The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-04-13
For April IS is Jesus. the Good Shep
herd" John 10:1-1S-
When Folks Are Like Sheep.

herd" John 10:1-1S-
When Folks Are Like Sheep.
Sheep, just sheep, that's what we
are: witless, willful, woeful, wander
ing sheep. q.
1t is not flattering. but it is true
The old Hebrew prophet knew peo-
pie when he cried, 'tAll we like sheen
have gone aStray"-the point of that
remark being that men and women
behave quite like sheep, especially in
their SHINING.
Stupidest and silliest of all animals,
as well as weakest, are sheep; and
they go astray in the same fashion
as folks-by following some old bell
wether. If it were not for this unreal
soning crowd instinct in us; If our
hymn of ethics were not. Every
body's Doing It.; if we did not all
delight to follow a multitude to do
evil'; there would be less difficulty
about solving the great human prob
lens of our time.
Suppose we stop our strutting long
enough to confess that, after all, in
our innermost selves, we are like
sheep. We all want to follow fash
ions especially the foolish ones. We
dress alike, we act alike, we think
alike. Existence is one long effort
after conformity. Like school girls,
we have horror of being different"
Let anything become the vogue,
no matter how absurd or needless or
hurtful it may be, and we trample
upon one anothers' coat tails in order
to follow the fashion--tho following
fashion is often to fashion folly.
This sheep instinct is responsible
for most of our bad habits, from the
use of cigarettes to the mortgaging
of our homes to buy automobiles
Whenever a young man or woman
rises up in appreciation of his human
heritage. and says, II will not be a
sheep"-and the event is rare enough
to make news for the papers-then
there is born one who will be leader
of men.
AS individual. independent. daring,
adVenturing spirits we are fashioned
by Cod but an evil world bends all
it's powers to Transforming US into
fatuous, following, gregariouS sheep,
budding in the cactus fold of con-
ventionaIity, or else straying into
fields that do not feed but only hurt.
Mans problem with man (and it is
also God's) is how to develop per-
sonalities. With that end in view,
progressive spirits are challenging
our entire educational system. The
acid test is also being applied to demo-
cracy itself Nor does the church
escape; harsh critics have declared
that pious folk are commonly nonen-
titles; and that the merely good are
nothing else-only zeroS in the prob
lem of life. For the final test of
every order and institution and meth
cd is this: Does it create character
and make for individual manhood
Jesus came bringing life, more life,
real life: and every spirit he touched
was lifted above the negative plane
of commonplaceness and developed
| into a real personality.
The sign of the cross is a plus sign.
Foes and FraiIties of the Flock.
| Almost every other created ANNA i
has some method of f-protection,
but the sheep mas none Even tho
| parrots of Australia slap the sheep.
Dogs, wolves, lions, bears, snakes,
eagies-what a multitude of foes the
sheep has to feac! It's only protec-
ton is the shepherd. His help is its
one hope against hurt. 1t cannot take
care of itself. From storm and STUN
bling, from beast and bird, from panic
and pitfall, the Sleeps only succor is
the shepherd.
| Therein the parable fits the Chris
tian. He is of himself weak. Perils
| plentifully surround him. Within and
without are dangers. Alas for him ii
he has not learned that his strength
| is in his Shepherd. He keeps safe
only when he is kept safe. Apart from
the Saviour he is ever in danger. Sim
pie and childlike-yet needed by the
veteran warrior of Gods the teach
ing of the Lesson that the safety OF
the sheep lies only in the Good Shep
| herd Mankind ever outgrows the
comfort of the shepherd Psalm" ut
! tered bv the king of Israel who once
kept the flocks on Bethlehem hillside,
where, a thousand years later, other
lshepherds heard the minstrelsy of the
Jehovah is my shepherd; I shall moi
He maketh me to lie down in green pas
He 1eadeth me beside still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
| He guideth me in the paths or righteous
for His name sake.
Yea, though l walk thru the valley or the
| shadow Of death.
! Thy rod and Thy shaft. they comfort me
| Thou preparest Il table before me in The
/ presence of mine enemies:
Thou hast anOinted my head with oil;
My cup runneth over ,, -,
Surely goodness aud loving kindness sinai
follow me all the days of my ire
And I shall dwell in the house of JEHOVAH
forever"
Some shepherd Traits.
What can the city-dweller in Amer
lea or even tile occupant of the sheer
wagon on the western plains, know
about the intimacy and simplicity o.
the shepherd life of Syria? How Otter
have / watched it, by night and b!
day-the shepherd leading his flocl
homeward, piping unsteady the while
beneath the eastern slope of Mt. Car
mel: or the watchers huddled over &
tiny fire beneath the cold starlight o
the regions east of the Jordan. VERY
friendly and close is the Relationship
between the oriental shepherd and hi
flock A glimpse of the qualities o
the Saviour Shepherd, who called
himself the good shepherd may b'
obtained thru it.
In a moving book, "Beckonings from
Little Hands," Mr.. Patterson Dubois
tells of the scrawl found among thu
possessions of a child who had beer