The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-06-01

IN these lessons. drawn from the
4 > Prophecy Of jeremiah. We have
already pointed out that the prophet
who sincerely and faithfully re-
Dukes the wrongs OF his age. even
. II he does 50 with reluctance that
Z only a sense Of cody duty can con-
quer, and even If ne upholds At the
. same time the Way Of right and
truth. inevitably becomes denounced
+ as a pesSimist.
He IS fortunate If IN his earnest
ness he does not provoke great
hostility against himself.
It was not long. as We have seen.
until the very people. his own
. people. whom jeremiah was seeking
. TO help cried out for his death. and
II is interesting also TO note
that is was those who claimed TO
be in positions of authority and in
fiuence. politically and religiously.
who we're foremost in calling for the
death Of this man Of real religion
and Of true patriotism.
Here in our lesson the princes
of the country arc CRYING out 70
the king for the death of the
prophet How very modern and re
lated TO our own day is the very
thing for which these princes de
mand Jeremiah's death, They
claimed that jeremiah was weaken
ing the bands of the men of war.
and that he was endangering the
safety Of the nation
Is not this precisely the charge
that has recently been brought
against some outstanding leaders in
the Christian life Of this country.
tile people who occupy in our day
the place that The prophet occupied
in the ancient life Of Israe!2
It would be unWise and inappro-
pirate to bring into this column dis
cussion of the ultimate and very
difficult questions that relate to ma
tional defense and to the problems
Of world peace. Above all, it would
be out of plac5 TO come into the
area Of controversy between the
apostles Of military preparedness
and those VINO 20 TO the opposite eX-
IRENE OF an uncompromising ideal
Of nonreSistancc.
But it ought to be manifest to
any one who responds with the
slightest sincerity to the teachings
and ideals of Jesus. Prince of Peace,
that the world is never going to see
the end Of war until We preach and
practice peace and that there are
risks associated with that preach
ing and practice that must be as
readily faced and accepted as any
other of the risks which can not be
ASSOCIATED from life.
Even if the OLD ana possibly some
what cynical maxim. Trust in God
and keep your powder dry" were to
be the height of our venture in be-
half of peace, it means a great deal
when the first part of that in
junction means as much as the sec
,ond.
Whatever We think about these
things, We can get some very in
teresting light upon the problems
and realities OF our own age from
this ancient story of jeremiah.
The real weakness of the time,
the thing that really endangered
the state and the thing that en-
dangers states in the modern world.
is seen quite clearly in the break
down of real government. The king,
who nominally ought to have rep
resented the power of the people,
was a tool in the hands of the prin-
cess.
When they cry for the death of
jeremiah. all he can do is to re-
mind them that he is king only in
name, and that he can not stand
out against their wishes. Thus it
waE that jeremiah was cast into
a dungeon-a dungeon so deep that
they let him down with cords. and
so foul and muddy that he sank
into the miTe.
Fortunately, there was one man
in the kingdom who had not lost
all sense of decency or courage. Let
us note that ne was a servant and
a black man. But this man. Ebed-
melech, whose soul was clean and
whose will was strong. spoke boldly
TO the king on behalf of jeremiah
and against the princess. The king
who had yielded to the princess now
yielded 10 his masterful servant,
and the Ethiopian went with thirty
men to take jeremiah out of the
dungeon.
Like most men in whom there Is
such a fine association OF decenCy
with strength and courage. there
was in this man. Ebedmelech, a
touch of gentleneSS and courtesy.
Jeremiah had been let down with
cords into the dungeon.
Probably these cords had cut
painfully into his flesh, but now in
pulling him out this thoughtful
Ethiopian takes rags and caSt-off
garments. and has jeremiah put
these under his armholes so that
they may protect him from the
tightening and cutting of the cords.
Surely there is in this something
beautifully suggestive. 1t is fine to
do great and courageous things, but
there are those who go even beyond
this in doing strong things and good
things with the souls OF poets and
artists.