Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-10-17

| one place where the traveller can as
suredly say: Il am standing in the
footsteps of the SAVIOR
| This porch of the old synagogue
as is it was when built. Upon it
the Master walked again and again;
and even as l watched the starlit,
wind-whipped waters of Galilee from
this vantage point, so he used .c
gaze upon the lake where his friends
had toiled for n livelihood, and
where he had companioned with
them. in storm and in calm, as one
strong man with others The Man
of Galilee seemed very near. as we
stood on the portal of this familiar
place of worship in His own home
city
, Thoughts of the church-going
habits of Jesus; of His quiet accept
ance of the forms of worship of
his day; imperfect though He knew
them to be; of his own musings as
he reflected upon the inability of
His hearers to grasp the fuller mean
! ings of the words He had uttered
when standing by these pillars; of
His interest in the fellow-worship-
pers who jostled Him upon this very
porch; and of His compassionate in
terest in all the thronging, busy.
cosmopolitan city spread out before
Him, filled my mind as I stood in the
moonlight on the marble porch of
the Capernaum synagogue, one OF
the most precious treasures that
archaeology has given the world.
"A Mother-in-Law Story
1t was from this portico that Jesus
ana His four disciples descended that
Spring Sabbath long ago, when He
become the guest of Peter, some
where near by. There he found His
friends mother-in-law ill, and He
healed her; for it was instructive,
and life passion, with Jesus to help
everybody whom He touched.
There are two mother-in-law stor-
les in the Bible that naturally
spring to mind, and both are beau
tlful; and truer to universal condi-
tions than the miserable mothep-in-
law Jokes that unoriginal humorists
keep In currency to-day. One is the
idyllic story of Naomi and Ruth;
the other is the incident which
opens the present lesson. Evidently
there was harmony and helpfulness
in Peters home, and the illness of
his wife's mother was calamity to
the household. 1t was the mother
in-law, healed by the compassionate
touch of Jesus, who "ministered un-
to them" in that godly fellowship
OF noble women who have been i'm
mortalized as the friends and help
ers of the Savior. Jesus seemed
purposely to set his seal upon the
sacredness of family life, and of
women's part therein.
| A Sunset Scene
Water and hills assured lovely sun
sets; and more than once 1 have
witnessed them from the Lake of
Galllee. In few graphic words,
Mark tells how Peters humble home
was thronSed at sunset with the sick
and afflicted. In every community
there may always be gathered a COM
pany OF suffering. If we keep ous
eyes open to this truth, We shall
touch life more softly and sympa-
thetically. He who has not ex-
perienced or visualized the daily
scene of the crowded waiting rooms
OF city PHYSICIANS is unaware of a
side of life which must be under
stood by all who would know this
world in reality. Healthy youth
scarcely comprehends the signifi-
canoe of the large part that healing
played IN the earthly ministry of
our Lord.
Our own times, too, are sick. In
spirit and in body they are sore and
distressed. Every sensitive soul is
perpleXed and wondering about it
all What may we say to this suf-
fering era of ours? Surely the an
swer is-and 1 who write abhor cant
and stereotyped phraseology = that
the world, with all it's present pain
and fever, should be brought to the
presence of Jesus, that He may heal
| 1t. The touch of Christ is the su-
preme need of our time.
! The Two-Sided Healer
symmetry is strength. Most of
| n 1nr gfI IAI
one phrase of our nature at the ex-
pense of others. We are alive fo
business and pleasure, but dead 10
1dealtsm and aestheticism. Or we
have cultivated force and forgotten
tenderness. We may be righteous
but we are not merciful. Or we are
dreamers, but not doers. Character
four-square is not common, In the
present lesson we have two charac-
teristics of our Lord; He was a mys-
tic, and yet He was also an adven-
turer.
After the nerve-sapping Sabbath
in Peters home, when he had spent
himself so lavishly for all comers.
the Healer might reasonably be ex
pected to sleep late the next morn
ing. On the contrary, rising up a
great while before day, he went out.
and departed into a solitary place,
and there prayed" There we have
the mystical side of Jesus. He
deemed communion with God more
vital than rest or work: the harder
He toiled, the more He prayed So
His spirit fled from the multitude
into the desert place, probably east
of the lake; and there, to the howls
of the late-prowling jackals and the
first chirp of the awakening birds
He laid hold upon His Heavenly
Father for strength.
This trysting place with God was
known to the disciples, indicating
that retreat for prayer was habitual
with the Master; and they, over
impressed with the popularity that
had come to Jesus, found Him and
cried judilantly: "All men are seek
ing thee" To them it was an ex-
citing fact that their Leader had
made n hit' in Capernaum.
! Lo, the news affected him not at
Jail as they expected; for His pioneer
spirit was not content to settle down
and sip the sweets of success. So
he met their clamors for a return to
ICapernamu by the announcement
that He was going to tour Galilee,
He was the adventurer, the man of
outreach and activity. The religions
beyond ever beckoned Him; the
"other sheep" who needed shepherd
ing were ever before His vision.
What an insatible soul was the
Savior!
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