The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-04-29

the cross Is to them that perish, fool
ishness, but to Us which are saved II
is the power of God."-First Corinth-
ians, list chapter, 18th verse.
Power was the theme of Rev. w.
A. Sundays discourse Friday night, In
which he said:
Man has always been looking and
striving after power. The world was
not very old before he noticed the
strength of the OK, and he coveted 1t
and he caught it and he yoked it and
he trained it. He made It carry his
burdens and plow his fields and do
his labor
Man went on finding power here
and there and appropriating 1t to him
self and benefiting by its labor. That
is why the world has grown. That IS
why we are not ploughing today with
forked stick, like they did In the
days of Abraham That is why the
world is full OF knowledge and inven-
tons and progress.
Man discovered that the horse
could run faster than he, and he COW
eted the horse. and he caught it and
bridled It, saddled it, harnessed it,
and he made 1t draw his wagon and
plough his fields and become the most
useful beast of burden in all the
world.
Man, the weakest thing, who was
ambitious to become the strongest, led
to the invention of the sling, the bow,
the dart, the gun, the locomotive, the
railroad, the battIeship, the electric
light, the telephone-alI that we have
today.
Man saw that there was power to
the current as he was swimming in
the water, and Sc he bridled the river
He harnessed it. He made it turn his
mill-wheel; and that put his brain to
incubating and he Matched out the bat
tleship and our great steamers.
Man Learned to Use
Power Slowly
Man was never content to remain
weaker than he had to, but in spite
of his lust after power, he learned
very slowly Man was slow and is
slow today to appropriate the good
things that God gives him and make
them work for him.
I have no doubt but that 1t took
ages to reach the first wagon wheel.
1t might have been known ages before
they ever put it into practical use.
Nearly every good thing that we
couldn't get along without now was
foolishness when it was first proposed.
We built our present civilization
around the electric light instead of
the tallow candle, and around the au-
tomobile instead of the ox-cart, and
around the motor boat instead of the
birch canoe; and we have reached our
present station because of these de.
velopments.
Man has always been looking for
L i e..
long as the grass is green and as long
as the birds sing and as long as water
will seek its level, man will bite at n
gold brick. and he will take chance
on wheel of fortune He is looking
for the best of it. If he thinks he can
get three dollars for one, he is going
to try for it-always.
Every power that we have today
was foolishness at first. 1.-THE preach
ing of the cross is to them that per-
ish, foolishness, but to US which are
saved. it is the power Of God"
Men Scott at New
inventions
Every power that we have today,
that We couldn't get along without
was foolishness when 1t was first pro
posed We know it is true in modern
times, and human nature is the same
IN all ages. am safe in assuming
that it is true in the past and will be
in the future. The people in the fu
ture will sheer and mock as we de
when somebody proposes something
that is as far in advance of what we
have today as many things we have
now are ahead of what we had a hun
dred years ago.
The man who discovered them wa:
sure to be put down as a fool ane
dreamer. | suppose the man who In
vented the bow and arrow died with
out getting his tribe to benefit by II
When steam was discovered, it wa!
a long time before they could get any
body to use it; and when it was pro
posed in the British parliament t.
build railroad, a peer arose and op
posed the proposition, saying that :
man couldn't breathe going through
the air at Is miles an hour.
Oh, you laugh at his foolishness
but there are things that we believ'
today that will be just as foolish tt
the people that come after as such
thing was to that fellow.
He said, "If we build this railroad
the people will be asphyxiated by tn,
gas from the coal as it comes out o
the smokestack; and If sheep get
within six hundred feet of the tract
with the train going Is miles an hour
1t will pull the wool off its back; ant
the cinders from the train will kill al
the grass along the track and the cat
tie won't have anything to eat"
When they proposed the railroad
they said, at can't be done" TIL
same was true when they talket
about electricity.
/ remember when l was in low;
they were trying to get the commur
ity to install plant. They said, 9Th
idea Of running anything over wir
and making light burn 1t can't b
done"
Telegraph Had
Hard Time.
It was a long time before the
could introduce the telegraph. an
it was the Same with every goo
thing that came knocking at our door
Then / am not surprised to fin
people fools about religion. The
have been fools about the telegra pt
the telephone, steam, about radiun
about electricity, and they are just a
big fools about religion. You can
get the benefit that comes from re
ligion.
A lot of you are sitting here (
nIoht In this twentieth century an