Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-05-30

and digging to discover who was who in
Egypts illustrious line of pharaohs.
this man of faith is to-day coming to
increasing power all over the earth.
An imaginative and informed
preacher could build a great sermon
upon the contrasted power and per-
manency of spiritual ideals as over
against material might and temporal
magnificence Moses versus the
pyramids, Abraham versus Babylon,
Jesus versus the Roman empire, and
so forth. Although it is the most ar
rogant thing in the world, mere physi-
cal force is likewise the most futile.
Armies and guns have never prevailed
permanently against an idea
Guns Bafficd by u Funeral
1t was only yesterday that 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
write this sentence l hear mounted
platoon of armed men passing; and
machine guns in motor cars whirl 10
and fro day and night. Gunpowder
makes so much noise that 1T is not
always possible to hear at the same
time the beat of the human heart or
the quiet movement of thought.
Yesterday the Egyptians held a
public funeral of one of the young
students who fell before the guns of
the military. in some clash or other'
1t was a procession of possibly hve
thousand men. from the highest to the
lowest. Guns hovered around the line
of march. but there was no outpurst
to be quelled. With dignity and quiet
ness, and remarkable organization, the
streamed on, in orderly lines
and in perfect silence. There were no
flags, except the one Egyptian 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
streame like a river of blood flowed
the hundreds and thousands of red
each set above a grave and
unsmiling face.
These marchers were bearing wit
ness to what they hold to be a truth.
their faith was testifying. The throngs
that liaed the sidewalks were hushed
into reVerent decorum. Even the Brit
ish soldiers looked on with real respect
This was something mightier than the
guns, more effective than bayonets and
bullets. This steadfast fearless, out
spoken faith in an ideal conquered the
guns and baffled the authorities, who
were prepared to deal with any amount
of turbulence. 1t was all a modern
of the old old teaching that the
things which are spiritual are irresist-
ibe.
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 spirit
ual. All thinking persons to-day are
deeply stirred by tidings of trouble from
every point of the compass. This old
earth is in such ferment as never
was known before. Disorder and un
dominate the days news.
Everybody is aware of the battling con-
dition and everybody is wondering
wherein the remedy is to be found.
Upon the surface of things it is writ
ten that force and wealth and world
ly power do not hold the key to the
What is the answer?
Have faith in God"
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
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 ip
either doing them or overruling them.
The very vastness of his operations
their radical departure from any hui
man design or desire-indicates that
he has some wonderful projects in
view. The heart of humanity would
not be so deeply pierced by the plow-
share of Providence were not an uneX-
ampled harvest in prospect.
This is the essence of a living faith
to-day. 1t believes that God is. and
that God rules. In our own day, which
is not so dark as were to them the
days of the heroes of faith whose roll
is called in the eleventh chapter of
Hebrews, God is regnantly- at work.
His will is being done. For obviously,
God cannot be God for the closet of
the saint unless he is also God over
the kingdoms of earth. The creed
which considers faith as a special vir-
tue of chosen few who beheld with
the whole scheme of things
going to smash, is not the creed taught
by the Bible and by Providence. We
have got to believe in a God great
enough to rule the universe. or else
we have no God at all worthy Of con-
Facing Grave Issues
Cynics are turned into sweeteners
of life by a simple confidence that
God is still reigning. Many thrones
have toppled within the past five years,
but the throne of God continues to
stand in supreme sovereignty. In an
hour like the present, confronting grave
political and social issues, the men
and women who know God, and have
him, are to be a yeast influ-
ence, leavening the entire lump of life.
Faiths function here and now is to
steady the trust of mankind in the
living God. This is no hour to discuss
special doctrines or creeds or organi-
simple. elemental, unshak-
able belief in the goodness of God is
the first essential. Things seem to be
all wrong; but faith is a conviction of
things not seen.
New our troubled times certainly
are. Still they are of piece with
the old, old human experience of baf-
fling misfortunes and trials What
ails the world to-day is not greatly
different from what allied Abraham and
Job and David and Paul. They came
through by faith in God.
Our lesson has two supreme exhor-
l.. n