Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-10-25
enter THE WOMAN
The international Sunday School Lesson For
October 81 Is "Isaac and Rebecca"
Genesis 24:1-57.
By WILLIAM T. ELLIS

Within the scope of an ancient
matchmaking, the story of Rebecca
and Isaac, which is this weeks Sun
day school lesson, we find the theme
of womanhoodS place in a war-torn
world, and in progressive social or
| der. 1t is the only study of woman
hood that the International Sunday
School Committee has assigned dur
ing the year and it is specifically in
Gated that 1t is to be studied top
.ically.
Rebecca embodies romance. Her
story is one that all girls love. For
1T has all the elements of surprise
and adventure and good fortune.
She was about her ordinary house
hold tasks, bearing water from the
neighboring well for domestic use,
when, To- out of the desert appeared
her fortune! The aged traveller
with n string of camels, for whom
| she thought to do only bit of wom-
tanly kindness to q wayfarer, turned
out to have precious gifts in his lug
gage, including a prince for a hus-
| band!
As Marriage Goes in the Orient
| This is not an ideal tale of love-
!
and western standards. 1t is en-
tierly oriental. The marriage was an
arranged" one Neither man nor
maiden saw the other until the mar
riage had been made. There was
none of the passion of pure affection,
such as is the glory of the relation
between the sexes to-day, and the
form of courtship and marriage.
fe 1af
ting his father send a servant off
to choose a wife for him. That was
the way of the world in which he
lived; as it is, indeed, the way Of
most of the old world to-day. Isaac
was rather a poor stick, it is true /;
a digger of wells for other men to
seize; a mere link between two
stronger men, his father and his
son. Sarah wa selected for Abra-
ham by his family, in pretty much
the same fashion. And if, as it
turned out, the wife chosen was the
stronger personality of the two, and
a bit unscrupulous in some of her
ways, at least she added virility to a
family that needed its
AS Abraham grew old, he became
concerned about a wife for his son.
He did not want him to marry a
heather. The old man was right in
this. Young people should marry
within the limits of their own race
and religion. There are other than
the immediate sentimental issues in
volved in every marriage; the larger
social aspects, affecting the race,
may not be disregarded. Children
and children's children have to be
taken into the account. The coast
| of Asia is strewn with the evidences
| of the folly of white men in marry
ing women of other races. Wise
parents and teachers instil into
youth the conviction that the head
as well as the heart must have a
voice in the choice of a wife or hus-
band. If there be not fundamental
unity, religion and taste, how can
a happy home result? Thoughtless
marriage leads to woes undreamed
Of Abraham was right in desiring
wife of his own blood and faith
for his son.
War Brides" and Others
Is there any relationship of life
that escapes the Transforming touch
of this war? While it does not ap-
pear often on the surface, yet the
entire subject of women's sphere and
place in a reorganized scheme of So
ciety is being profoundly affected.
The relation between the sexes has
become also a new theme of interest
War brides" figure with display
headings in the daily press. BY way
| of Rebekah the bride, suppose we
face for a moment the issue, espe-
citlly in it's religious ir,nI'oations.
Two currents are discernible.
First, and overwhelmingly, woman
hood in all the lands at war has
risen to new heights of service and
sacrifice and idealIsm. What used
to be called "the woman movement"
now seems rather trivial and aca-
demic. as compared with the COM
prehensive liberation of women's
interests and activities effected by
| the war. With courage and re-
sourcefulness and efficiency, women
high and low have undertaken tasks
| formerly considered far outside the
scope of their powers. Space does
not permit one to tell of the Won
derful women. of the Y. NJ. c.. A.
and of the Salvation Army who have
given a rare field of ministry among
the soldiers, and of the Red Cross
and Y. w c. A. women who are serv-
| ing France.
In the matter of the surrender of
their loved ones, and of bearing
wars cross on their souls, and OF
working with self-denial and tireless
patriotism for our cause, the women
have been the foremost figures in
| this struggle for new world order.
Only God himself, who gave his be-
loved Son to die q hero's death, can
la Il nd xnyI nf nnGf
the womanhood of the world. Poets
have tried to express the burden of
woman's prayer; as in these lines,
written by "H. H. p" for the New
York Times:
Help me, o God, to keep before
my eyes
The larger vision of this war;
to be
Inspired each day by noble
thoughts that rise
OF Duty, Honor, Country and
| of Thee,
Lest forget, and think of only
! Who goes from me, to see his
duty done!
Help me to think of War as one
vast Whole
OF Human Effort, struggling
toward the Right
Ever advancing nearer to the
goal
OF Freedom from the Iron
Rule of Might,
Lest / forget, and in my sorrow
see
Only the face of him who goes
from me.
Let me remember on that fate