con-
sideration all belong to the Jew. The
race, perhaps point out that the pres
Hent irreligion of the Jewish people is
an ominous sign of a deplorable con-
dition that makes wealth, learning and
standing of no avail. The youth of
Judaism is being lost to the faith of
its fathers. The need for old prophets,
such as have spoken words that have
echowed in all the Sunday schools of
earth during the past twelve months,
is still present with the Chosen Peo-
pie.
j The Jews were in school to God.
We have seen in these studies the full
course of the curriculum. The one
great edmonton of the teacher was
to ffxedness of heart. With incredible
patience and infinite resourcefulnesS,
God sought to teach His people the
lesson of loyalty 10 Him. They pre-
ferred to follow fashion. Can this new
western world learn the same lesson?
The Lift of the Long Look.
Terse Comments on the Uniform Pray
/ err Meeting Topic of the Young Peo-
pies SocietieS-Christian -Endeavor
etc.-For December 80: Planning
for the Future. Matt. 25:1-I3.
The newspaper cartoonists are often
perplexed to find subjects for draw
ings, but the first of the new year
provides them with an unfailing and
ever fertile theme in the new year
resolutions. So much sport has been
made of this practice. that it is in dan
ger of being laughed out of court
And that would be a calamity For
while we smile with the fun makers
let US remember that the making of
resolutions is fundamental to life. If
it were not for the new resolutions of
earnest souls this old world would
soon perish of dry rot. A great reso-
luton in the heart of a potentially
great person is bigger thing than a
sky-scraper building or a locomotive
lOfFN
mids. All the hopes of all the years
are centered in the resolutions that are
framed in individual hearts. That
way has come all the pdogress that the
world has known. Purpose must pre-
cede performance; resolutions go he
fore all revolutions The ma sses
J would still be subject to overIords;N the
slaves would be still in honda ge: the
wicked would abide unstirred and un-
summoned IN sin, were it not for the
, good resolutions of noble men and wo-
men. Let no man despise. resolutions.
; They are the stuff of which souls are
made.
New Year resolutions should be
practical as we'll as noble. II is scarce
ly wise for young woman to propose
IN her heart to become a Joan of Arc
when her greatest immediate need is
to bake better bread and to comb her
: hair more tidily in the mornings Some
young men are resolving to become
great when they should the rather he
determined to become utterly relia Bile
: IN their present tasks. Some folks are
dreaming of fame to come when their
flrst need is to be a little more pleas
, ant DO We next thynge," is a good
; old motto. s00
Even the best may be bettered
indeed. it must be bettered if it is
; not to grow worse. So nobody ever
: gets beyond the necessity for saving
: with the Apostle, Brethren, | count
. not myself yet to have laid hold: but
one thing l do, forgetting the things
which are behind, and stretching for
: ward to the things that are before, ]
; press on toward the goal unto the
, prize of the high calling of God in