The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1942-03-19
Turning Over An
Old Leaf
By Phillip A. Gladheim

t"There were faces to remember in the
/ Valley of the Shadow;
There were faces unregarded there
were faces to forget;
There were fires of grief and fear
that are few forgotten ashes;
There were sparks of recognition
that are not forgotten yet"
: Religion is the most ancient and I'M
iversal experience of the race. True or
false, it is the dominant factor in life
today. AS in the past, so today we see
the true and false in death struggle
within each religion, and one religion
competing for mastery over another.
This column has been recalling the
recent past of the life, manners and
customs of folk that settled in these
mountains but four generations ago.
But this week we will jump back into
the Ancient of Days.
When you read the following ask
yourself who said these words
whether there is ! strange, almost
terrifying familiarity in their mean
ing and whether these same words
could be used in giving the basic and
deepest Interpretation of what is
happening to life in mans Twentieth
Century heart:
God put forth His hand and touched
my mouth; and God said unto me,
Behold l have put Ny Word in thy
mouth; See! l have this day set thee
over the nations and over the king
doms, to pluck up and break forth
upon all the inhabitants of the land.
But | remember thy youth, the love of
thine marriages.; how thou wentest
after me in the wilderness, in land
that was not sown. And brought you
into plentiful land to eat the fruit
thereof and the goodness thereof; but
when you entered you defiled my
land, and made my heritage an abom-
nation.
authors What connection
has this to the mutilation of our for
ests and the pollution of our streams
with sawdust, refuse from mines etc.;
never a thought of planting where
CneIe Ddu DeSn upTOOClHS) J.
For my people have committed two
evils: they have forsaken me, the
fountain of living waters, and hewed
them out cisterns, broken cisterns,
that can hold no water. Is Israel a
home-born slave? In the time of their
trouble they will say: Arise and save
us. But where are thy gods that thou
hast made thee? Let them arise if
they can save thee in the time of thy
trouble. My anguish, my anguish |
am panied at my very heart; my heart
is disquieted in me; | cannot hold my
peace; because thou hast heard, O my
soul, the sound of the trumpet, the
alarm of war. For my people are fool
ish, because they know me not; they
have no understanding. They are wise
to do evil, but to do good they have no
knowledge.
Run We to and fro thru the streets
and see now and know, and seek in
the broad places thereof, if we can
find a man, if there be any that doeth
justly, that seeketh truth. They have
denied God and said it is not he;
neither shall evil come upon US; Meth
er shall we see sword or famine: and
lIlC pIOplltIS shall btCOIllt llht WlIlu-
bags, and the Word is not in them
Lo, | will bring a nation upon you
from far, saith God. 1t is a mighty ma
ton, it is an ancient nation, a nation
whose language thou knowest not,
neither understandest what they say.
Their culver is an open sepulcher, they
are all mighty men. And they shall
eat up thy harvest and thy bread,
which thy sons and thy daughters
should eat. They shall beat down thy
fortified cities, wherein thou trustest,
with the sword. Like as we have for
saken me, and served foreign gods in
your land, so shall we serve strangers
in a land that is not yours. For among
my people are found wicked men; they
watch, as hunters lie in wait; they set
) a trap, they catch men. As a cage is
full of birds, so are their houses full
of deceit; therefore they are become
great and Waxed rich.
A wonderful and horrible thing is
come to pass in the land: the proph-
cts prophesy falsely, and the priests
bear rule by their means; and my peo-
pie love to have it So For from the
! least of them even unto the greatest
ness; and from the prophet even unto
the priest everyone dealeth falsely.
They have healed also the hurt of my
people slightly, saying peace, peace,
when there is no peace.
Thus saith God: Stand we in the
. ways and see, and ask for the old
paths where is the good way; and
walk therein, and We shall find rest for
your souls; but they said, we will not
walk therein.
Hear then, O earth! Behold, | will
| bring evil upon this people, even the
fruit of their thoughts For a people
cometh from the north country; and a
great nation shall be stirred up from
the uttermost pats of the earth They
| lay hold on bow and spear; they are
cruel, and have no mercy. But my peo-
pie hearkened not, nor inclined their
ear, but walked in their own coun-
sells and in the stubbornness of their
evil heart, and went backward and
not forward. And the dead bodies of
this people shall be food for the birds
of the heavens. Then l will cause to
cease from the cities and the etreets
the voice of mirth and the voice of
| gladness.
Oh that my head were waters and
mine eyes fountain of tears, that |
might weep day and night for the
: slain of the daughter of my people.
! warm and then beat until ready to