The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-07-12

Our tumultuous times are learning
the truth that Whittier sang:
I'VE search the world for truth : we Gull
The good. the pure the beautiful
From craven stone and written scroll,
From all old flOwer-fields Of the soul;
And, weary seekers of the best
We come back laden from the quest.
To find that all the sages said
Is in the Book our mothers read"
Back to Old Fashions.
1t took the lightning flashes of the
world storm to reveal to men and
nations wither they were drifting.
One province in Canada had, all I'M
known to its British-born citizens.
controlled K an unsympathetic for
eign immigffion. The story of how
Germany had entrenched herself at
the worlds strategic centers is now
general knowledge. Ideals and stan
dards that can be called nothing less
than pagan had likewise insinuated
themselves into our common life. Few
Christians suspected how far our day
had gone toward the enthronement of
un-Christian ideas and usages. Free
love. infidelity, anti-patriotisn, indus
trial and social anarchy, we now per-
ceive, were real perils to civilization.
The brutaliZed German theory that
strength has no obligations to weak
ness, and tina the supefman or egotist
is above all moral restraints. had
found its way into much of our litera-
ture upon success" Likewise, made
| in-Germany theology, which we now
see to be incredibly arrogant, I'M
| trustworthy and unfruitful, was
steadily und .rmining the faith of
| Christendom.
Now. humbled and contrite, we per-
ceive that the old. old paths of honor
and sincerity and brotherliness and
reverence, which the Bible proclaimed
as the way of life, are the only safe
roads for the feet of the race. Tie
simplicity of goodness; the integrity of
our characters; the worth of country
i and flag; the childlike faith in God;
the fellowship with His Saviour-son;
| these have emerged anew as the de-
/ sirable goals of life.
| Myriads of minds are giving thought
| to the reconstruction of the world
| after the war. All aim, whether con-
| sciously or not, at conforming 1t to
| the high and altruistic standards of
the New Testament. And a first fac
tor In the rehabilitation of society is
the careful training of the young in
i the study of the Bible. Despite it's
! hundreds years of usefulness, the
! Sunday school never has had such a
work as lies before it today. National
| and international conferences on a
| new world order may sound more i'm
portant; but the Sunday school teach
ers have the real work to do. A plain,
! pldI 1OI IutetiDS all the
fresh problems that the war has
thrust into our thinking is to teach
boys and girls. men and women, to
follow the fashion of Jesus. as set
| forth in the Bible.
Pershing and Gladstone.
Boys especially need to be impressed
with the attitude of really great men
/ towc the Bible and religion. They
should hear, as l have heard, Lloyd
Geo. ge, the Free Churchman, publicly
asking HI fellow Christians to pray
for him; or Admiral Beatty calling the
British nation to prayer. General
| Pershing's message to his soldiers in
France is lso message to the world:
Hardship will be your lot, but trust
in God will give you comfort; tempta-
ton will Lefall you, but T. teachings
of Our Saviour will give you strength.
Let your valor as a soldier. and your
| conduct as a man, be an inspira ton
to your con- rades, and an honor to
| your country"
William E. Gladstone uttered this
testimony to the workability of the
Bible:
What cr'e'i. what trouble, what
perplexity of life has failed or can
fail % draw from. this inexhaustible
treasure house its proper supply
What profession, what position is not
daily and hourly enriched by these
| "Oiuo Which, ISpclIllOH never WCdh-
ems, which carry with them now. as
in the days of their first utterance,
the freshness of youth and immortal
ity? When the solitary student opens
all his heart to drink them in, they
| VIII reward his toll, and in forms yet
more hidden and withdrawn, in the
retirement of the chamber, in the
| stiffness of the night season, upon the
bed of sickness, and in the face OF
death, the Bible will be there, its sew
| era1 words how often winged with
their several and special MESA ges. to
heal and to soothe, to uplift and
uphold, to invigorate and stir. Nay
more. perhaps, than this; amid the
crowds of the court, or the forum, or
the street, or the marketplace. where
every thought of every soul seems to
be set on the excitements of ambition
Or of business, or of pleasure. there
too, even there, the still small voice
of the Holy Bible will be heard, and
the soul. aided by some blessed word
may find wings like a dove, may fly