The Topeka state journal., 1919-05-30
INTERNATIONAL
SUNDAY SCHOOL
LESSON
By WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

11:1-10; 12:1-2.
A Message From the Pyramids.
Out here in Egypt, by the pyra-
mids and the palms, long views are
natural. Five thousand years of re-
corded history peer rather cynically |
over a mans shoulders as he writes.
The sardonic curl of the sensual lower |
| lip of the Sphinx seems thrust out at
| him in derision. The mummies of
the pharaohs out IN the museum, sug- |
gestive of huge dried fish. bear wit
ness to certain truths. In Egypt the
/ insistent past everywhere presses upon
the reshaping present. Everything il
| illustrates the current lesson mat
Faith is the victory"
| \ A living palm has more power
than a dead pyramid. These mighty
and mysterious structures, up and into
and around which the traveller may
climb, are a permanent reminder of
the futility of mere might and earthly
glory. Scholars are not entirely cer-
| tain who built the Great Pyramid
| tho it was erected to insure its build
| er's Immortality. The pyramids are In
more ways than one reminders of the
dead AS sepulchres they have been
failures, for long centuries ago, so far
back as the Roman era, the Arabs
robbed them of their mummies and
| their treasures. Proud pharaohs, who
wasted the labor AMI lives of myriads
of slaves upon these marvellous tho
| futile structures, thought that their
power and magnificence were so great
that they could defy even time and
death.
A Baby and the Pyramids.
Down near old Memphis-which is
now a ruin, as jeremiah predicted
/ there was born poor mans son who
grew to manhood within sight of
these pyramids. He himself was saved
from arbitrary death in infancy only
by a strategem of mother love- Child
of a slave of despised race, Moses
nevertheless became greater than all
the builders of the pyramids; and
while archaeologists are still busily
delving and digging to discover who
was who in Egypt's illustrious line of
pharaohs, this man of faith is today
the earth.
An imaginative and Informed
preached could build a great sermon
upon the contrasted power and per-
NANCY of spiritual ideals as over
against material might and temporal
magnificence-Moses versus the pyra-
mids, Abraham versus Babylon, Jesus
versus the Roman empire, and so
forth. Altho it is the most arrogant
thing in the world, mere physical
force is likewise the most futile
Armies and guns have never prevailed
permanently against an idea.
/ Guns Baffled by Funeral.
1t was only yesterday that I saw
this dramatically demonstrated. This
land OF Egypt is aflame with insurrec-
ton. Unmeasured destruction has
been done to property by the natives.
Great Britain has spread an army over
the land, and a thousand, more or less
of the Egyptians have been killed. AS
l write this sentence hear a mounted
| platoon of armed men passing; and
NU6 ri to
and fro day and night. Gunpowder
makes SO much noise that it is not al
ways possible to hear at the same time
| the beat of the human heart or the
quiet movement of thought.
Yesterday the Egyptians held a pub
lie funeral of one of the young stu
dents who fell before the guns of the
military, in some clash or other. 1t
sand men, from the highest to the
lowest. Guns hovered around the line
of march, but there was no outburst
to be quelled. With dignity and quiet
ness. and remarkable organization, the
marchers streamed on. in orderly
lines and in perfect silence. There
were no flags, except the one Egyp-
tian flag that enwrapped the coffin;
no music, except the slow, plaintive,
haunting Oriental dirge that preceded
the bier. On. on, on, in, a seemingly
endless stream, like a river of blood,
| flowed the hundreds and thousands of
red tarbOoSheS, each set above a grave
and unsmiling face.
These marchers were bearing wit
ness to what they hold to be truth.
Their faith was testifying. The
throngs that lined the sidewalks were
hushed into reverent decorum. Even
the British soldiers looked on with
real respect. This was something
mightier than the guns, more effec-
tive than bayonets and bullets. This
steadfast, fearless, outspoken faith in
an ideal conquered the guns and baf-
| fled the authorities, who were pre-
pared to deal with any amount of tur-
| bulence. 1t was all modern version
Of the old, old teaching that the things
which are spiritual are irresistible.
Our Own Days Problem.
| Proclaimed by the pyramids. echo
| ing from the Paris Conference, sound
ing above all the tumult and clash OF
unrest the world around, is this timely
| truth of the pre-eminence of the spir-
itual. All thinking persons today are
deeply stirred by tidings of trouble
from every point of the compass. This
old earth is in such ferment as never
settlement dominate the days news.
Everybody is aware of the battling
| condition and everybody is wonder
| ing wherein the remedy is to be
found. Upon the surface of things IL
| is written that force and wealth and
worldly power do not hold the key to
| the condition.
| What is the answer?
| Have faith in God"
| A great grip upon the realities of
religion alone will hold us steady in
! this time of turbulence. What is the
essence of faith? Is not the belief
| that. beyond all our power to see or
| understand, a Benign Being is work
| ing out His Purposes of good? God
has not let go his hold upon his world.
He is doing wondrous things: they
are not happening" he is either do
| ing them or overruling them. The
very vastness of his operations-their
radical departure from any human
design or desire-indicates that he has
some wonderful projects in view. The
| heart of humanity would not be so
deeply pierced by the plowshare of