The Topeka state journal., 1919-11-14
INTERNATIONAL
SUNDAY SCHOOL
LESSON
For November 16, Is %Witnesses of
Chrlst's Glory" Luke 9:2S-36.
By WILLIAM T.. ELLIS.

For November 16, Is H'Witnesses of
Christ's Glory" Luke 9:2S36.
When the Dead Came Back.
Silence shrouds the spirit world. 1t
is the bourne from which no traveller
returns" Only by inference and from
the Bible do we understand aught of
it. Faith alone speaks clearly upon
the question of Immortality. Even
since L penned the opening sentences
of this paragraph the postman has
brought me a pertinent testimony of
faith in a future life, from the widow
of a noble Christian, suddenly.stricken:
We must be glad for him; for he is
in the presence of the Master he so
dearly loved and served: and l am
shall spend together"
Once the gates of glory swung out
ward, to let Moses and Elijah return
to earth for a nomentous visit The
silence of eternity was broken. The
departed came back, recognizable in
their own personality-what tre-
mendous Implications that fact!-
and conferred with the living. Three
kindred spirits. all ministers to man
Kind and sufferers for their loyalty to
God. separated by centuries in their
mortal life. foregathered on the tower
ing slope of Mount Hermon and talked
of the most important theme in the
history of eternity. Moses and Elijah
winged their swift way from celestial
realms to bring comfort and counsel
to a comrade who was greater than
they, in his hour of soul strain.
\ Message From the Mountain.
Travelling thru northern Syria, one
has the impression of being dominated
by Mount HermOn, with it's glistening
snow-peak rising nine thousand feet
into the clouds. From the Lake of
GaliIee, from Nazareth, from Damas
Gus. from Tyre and Sidon. from the
uplands of the Orontes valley, one sees
ever the majestic peak of Hermon, the
highest mountain of the Holy Land,
the center of countless legends, the de-
pository of the SHOWS with which in
summer the natives of the lowlands
cool their drinks, q source of the Jor-
dan, a theme of countless songs-and
the scene of the TRANSPORTATION of
Jesus
: Somewhere on the heights of this
beautiful mountain the three great
est representatives of God upon
earth-Moses, Elijah and Jesus-kept
a rendezvous. All three had been
homeless, harried, hunted wanderers
At uncounted cost they had borne
their testimony to God. All were
mountaineering men; the name of
Moses being forever associated with
Sinai, that of Elijah with Carmel. and
that of Jesus with the Mount of
OllVeS. 1t was a cOnEen1aI IfySI1nS
place at which they met.
Standing out above all other con-
siderations in this lesson is the mes
age that heaven has comfort for
earth. God cares for mans sorrows.
There are resources i'll the eternal
realm upon which needy mortals may
draw Messengers from the presence
of the Father above are available for
ministry to mourners below. There
are not two worlds, unbridgeably sepa
rated. but only one great universe, in
all of which God is king. In his sight
there is neither time nor space. The
route from his throne to mans place
of prayer is always open; Mt. Hermon
is not far from the gates of glory.
Down, But Looking Up.
The BACKGROUND of this Transfig-
uration story was the soul-spentness
of Jesus. He had been thru the agony
of his first Passion. the great renun-
citation, and the vision of the cross
which had fully come to him at Cae-
sarea Philippi So he took his three
closest friends, Peter, John and
James, off for a retreat" time of
solitude and prayer, on the side of
Mt. Hermon. The record runs that
ton fell. More things are wrought
by prayer than this world knows" ::
Il know not by what methods rare:
But this 1 know. God answers prayer.
Know that he has given his word
Which tcllS me prayer is always heard
And will be answered, soon or late;
And so L pray and calmly wait.
[ know not if the blessing sought
VIII come in just the way | thought.
But leave my prayers with him alone
Assured that he will grant my quest,
Or send come answer far more blest."
What Sidney Lanier calls the pas
| sionate pleasure of prayer" was the
instructive recreation of Jesus. Every
n n e.
er in the lonely spaces of the open air.
On the heights, underneath the trees,
he found the Father. and the answer
to his every question, and fellowship
| beyond anything that earth could give.
Americas best interpreter of the spir-
| itual significance of nature, Sidney La
nier. has caught the meaning of the
trees for the troubled spirit:
"Ye ispers whisperers singers in storms
| Ye eonsciences mumuring faiths under
forms.
! Ye ministers meet for each passion that
/ Friendly. ssterly. sweetheart leaves,
| oh, rain me down from your darks that
| VISIONS We winnow from winds that
/ pain me
! That advise me Of more than they bring
Ne the woods-smell that swiftly but now
brought breath
From the heaven side bank of the river
| of DEATH
Teach me the term of silence.-preach me
| The passion of patience,-sift me,-im-
peach me-
! And there. oh there
| AS We hang with your myriad palms up
| turned in the air.
/ Pray me myriad prayer.
oh, if thy souls at latter gasp for space
| With trying to breathe no bigger than
| thy race
r117H70HHH