The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-02-06

| AL a t-atcSllDC runway OunCItOu.
/ Dust-covered cactus bushes all
around. No station and no houses
except British military tents. Uni
running the locomotives and manning
the trains. A few civilian passengers,
mostly members of d Zionist commits
sion. Limestone roads ground to pow
der by heavy army trucks. Bright
faced Syrian children selling "mish-
mish," or the native apricots.
That is the Judd of today. the
LYDIA of Peters time. Now it is the
railway junction where the new line
up thru the desert from Egypt meets
the old line from Jaffa to Jerusalem
(on1y the rails have been torn up be-
tween Jaffa and Ludd); and where
the other war-made line from Haifa,
at the foot of Mt. Carmel, meets these
| two.
From Judd one may go by rail d.
rect to Memphis, Egypt, where Moses
lived; or to Jerusalem, where David
ruled: or to Damascus, where Paul
was converted; or to Constantinopie,
where Chrisfia nifty first took imperial
form, and then to all the capitals of
Europe. Were it not for one break
in the road, down in Mesopotamia,
one could also go direct to Bagdad and
Babylon.
Where st. George Slew the Dragon.
The present importance of Judd is
seem strange to hear common travel
talk, Change cars at Ludd,' or You
will have TO wait at Judd for the
Jerusalem train" or Judd is a dead
and dreary place, but you will have
Istopover there until the Egyptian train
gets in" Most travellers, bent on
present affairs, give never a thought
to the LYDIA of old, with its piled-up
history ond memories
i British officers may mention that
4 hot he Gfn ~
George and the Dragon had its rise.
Over toward Ramleh may be seen the
ruins of the Church of st. George. one
of the successive edifices that mark
upon the significance of the present
return of British troops to the very
place whence came the legend of Eng
lands patron saint. Now these British
forces are Staying the dragons of the
untoward social. economic and politi-
cal conditions under which the land
has long groaned. America does not
know the full story of the beneficence
of the British occupation of Syria.
Here at Judd, or LYDIA, Peter, too,
slew q dragon, and the story is today s
lesson. He met the old monster of
disease and routed him: Aneas. the
palsied man. was liberated by Christ's
champion. His word, Jesus Christ
amaketh thee whole" is a slogan for
Four time. Wilderness. which is real
holiness, is what this sick and smitten
world needs; and it will never get it
i except in the name of Jesus. All sorts
; of lopsided and half-developed and
, distorted theories are being pro-
pounded today; but the distinction OF
Christ. who is the worlds Health, is
that He makes whole-whole in body
as well as in spirit; whole in estate
as well as in destiny Sarah N. Cleg-
horn wrote in 1.-THE Congregationalist''
some lines which recall the symmetry
of life:
Body and soul are married lovers:
Besides the Ras tr reeif Of lie in Eden
'These twain shall be one flesh be
said.
tYet man hath put them oft asunder:
And not alone by fire and sword.
But duped by lying metaphysics,
He oft denies, In deed and word,
While ever. to the steadfast skies, !.
The prayers of these old constant lovers
In patient iteration rise:
40 Priest. my little love remember
My love and bride, the Body see;
"hs Snail aioe er eafs iift and Comfort mer
40 wise Physician. now no longer :.
Neglect my Lord and Love, the Soul
While he lies sick in paiu. and fever
Il No drugs can make the body whole
AS it Seemed on the Stage.
S Interchurch World Movement in New
York, as earlier it had been presented
by the Methodist Episcopal church al
> Columbus, the great pageant-play
|. ! THE Wayfarer." One incident, sci
e forth with consummate stagecraft
portrayed the healing of a blind man
, The dramatic quality of the miracles i.
forgotten because We associate them
e with Sunday preaching. They were
f sensational and effective. Well doe.
& ha za of n
e by Peter at LYDIA, IAN that dwelt a
LYDIA and Sharon saw him (the heal
l. ed mani and turned to the Lord
: Transformed lives are the real Chris
. tian evidence. The then busting city
+ of LYDIA was deeply stirred by the
e wonder.
n On the surface lies the lesson, nov
j learned anew in the war and since
the war, that only a religion of posi-
s tive power can hold or move men
What a slump the Church has under
}. gone since the days of Peteri Per
e functoriness, programmed convention
!, ality and petty prescriptions SO easii,
take the place of present reality. L
=? was a shock to learn that most sol
e diers thought that being Christian
v meant abstinence from cards, dancing
o and the theater.
As IL to repudiate this narrow con
|. ception of Christianity. the alliet
5, churches themselves stage a tremen
r dous theatrical performance in Madi
s son Square Garden. thus abdicatini
p formally the position held by man.
denominations. It was q bold thini
|, to do. But every Christian leader to
e day knows that the Church cannot b.
true to her mission or her Gospel OIL
Observation-Disclosures
Matthew Adams {! 3
u