Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-01-25

War is running a sharp line be-
tween the big and the little, the
doers and the critics, the convention
al and the daring. Some persons
even generals and diplomats and
other government officials among
them-have proved too small to rise
10 the heights of this new day. They
are the slaves of precedent and con-
Nentionality. There is more red tape
than red blood about them. Even
with the world afire, they have eyes
Tor the proprieties and usages of
another day. These quibbling minds
have cost the world dear.
1t is an old, old principle by
which they stand condemned. Jesus
himself dealt sharply with this sort
OF two-by-four saint when they be-
gan to raise their quibbling shop
talk in great human crisis. A man
was seeking life. and getting it; but
the scribes objected to both the
manner of receiving and bestowing
IL. Doubtless If those scribes were
allVe to-day they would want to util-
lze the army camps for the preserva-
tlon of their denominational pecadiI-
loes among the troops. They still
would insist upon all the rules of the
book OF church discipline being ap-
piled; and they would continue to
formity to the rules of the village
church.
Two great principles stand out in
this Sunday School Lesson story.
Ihe hrst is that supreme goals may
ne gained, in spite of all handicaps,
.py those determined to attain them.
othins can balk a resolute man.
The second is that there are times
when everyday usuages and the
small conventions of life, must give
way before a great necessity. Smash
roofs and break up meetings, if need
be, but win to life. As for the petty
objectors and fault-finders, they
must be disregarded.
The Hope of Man.
The story is laid in old Caper-
naum. 1t was a great day in the
life of Jesus. He made His head
quarters in a private house, perhaps
in the home of Peter. The crowds
thronged Him. Not only was the
city at His door, but the whole coun-
tryside from as far away as Jerusa-
lem had been drawn by the lure of
His wondrous works and words. In
side the small house. the people
were jammed, hanging on His words
Among them We're many sick and
crippled, eager for a single touch
that would mean healing. Calm.
compassionate, helpful, Jesus was
the center of n needy multitude,
then. as now, the hope of man.
The figure has never lost its
charm for mankind. Jesus, the
healer and the helper. is the fairest
picture that the Imagination of NOR
tails conceives. Always He was help
ing, always He was teaching, The
hurried, harried, heavy, hungry
hearts of to-day find satisfaction in
Him.
The Man Shut Out
All over the world a chorus OF
Ifs" are arising. IF could only be
of some real help in the war" sighs
the person who is non-available for
military duty. IF I could only go
10 the hospital" says the poor sick
kran in the remote rural parts; 'If
= c"ciG only go to Colorado" says
the mechanic threatened with tuber-
culosis; IF I could only have a little
capital" says the ambitious young
nan, eager to start into business. |
md N the Aramaic speech that day
a. Capernaum, many wcIe saying,
If / could only get in anG he could
but look on me-" The crowd was so
great that many were shut out.
Such a slight distance, such small
barrier, separated between the man
in need and the Man with health
TO give.
1t is a proposition generally sound
that if one wants anything in this
world badly enough, whether it be
an education, or a business, or
quality of character, he gets it If his
wishes have will behind them. One
of the sick men shut out from the
Capernaum house that day was a
poor paralytic who saw the mum bers
of people intervening between him
self and his dreams of deliverance
from bondage. How he won is a
meaningful story.
Four Unconventional Friends
The average woman, finding her
home inadvertently locked, will sit
on the doorstep for a night. risking
pneumonia, rather than break a
pane of glass and unlock window.
Conventionality has all of us so
thoroughly in it's grip that we hesi-
tate to do the unusual, the audacious
thing. The paralytic and his friends
faced situation calling for uncon-
Ventional measures. What should
they do to reach Jesus? They could
not elbow the other needy ones out
of the way, for these, too, had equal
right and equal eagerness, and rude
ness to them would merit sure re-
buke from the fearles Teacher.
AS the old proverb says, Love
will find a way" These loyal friends
Awere not daunted by conventionali-
Dties. The house was of the kind
still typical in Palestine: its fiat mud
roof could easily be broken into, and
the space between the supporting
beams was wide enough to let the
figure of the sick man through.
without hesitation they deliberately
tore UP the carefully laid, watered
and rolled mud roof. What is a roof
when a life is at stake? The great
are usually unconventional, and
these four friends showed evidence
of greatness in their conduct.
The Sick Mans Riches
We could wish to know more
about this paralytic. He must have
been a rare character. No whining,
complaining, embittered chronic in
valid he. Such friends as he pos
sessed are won by another kind of