Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-05-13
Ss' s s. I SARAH y. LOWRLE,S
sS4TJ!RDAY EVENING TALK
Miracle That Is Performed in Soul hen Change fo'
sSE# the Better Takes Place

| fisherfolk--all the buyers and sellers
whose goods we're taxed in the name
of Caesar--that fact alone spoke of a
wide breach with the patriots and with
the orthodox religious and with his kin
far and near. 1t looked. too, as though
he were callous and hard. His life
would make him hard, for he had to
consort with other publicans and with
the nonreligious. pagan lot that went In
eral name of-''sinners. Men who.
having lost their religion and their
national patriotism. having. in fact.
sold their birthright. we're neither
tolerated by their respectable fellow.
countrymen nor held in high repute by
their conquerors and employers. rich
and powerful though they were through
the spols Of Office.
OUCH a man plying his trade in the
- open market place Of the town
| through which his great and famous
Cousin was passing would certainly not
suppose that his being where he was
and his doing what he VAS doing would
make 1t advisable for Christ to curtail
His triumphant progress through the
town. or TO take another street py which
to enter.
And James himself must have hoped,
and even expected that his Cousin
would be wise enough to avoid so un-
, pleasant an encounter.
One cannot guess what the two may
have had in common as boys and near
of kin. or what had occurred when the
unhappy separation had originally taken
place. but II Is easy to imagine the
mixture of chagrin and defiance and
nNP NPxnt M i,,I = L.
returned by insult that stirred that
Publican James to his depths when the
shouting. excited crowd that had never
left our Lord since His entry into
the town swept into the open place
where James piled his trade. bearing in
! their midst the Man who had aroused
their wild enthusiasm by what He did
and what He said. so that they already
talked of making Him their King and
national deliverer
TT IS picture that the Imagination
L having once made does not let go.
James. caught and compelled TO accent
! the cut direct from his famous Kins
man, ard that, too. in the sight OF
his new friends and fellow .employes
and his alienated townpeop,e. and
! Christ, in the midst of His almost
royal progress. faced with the scandal
ot His near kinsman who had dis.
honored His name and injured the fam
lily pride In its integrity and patriotism
As each looked at the other across the
sea OF curious. jeering. questioning
judging faces what quick knowledge
sprang into the eyes of each and flashed
recognition and understanding from
their hearts? The story. so circum
stantinl In some things and so casuaI
in others, does not give us who are by
ISLANDERS the clue.
And as He passed by He saw the
son OF Alphaeus sitting at the seat OF
Follow me -
And he arose and followed Him. And
it came to pass that He was sitting a,
meat in his hoGse, and many publicans
and sinners sat down with Jesus and
His disciples, for there were many that
followed Him
Tn THE case Of the son Of Alphaeus
i it was the public beginning Of a new
life. for he followed that Leader
through time into eternity.
1t looks like miracle to us. per
| haps it looked like that to the crowd
/ and to the family. but who knows wha
pent-up eagerness to repent Christ rec
. ognizcd in His cousins face. or wha
confidence in the possibility Of repent
ance James saw In the steadfast lool
his great kinsman rested upon him.
Remembering this episode in boil
their lives one reads the closing para
graph in the letter which James wrot
years later to the dispersed Christian
Of the world with a curious and almos
poignant sense Of its personal meanin
to the writer.
Ny brethren. II any among You d
err from the truth. and one conver
, him, know We that he which convertet
sinner from the error Of his way sha
! save soul from death. and shall cove
in that soul---a multitude of sins"
SARAH D. LOWRfE.