Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1920-01-11
II, 1920
STUDYING THE BIBLE.

The Sunday school is one Of the
worlds great institutions. While a
part of the work of the church, it, by
itself, has all the Importance of an in
stitution. Its chief function is teach
ing the Bible. though it does much
else
No matter in what regard a man
holds the Bible, he cannot go amiss in
becoming familiar with its texts This
is particularly true regarding the
Psalms, the Proverbs the Gospels and
the poetic prophets. The reasons for
this are mainly two: That the truths
contained in them are the highest
known to man, and that the forms in
which they are uttered were never sur
passed in literature. The man who is
familiar with them from childhood
has had the best possible instruction
both in morals and language.
For many years there has been n
rage for reading fiction. A great many
people read little else, and generally a
poor quality. But when we are over
filled with our twentieth century cul-
ture. our refinement of spiritual intel
ligence and our literary skill, we may
find it a wholesome mind tonic to
take up the Bible and read again, II
we have ever read it, the three-thou-
sand year-old story Of Ruth.
The Book of Ruth is a love story
of the days when the ways Of court
ship were crude, as we may now thlnk,
and probably commercial; but never
theless IN the little land of Israel rig
idly moral and not too commercial to
admit of love. The story of Ruth can
lie read in fifteen minutes.
But the charm of the young widow
Ruth, the quality that has placed her
in the galaxy OF the darlings of lltera-
ture, is not so much her behavior to-
ward her lover, as her love for her
mother-in-la Naomi. Ruth is sur
prise as we'll as a delight. She was
not Jewess, reaS and taught IN
things spiritual, as were Mary, the
mother of Jesus, and Mary the sister
of Lazarus. Ruth lived thousand
wears before these, and she was born
of n despised heather people. She was
of the tribe of Moab, a people, If we
NAV believe the stories of them, who
took their morals from SodOm, their
manners from the desert tribes and
their gods from the discard.
A typical family of Israel, intelli
gent. reverend father, a mother
and two sons--had been driven by
famine from Bethlehem into MOAB.
Ruth had the rare advantage OF Nv
ing in that family for ten year. There
was something in the moral atmos-
phere. the character the worship OF
The family that appealed to this Moa-
bite girl as vastly superior to those
things among her own people.
The two sons and the husband OF
Naomi died, and the widow and her
two widowed daughters-in-law, set
out toward the land of Israel, they TO
bid her goodbye at the border. Then
ornah kissed her mother-in-law, but
Ruth clave unto her"
Naomi pleads with Ruth to go back
with Orpah and gives the strongest
reasons why Ruth should return TO-
her own people. But Ruth's nina
doesn't listen to logic. With tears she
cIings to Naomi, and to her the world
is indebted for the following express
sion Of the utmost love:
"Entreat me not to leave thee or tol
return for following after thee; for
whittier thou goest l viii go ana
where thou lodgest, will lodge; thy
people shall be my people and thy
God my God; where thou diest l will
die and there will l be buried. the
Lord do to me and more also, If ausht
but death part thee and me"
As a literary gem this expression
never has been excelled. 1t is doubt
full if it ever has been equalled-cer-
tainly not in any modern novel. It's
spiritual insight is only excelled in
the story of that Mary who anointed
Jesus and of Mary, "the Mother Of
Sorrows"