The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-03-15
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/ hL0L U0hQE III
PRAYER POINTED
nHT Ac CEEEIe1
Uut III NuiNl
Special pre-Eastee Sermon
Preached By W. 6. CLARK
9 Advocates Following Sell.
eiOn Of Christ.

The false use Of PRAYER and why II
should be avoided was pointed out by
William E. Clark in a pre- Easter SER
s mon Sunday at the Unitarian preaching
service in the Majestic theatee.
As an illustration of an ideal OF re-
iglon to be avoided in our preparation
8 To- the Easter season. let me tell YOU
Of prayer testimonial that came into
my hands the other day." said Mr..
lark A woman was writing to give
evidence that her prayer had been an
swsred This Is what she said:
several years ago it seemed that
we must have more money as Mr.. l..
q was pastor of four country churches that
Ola not pay promptly, and we were bad
~ needing money. | wrote to you ask
ing you 70 pray that help might come,
ana Within few weeks he was offered
school to teach a few miles from our
homet and was able to continue his pas
toral work, too, without making a
change or move. He had not applied
s Tor the school, and had no thought Of
taking a school, but as the teacher be-
came sick, friend insisted that he take
Y, and we have gotten along better
since that time.
Now let us look at that closely. This
sIs vital thing we are discussing. II
God mad hand in getting that preacher
job, He must have had hand in
making the teacher sick so there would
be. vacancy to fiji. or, at least, we
Will have to admit that God did not
a exercise His power to keep the woman
well, while He did according to the ties
tifnony, give her job to the man. And
to my mind that sort of thing is not
calculated sadStna a to make a thinking man q
OF thing a religious ideal makes tribal
deity. out of the Infinite God And ]
say to yol--voicing the sentiment OF
the great masses of men and women
who nave learned to think for them
selves-that could not love God who
would make one person sick in order
that another person might get her job
IN place of that old religion of self
isliness-that religion of chosen peo-
ple-on whom God is said to shower
special favors-I bring you the religion
Of Christ, and | want to tell you few
would have done when offered posi-
ton of teaching school during the
illness of its teacher:
THE real Christ man would have
taught, the school, If needed to do so,
and then he would have asked the
treasurer of the. school board to pay the
teacher her salary in full so long as
she was too III to teach, and with each
check he would have had the treasurer
& send the best wishes Of the entire COM
munity that the teacher mlght> soon be
well and back at her school again
That is what the real Christ like
man would have done, and then when
be went to preach his Christ like deeds
having been noised about, his audiences
would have been larger and his own
salary would have been paid and In
creased SO that the wants of himself
and family could be supplied. And, in
very truth, the wife could have writ
n ten: And we have gotten along better
since that time
Now, if you think that is too ideal
istic, that no man could do such a thing.
] answer that such men are few, but
remind YOU Of Philips Brooks the great
Epscopalian preacher Of last century,
who was such man. And while we
can count these men without the serv-
ices of a census enumefator, yet that
ideal of religion we Should study dur
ing these pre- Easter services in prepa-
ration for the great spiritual ideals, for
which the world is hungry, and without
which the souls Of men win dwarf and
die"