The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-09-23
International
SundaySchoolLesson
For Sept. 25 is. quarterly Review.
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS
The Man Who Dared.

with a Princeton student, an oarsman,
and in the quiet exchange of conf
dence which fishermen know. he mem
toned "a close squeak he once had
| on the Hudson river. I ELECTED the
details by questioning. 1t was winter,
and my friends. with a companion,
had been duck-shooting. They were
returning home, their small boat heav-
| lily laden with guns and game, beside
themselves. Half way across the river
| the waves grew so high that the tiny
craft began to shipwater. In few
minutes it would sink, and there was
no help in sight.
81 was the heavier, so it was up to
me to jump" said my friend; so, with
| out more ado, he leaped overheard
and, swimming, helped propel the al
most submerged boat. Only those who
have tried to move a boat filled with
water. know how difficult is the task
Shore was half a mile away A strong
wind was blowing. The river was full
of cakes of ice, which hit both swim
mer and boat. The water was liter
ally freezing: only one in perfect
physical condition could have survived.
Again and again it seemed as if the
attempt to reach land could not sue
| coed. With one man rowing, and the
! other pushing while swimming, they
finally made it; and then in clothes
| that ereaked and cracked with the
| QulCkly-lOI1neU Ice Iney LruQSeQ a
mile to the shelter and warmth and
recuperation of home.
! Like chorus, the remark of that
| Princeton student keeps recurring to
me, 1T was up to me to jump" Des-
perate emergencies. such as that in
which the world now finds itself, call
! for quick and desperate remedies. The
ship of civilization is really imperilled.
1t is up to some of us to jump" and
to help her reach shore with all her
precious cargo. Unless, in this grave
hour, sufficient number of the strong
| swimmers take to the water, no man
can tell what may befall.
One Man Who Jumped.
For three months past most of the
Sunday schools of the world, with
their thirty million members, have
been studying about a man who dared
! to jump" Paul saw the crisis that
had come to his time. The need and
the remedy were clear to his pene-
| tratlng eye. So he plunged overheard
into the bravest. biggest task ever at
tempted by mortal. His Jump car
ried him over a large part of the
known world. He saved Christianity
| to its universal mission. By his
audaciy and Christian Imperialism, the
| Gospel of Christ was spread to the
limits of the Roman empire 1t was
proved universal faith. He estab-
lished the church in Europe, and &C.
| cidentalized her teachings.
During the war We used to study
huge maps of the front, displayed be-
| fore newspaper offices and in stores
and elsewhere, that we might read the
| dispatches in the light of the geo.
graphical background. All of our read
| ing of the classics and of the New
| Testament had never burned upon our
brains the reality of the Hellespopte as
did those dread and dramatic days
when we watched the news from
| GallipoH. There are spots in France
that are more real to some of us
| than any place in our own homeland
except that in which we live. This
present course of Sunday School Les
sons give us the geographical back
ground of the Epistles which form so
| large a part of the New Testament
Because we have studied the places
and the people and the circumstances,
the letters addressed tos them by the
great missionary apostle should glow
with life and reality. Every one of
them is linked with his heroic adven-
lures.
Dare We Jump"
As Billy jumped into the Hudson.
as Paul Jumped" into the perilous
world, so just now, some persons who
| are reading these lines will have to
Jump" into the stormy, perilous sea
| of present conditions to help the
world
Here is the situation: Not since the
| days of the Saracens and of Kublai
Kahn has established human society
been in such dire danger as now. Its
only hope-this is the burden of ev-
cry one of these Lessons-is the Spirit
and Gospel of Jesus Christ. Its only
| help is in the men and women who
see that this supreme spiritual remedy
must be applied quickly and effective
| ~. The call from the West that came
| to Paul was no moro nd
! important than the call which comes
| from both East and West to u.s. In a
more real and practical and immediate
sense than the old theologians and
missionaries knew, Christianity is to-
/ day the one hope of the world. Upon
| that point statesmen, economists
Psychologists, business men and preach
ers are agreed.
Therefore the paramount duty of
the hour is to Jump with this life
saving message. There are a thou
sand ways of doing so. One man may
be forced, from Pauline motives, to
run for public office. Another may
| be led to go into bigger, better bust
ness. His neighbor may feel con-
strained to quit business and enter dis
tinctively Christian work. Many will
| see that the most immediate and prac-
| ticable step is to organize a Sunday
school class of boys and girls, or an
entire Sunday school. Some, patient,
strong and farsighted, will gather
about them groups of young people in
order to make disciples for Chris
| tan patriotism and world service. A
| few may become missionaries or
| preachers. A great number will catch
vision of the place and power of
ministering homes. The avenues and
methods are countless: it is the pur-
pose that is the thing. Somehow,
anyhow, the great soul will bear a
part in applying the Christian remedy
| to our smitten. sore and sick world.
! If the wonderful story of the two
first missionary journeys of Paul have
any practical significance for this year
of our Lord, 1921, it must be that we
are to help bring to bear upon our
contemporary life the Transforming
power of Christ. Personal piety is not
/ enough; assent to religious teachings
is not enough; intellectual conviction
of Christians place is not enough:
there must be, if we are to make the