The Topeka state journal., 1922-12-29
International
SundaySchooILesson
By WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

A Year of Religion.
AS the gates of another year swing
/ shut, and the millions of members OF
the Sunday schools who gather weekly
in every city, town. village and settle
ment in the United States and CANADA,
! enter upon the review of the years
lessons, it seems timely to take q
/ frank, fearless look at whatN the year
has meant IN a religious way Instead
of summarizing the weekly lessons, lei
US attempt to appraise the present
conditions to which they are applied
We are concerned with truth only in
/ its application to life. This has been
a strange, portentous, uneventful year,
altho plainly a period of decision.
1t has been another year of the
worlds sag and slump. Humanity is
still in the doldrums- Before OlIr eyes
we are beholding the vindication of
the words of the Book-"Where there
as no vision the people perish" 1t is
not the plight of the mark and the
Tuble, or the economic barriers that
have been raised betw cen ma tionss or
the clashing policies of international
politicians, that has caused the presS
ent depression all over the earth 1t
is simply lack of vision. Blind TO the
eternal spiritual veritieS which ap-
ply to nations as surely Nas the indi-
viduals, the world has staggered and
stumbled into q bog that seems to lead
to Quicksands. There was a CLINT OF
international VISION d year ago dl llAN
Washington conference: but the spirit.
which alone made the conference
great. seems not to have been a plant
that would bear transplanting- Genoa,
The Hague and Lausanne have fol-
lowed Wash1ngton-with a difference.
No Revival Anywhere.
On all the horizon of universal
religious activity there is no sign of
a great religious revival-except a
manifest hunger and thirst for spirit
satisfaction Even the professional
revivalistS are nowhere conducting
special services on such a large scale
as to command more than local at
tention. a year ago the ancient fires
seemed to flare up among the Scottish
fisherman, but they have not spread
as anticipated
Dearth of religious leadership grows
more marked. Potential prophets be-
come organization secretaries This
fleeing as for refuge to Orga anlzat1on
and yet more organization, with
drives and manifestoeS" and "ap-
peals'' and propaganda. is curious
characteristic of the religious life of
the present day. Individual ministers
of the Gospel, whose independence and
leadership and spiritual vision are the
reliance of Christianity. show
strange tendency to merge their per-
sonafity into movements of various
sorts and names. Soiicitude fbr gov
ernmental action along various moral
and philanthropic lines seems to be
supplanting the sense of God and of
the spiritual realities which is the
ministrys real gift to mankind.
Along with this extraordinary alb
dication of individual initiative and
leadership on the part Of the shep-.
herds of souls, has gone, during the
spirit of schism- There is no deny
ing that there is a great and grow
ing cleavage in the churches be-
tween those who call themselves
accept the label of Liberals" Ap-|
parently, regardless of the world
tragedy which is being enacted out
side the church doors, we are to
clesiastical strife-both sides unin-
tentionally wounding the Christ whom
they alike sincerely seek to serve.
Our Days Great Quest.
All the while there exists, beneath
the frivolous surface of things, a deep
and even desperate eagerness for soul
satisfaction. Prick the wineskin of
the days common thought and It'll
spurts the red wine of desire for a
life, an experience, peace, reality,
which the world has not been able to
impart Even the restless triviality
and pleasure-questing of our day is in
part a search for a something undis-
covered that will appease the deeper
of the immortal human spirit |
Men and women are eager for life
cannot have until they experience Him
who is our Life. -
Any survey of the year now ending |
would be superficial which does not |
take account of this universal brood
ing, seeking and praying for spiritual /
refreshment. 1 alIude not merely to
the finely-tuned- mystics, to whom
spirituality is their native air, but also |
to a countless company of persons
who are ordinarily not suspected of |
interest in spiritual matters.
The Captains Concern.
1t was only a few days ago that 1
sat at luncheon in a New York hotel
with a business man of the city, not
himself, whom had
known in France as a captain of the
him pour out such a stream ofespirit-
lal solicitude for our time, for his
for the church, for the world
rs L have rarely heard from a clergy
nan. Nobody who thinks can nova
lays be indifferent to the deeper
,orces that shape character and civili-
;ation.
My captain friends desire that
'outh should not drench its fires of
dealism and spirituality by the shall
ow streams of pleasure-seeking or by
he deep currents of materialism that
low across the surface of our day.
inds an echo in the alarmed comment
lpon present conditions on the part of
o0S1NOASs PACeAOAAEASs S0AlOIS anu 4
.ther observers of the signs of the
lines.
Looking Toward the East.
As If to challenge the Christianity
f today, there has become acute dur
ng the past year in the lands of the
Sible, the whole startling question of
whether the Christian religion is able
o master its supposed adherents. The
ocus spot of world interest is now the
Sear East Many sided as is the strife
here, it would really have been nom
xistent had the plain teachings of the
Sible been needed by the statesmen
f the Christian nations. Justice and
righteousness collapsed around the {
,astern Mediterranean before ever the
rmies of the West crumpled up. The
Og of passion and propaganda and I
artisanship so fills our eyes that we
ave SCARCELY sensed the sienifica nee