The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-09-13
BEHOLD, The MINISTER
He Beams Upon His Flock, but
, Don't Forget Your Contribution.
By WAIT MARLEY.

(The first of n series of Saturday articles
to appear in The State Journal on Topeka's
PROFESSIONAL
BY WALT MARKLEY.
He who breaches the Gospel to the
multitude; who fights the devil on his
ciples of eternal life-this is the min
lister. His heart is heavy with the sins
Of the world. but realizing the weak
ness of the flesh, he beams upon his
flock with a friendly tolerance. He
Is the champion of Righteousness, but
his footsteps strike terror into the
hearts of the evildoers-not only the
dealers in commercialized vice, but
the small boy who smokes corn-stlk
cigarets behind the barn. But to the
man and the maid who have just pa
tronized the marriage license bureau,
the music of his voice Is like the muir
muir OF babbling brook in q green
meadow.
A study of Topeka ministers dis
closes that to the plebeian mind the
man in the frock coat is truly saint,
capable of performing miracles. but
to the wilful pedestrian of the wide
road to destruction, he is a trouble
maker supreme. Intrenched in the
sacred fastness OF his pulpit, he pours
the terrors of fire and birthstone upon
the trembling heads of his congrega-
ton. With a Dempsey-like punch he
lands upon the red and bloated nose
of Demon Rum and twists the ante
rior appendage of Satan until the
echoes OF Hades are awakened by the
agonized screams of the Tempter. He
infectants. he purges the dance hall
of the shimmee and the turkey trot
and bangs the tobacco fiend over the
head until he yells '"enough."
Sometimes Into Politics.
Sometimes the minister props up
the question of the great hereafter
and leaves it to stand alone while he
enters into political fights with the
ponderous weight of his influence. He
scores this man and that man ana
renders the political arena the scene
of the most hardy encounters between
opposing factions.
Sometimes a minister is man VIZ
has been redeemed from sin; seized
by the collar. as it were. and hauled
back to terra frIna just as he stepped
off into the abysmal depths. These
men seem to make the best opponents
of the Word of God, for they speak
from experience and the shots they
fire strike nearer home. humanity be-
ing, after all, quite uniform. He Is
an inspired orator and from thun-
der and lightning tone his voice is
changed to the pleading Of child;
Pie touches upon the ridiculous and the
sublime and frequently the tears give
way to laughter
Sometimes the minister calls arI
STAYS for dinner, in which case he
usually becomes an effeetual barrier
to the small boys second piece of pie
and the thrifty housewife is both hon
ored by his presence and vexed over
the question of what we shall have
to eat" But experience teaches that
there is always a way out.
nf mil a
men of varying opinions. Some use
tobacco and frankly confess they can
see no harm in card playing, while The
mention of these atrocities to others
causes an involuntary gasp and the
! heavenward turning OF the eyes.
From His Study Door.
Locked in the seclusion of his study.
the minister ponders upon the weighty
social problems that crave but'a pass
ing thought in the minds of the com
. mon herd. He reads the Bible and
in its relation to the Creator. BY his
cheerful fireside he plans his cam
paigns against vice and surveys the
| field he is assigned to clear for the
coming of the Lord.
But sometimes. be Il remembered.
he is compelled to forget such worthy
problems in a more worldly one-tflat
OF stretching the family pocketbook a
sufficient length to make it reach en-
tlrely around the giant pillar of the
high cost OF living. And be your
particular minister a man redeemed
from sin. or a saint born into the
supporting arms OF a cody life, one
should not forget in making out ones
check to the church that ministers.
too, must sometimes eat while mixing
large bowls of sin-eradicator to spray
upon the human denizens~ OF the
world.