The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-01-10

TO be comfortable In order 10 pc nap
Ply. To millions of Americans the re-
cent war has brought the blessing OF
deliyerance from that delusion. they
have learned how possible II Is TO be
happy tho inconvenienced.
"from painless barracks, sheetiess
cots and linenless mess halls on this
| side of the Atlantic, our soldiers have
passed to three-layer hunks and swing
shelf tables packed with suffocating
space economy into the holds OF ocean
| transports bound for France. Landed
on the other side OF the ocean, ithey
| have learned fresh lessons In sealing
down life's necessities as they tramped
| interminable distances under enormous
packloads along stony highways, rode
| farther yet by rail in freight cars
shared often with their battery herses,
4 took both the heat of the sun and the
| drench of the clouds without protec-
| ton from either; and under the in
effectual shelter of pup-tents camped
| in the open fields. now smothered with
dust and again submerged in liquid
| mud.
'.Still beyond all this they came to
their weeks and weeks of trench duty.
lwhere even q dream of cleanliness was
possible only in wild delirium. where
escaping the intimate company of YER
! min was a far greater miracle than
esca ping the shell fire of the Hun, and
where the acme of good fortune and
luxury was a chance to squat on the
learth floor of some Stygian dugout
and eat ones dinner of .slum and
spuds' out of a battered tin pan.
Counting out battle risks altogeth-
err, and all the hideousness Of mortal
conflict. man to man. it yet remains
true that war relentlessly stripped
from these fine-grained and finely
nurtured young Americans practically
| every shred of outward amenities
which had been supposed to constitute
/ lA Ito of -ix
But did these young gailants find
| life intolerable when its facilee con-
veniences and its pleasant indulgenees
| thus disappeared?
Entirely otherwise; life under
these sterile conditions daily took on
! for them ampler meaning as its rinds
were husked off and they came nearer
| and nearer to the core of it.
They found themselves happiest
| when they possessed least.
| Most of all. this wartime expert
ment in defying obnoxious circum-
stances will afford men new courage
to disdain an unfrien1ly world warning
against their consciences.
THE man who would smite an old
| abuse and cry down an evil creed is
| always answered by the worlds one
| favorite threat: If you don't keep
quiet. we will rob you of your living
But the soldier who has fought
overseas will surely answer: You can
I
1 learned to live without a living"
The Message of the Bush.
Paradoxically. the lonely places are
All desert peoples are philosophical.
! Dwellers in the far spaces, the seas
and the sands, have time to think
about the greatest themes. Moses ac-
quired the high art of meditation.
| which is more yaluabl than any of
the mysteries of Egypt. during his long
years of sojourns as shepherd on the
Sinai peninsula. He developed an in
curing mind: the shepherds crook is
but an elongated question mark. So
when he saw a bush aflame he turned
j aside to see the great sight. Some
stodgy brains that we all know would
never have looked twice for the mean
ing of the marvel. Mrs. Brownings
4 familiar lines must be quoted:
'.Earths crammed with heaven, 20
And every common bush Attire with God !:
Bnt only he who sees. takes off his shoes,
The rest sit around 1T and pluck black
"a, berries" 49,.
j -Icverything in life hangs -or1e "Iif''
hooks. II Moses had net been alert
and of an investigating turn he would
never have heard the Voice in the
bush calling his own name. Lo. it
was Jehovah. revealing Himself to this
doubly-drilled deliverer, trained in
Egypt's face. the shepherd statesman
heard his own commission to save the
1
credited Himself the covenant
keeping One-which should have been
credentials sufficient for Moses, too.
81 can stand anything that any
body else can stand. and / can do
anything that anybody else can do"
quietly said a traveller to a friend.
in explanation of his success in over
coming hardships. Moses lacked this
confidence: but he became disloyai
when he distrusted God. When the
Lord says Go" it is no time to re-
spond, who am II" The only ans
wer to such command is the first
made by Moses, Here am L. God
greatest servants have ever been those
who developed the habit of saying
Here am 1" to His calls-even when
they are a summons back from the
bushes and desert to the palaces OF
Pharaoh.
IF by a stil small voice He calls,
To paths that do not know.
I'll answer, bear Lord. with my hand In
Thine,
I'll go where you want me to CO."
A Shepherds Duel With a King.
Equipped by his providential ex-
periences and by his call. Moses re-
luctant1y = too reluctantly - assumed
the task of leader of Israel, to deliver
them out of captivity. HIS long con.
filict with Pharaoh. until by the argu-
ment of the plaques he won at last.
are told in the Lesson Text. One of
/ the WOnQeTS Oh the COniHCt WsS tIio
simple fact that shepherd from the
desert was arrayed against the mighty
i king of Egypt. BY way he knew
not, Moses had been led to place of
world leadership. such as he could
never have attained had he remained
a palace favorite. God seems to fead
. us a long way around to our dearest
! goals, perhaps to teach us to know our
) Guide.
! Forlorn as was the cause of Moses
~ and his ens1aved cOunfryfren. II new
, ertheless won. We are living In the
. day of the triumph of forlOrn hopes.
|. which five years ago seemed quite az
, desperate as the case OF the Israelites.
Sometimes we think that we must
. pinch ourselves to make sure that we