The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-11-15

that which was to him most desira pies
And the dream tremendously infu.
enced his life. 1t brought him BACK
suddenly to a sense of God. He saw
himself in the light of the presence OF
Jehovah.
There is traffic between heaven and
earth. Mortal experiences have an
immortal outreach. God 10 concerned
in the affairs of man. He mas ms
messengers climbing unseen LADDERS
between the spiritua! realms. Wnae
Jacob foresaw in dream, has come
to be the supreme reality OF all ex-
istence God has drawn near to US
in the person of his own sent Son. our
Saviour. Thru him we may have
closer, surer contact with the eternai
world than came to Jacob at Bethel.
In these days of long casualty lists:
of confusion. suffering, perplexity ana
war. we all need the reinsurance that
came to jacob. that God is not unin.
terested. He is not cold and distant
Deity, standing apart and remote, in
different in his ineffable majesty. BY
all of his omnipotent resourcefulness,
God is pressing himself and his COM
fort and his inspiration upon a sore
hearted world ,e
He wants mankind to find Him in
these days of darkness. II the war
should be the occasion OF q great
spiritual awakening, OF a turning to
the Father. and of REIMBURSEMENT OF
life to his purposes. 1t will have been
abundantly justified. No price is too
high to pay for the boon OF finding
God. -
The spot where we\ have had a
unique spiritual experience is a soul
shrine. Oriental-wise, Jacob marked
the scene Of his dream with q memoir
ial stone His pillow became pillar.
That which had helped him sleep be-
came a means. to awaken femem-
brance, That spot, like every other
where man meets his Maker. became
| a house of God, a gate Of heaven.
A Madc-Ovcr World.
This great experience did not make
| a saint of Jacob. He had a long way
yet to go on that Journey. But Il
was searched. God became a new
| factor in his life. He had learned
| to reckon with the infinite verities.
it would need some hard living, q
innate and personal experience OF
God, to make over his character COM
| pletely "a
Jacobs vow, after his vision. seems
pitifully inadequate. He had seen
| the heavens opened He had heard
| the voice of Jehovah. A vista OF be-
nign providence had been spread be-
fore him. Still, all that he asked,
was merely safety for this journey,
and food and clothes. His vow. or
| D0ISdlil, WdS Hot Oi d ioAty PiaHS
it had no spiritual Implications. II
God would take care of him physical
| ly. he would serve God, and give him
a tenth of his income!
Nevertheless. Jacob was on the
way to a new character. In world
full of Jacobs, with self-seeking and
injustice and oppression rampant.
millions of persons are today Won
dering how we are going to assure
a new world order. The funda-
mental problem is one affecting hui
man nature. 1t is not enough. to
| break German armament, IL German
aims abide. The motives of militar-
ism and materialism are more of a
menace than is mere might. We
cannot create successfully league
:, thereof are the same scheming sort
as we used to know. The Jacob prob
lem is really the world problem to-
day. We have to change human ma :
ture. 1870. -
tit can't be, dene.". says the ma n
of the world. All, but 1t has been
done, and it being done, and it
will be done, on increasingly large
scale. But only the goodness and
grace OF God can do it. Except the
world first meet God, in a personal
transaction and relationship, it cam
not meet the needs of new day.
Converted men and women are the
only sure route to transformed hui
man society.
General Foch recently said to an
American visitor, I'VE cannot main-
tain the ideals of liberty and justice.
J whether in war or in peace, without
faith in Christ, for He was the great
: giver of freedom to men,"