Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-11-08

1880 ~ "a az
looks for the straight-fiung condem-
nation that Jesus was accustomed to
visit upon dishonesty and hypocrisy.
Right here opens up the most perth
Eent message of the old story. Meth
or religion nor statecraft have any
right to lie or cheat. There is no
divine right" for kings or for
church folk. Evil on the part of
the pious is doubly evil.
A Christian man said in my hear
ing recently, Two things concern
me l n n present religious situa-
ton of America. One is the ten
dency of orthodox Christians to
draw into exclusive and censorfous
groups, judging all the world in
chaos only by their own rather in
tolerant standards of orthodoxy
The ruth wins nothing by that sort
OF conduct; truth must be proclaim
ed, In love and in W o~utreaching
activity. A persons orthodoxy is 10
be determined not by the crowd or
organization TO which he belongs,
but by his devotion and Christlike-
ness in bearing the message of truth
to the unreached or unconvinced.
In the second place." continued
this observing layman, Il am fairly
appalled, at the indifference of some
professional proponents of ortho-
doXy, to the standards of
honesty. Here for instance, and it
Is only an instance, is a scurrilous
little sheet, a church weekly de-
voted to defaming all whose ortho-
doNy 1t chooses to question; and il
has long been financially maintain
ed, l am told, by the family of Amer
lea S. most infamous degenerate and
murderer. Naturally. il has no word
OF condemnation for him, nor any
suggestion that his name should be
eliminated from the church roll,
where | am told. it still remains.
In his continual controversies, its
editor unblushingly lies and mis-
represents, often obviously so; yet
his orthodoxy is not thereby i'm
paired"
Those are scathing words. The
man who spoke them is himself an
active Christian worker. of the con-
servative type of thinking; who adj
heres to the Bible and to the his
toric teaching of the church concern
ing our Lord. He has placed his
hnger upon a sensitive spot. The
test of the righteous is righteous
ness, and not credal statements. We
have the authority of Jesus for that.
When wrong is done by Isaac or
Jacob or Rebekah it is not to be
CLOSED over or palliated or eXcus-
ed. Religious thinking must be
honest thinking. We are upon sorry
times when the Kaiser could cloak
his monstrous conduct by appeals to
the Deity. In our days of shifting
emphasis, everyone who accepts the
Bible as his law must stress first
and continually, plain. everyday,
man-with-man righteousness. Any
thing less than loyalty to Gods own
standards of conduct is h~eterodoxv
OF h worst sort. The church must
be ever atiame with a passion for
holiness.
When Parents Play Favorites
We like the picture of old Isaac.
communing with God in the cool of
the evening; but we are disappointed
in the way his religion worked out
in his W family. Home is the first
field for Christian service. The
Christianity that does not function
there is not likely to amount to much
anywhere else. Isaac's chief bust
ness in life, and it is the chief bust
ness of every normal man, was TO
ear a family successfully. He es-
pecially was expected to hand on
the torch of life, shining q little more
clearly than when he received il.
We would rather read of his holding
family worship with his self-willed
wife and his two difficult boys, than
of his ~communing with God alone
under the trees.
Father Isaac was not the head of
his own house. His wife and his
sons all treated him dishonesty. 1t
uFQG mot b. rnffn1 fnnnfIr- Lr,.t
ent had a favorite son. which is
ruinous to discipline. Neither was
a success in raising children. And
that is the highest achievement pos
sible TO a man or a woman. Helen
Fairchild Morley wrote in Golfers a
little poem that expresses a great
truth.
Let others write their poetry
And paint their pictures, too;
Let others create music
l have You.
while some are making verses
And stories by the score
l play with blocks and marbles
On the floor.
And when the days are finished,
ACCORDING TO GOQ 5 plan,
Then may He smile and find COM
plete
My masterpiece a Mani"
Making the World Over
Reconstruction lies just ahead of
the world. To be enduring it must
be- on the basis of the family. Mob
Ter homes attractive 10 the young
people and setting an unsuitable
standard of conduct is a first reuui-
site of civilization. We have got 10
begin whit our boys and girls. Wo-
men and men make no greater mis-
take than to put any other interest
whatsoever ahead of their children. |
Here is n woman with several fine, |
lovely boys; but she thinks she is a
martyr because they interfere occa-
sionally with her luncheon and the .
alter and shopping engagements
All other considerations
aside, she is missing the best fun
in the world, while chasing painted
pleasures. Her neighbor, while not /
.neglectful of her own homes need
Of large and varied interests, gives
lavishly to her children. and
they and she are great as a conse-
quence.
NO work pays like mother work"
is the motto hanging on the nursery
wall of a friend who had ten beauti-
full children. A distinguished leader
in the field of religious education,
the Rev. DR.. H. +. Cope, has written
these timely words about present
problems and the work of the
Sunday school teacher: When
go out on Sunday morning 10 the
Sunday school, l am not taking nv
way to a quiet cloister, separate from
a world of strife, but l am setting
my face directly toward great world