Norwich bulletin., 1922-11-06
METHODIST PASTOR BREACHES
 ON LESSONS FROM MoRDEcAI

We have already learned of Queen Els
 ther, the heroine of our play, and about
 the evil doings of Hanan, the villain of
 the play, and tonight we will learn about
 the hero of the play, Mordecai, the man
 whom Haman feared and hated but who
 lived to rise to the highest position in
 his country. said Rev. Robert L. Roberts
 Sunday evening at the service in Trinity
 Methodist Episcopal church.
 In Dur story of the play last Sunday
 We saw Haman hung on the scaffold he
 had built to hang MordeeaL and we did
 not feel cory for the fate that befeII this villain, and we saw King AhaSerus
 elothe Mordecai in royal garments, place g crown on his head and give unto him great powers in the land. placing him higher even than the villain Haman had
 ever reached through his smooth villainy.
 To casual reader the greatest eharac- ter in the play is Esther. We admire her
 beauty, her bravery. her queenly quail ties, but reIntmber Queen Esther would never have reached these heights or had the courage to go before the keng ex- eept that she knew there was a man be- hind her to whom she could always look for aid. Although Queen Esther was one of the shining lights of the play, Merdecai 1 far outshone her when it came to playing a leading part in the play.
 Moedecai, our hero, was of the tribe of Benjamin, and the blood of royalty flow ed in his veins, being descendant of Saul, from whom he had inherited much of his royal bearing. In our play We I find him a prisoner, stranger in a strange land.
 l While HamaR. who was also a stran. ger, had made himself the faVorite of the l king by using underhand methods. Nor decai had a definite policy in view and kept at it. using only fair means. Nor decai could have gone before the king
 and asked for something for saving hi. 1 life, but he would moi. Prudence wa. the best thing hero could show, and faithough Mordecai knew Haman for scoundrel he would not use this means tt rise in the favor of the king He did 1 however. throw down the gauntlet t Hanan, and Haman, fool that he was took it up and did everything possible tt defeat his enemy, and we know the out come. The greatest test of our her, came when he knew that his stand wault
 mean death for his people. Did he quail
 No, he did net; but he tried to free hi people even though it meant death fe
 himself. He inspired Queen Esther t go before the king and kept in the back
 ground until after the king had leaFne of Haman's treachery and ordered hin
 hung on the very EalIows Haman ha
 built to put an end to Mordecai.
 , Then Mordecai was called before tn , king and given great honors, and as tim passed became greater and more believe by the people of the land.
 fl We can liken Haman to Aaron Bur Burr, a great man, sought high honor : and to gain them used unfair method. and we know his end, his name being o , the blacklist like that of Hamaa. Me7 { decai, like Abraham Lincoln. steadii i came up from eN,curity and now. as Lir
 coin, continues to shine with a light tha . grows more and more brilliant as year ? go by.
 Il Haman was like a rocket that goes int . the air at night and bursts, lighting th n heavens with it's splendor and the Q leaves it the darker for the brilliaac al that had been there. MordecAi. on u h other hand. was like a star, slowly risir h and reaching it's zenith, to shine vii c 1 greater and greater briilianey.
 8 We can compare the two m<n to Bel : edict Arnold and George washingto 2 Both were great men who during u s war rose to gEeat heights and were flo s cred by their people. Arnold sought mo. honor thah befsli him and betrayed h e country for gold, and today he stands
 the shsdpE. breaght ont into the liz j. only to be held up as hoFrid exampl . Washington, on the other hand, eoHtinBi l. doing right, accepted honprs as thi T came, and Be know that today he + greater in the\ eyes of the werid thi
 eVer befere.
 Do you want to be Ike Esther al . MardeEAi, like Lincoln CT Waahi1gtoa. are you an Arnold, Burr or aIHaAa C seeking glory, using any means to ga :, it. I kneW that you want to be like O d hero, be with God, giving out a light tn will shiAe with lglery after you pass. al q leAgthening years serving eRly to ma T. your light shine the brighter. In eiesil le let ne tell yeu that there is only 6 II !. way to be like eur hero, you must Ii ' as he did, de the right, seek net aft glory uneafHed, take the honors that | fall you, and. live to serve right tn others may benefit when yeu rise to t T thAigfatS,