Arkansas State press., 1951-01-12

grees are so much
treasured, they =. $780,.
ask: who was
your granfather?" But out In the
wide-open west they have only one
question: what can you dot"
Action In Religion
TT 10 Q fair question. II the answer
1 Is Nothing" then II does not
make any difference at oil what
man can answer to the other three
questions.
70 be sure, they look at this
differently In the Orient. Ac-
cerding 10 the ancient pniloso-
ply 81 the East. II Is only the
inferior man who rushes around
dslng things. The superior man
sits and thinks. The Vests ad-
mlrstien for action, and the Or
tents admiration for contem-
Dlation. enter into religion itself.
The typical Oriental saint"
may be 3 man who never turned
HIS hand to . piece Of work In
al hls life. The typical western
saint" II likely TO be . very
busy and active sort Of person.
It is all the more interesting that
Jesus combined both the western
and the eastern ideas Of religion.
He was q man Of prayer and medi-
tation. yet q man Of strenuous life
too.
Life Of Action
THE Gospel by Mark. reliable
4 tradition claims. actually comes
from Simon Peter. During Peters
missionary travels he used to speak
often about the life and work of
Jesus. and young John Mark would
take down notes of what he said.
Then later Mark worked up into
connected gospel many OF those
story-sermons. 1t is easy to believe
the tradition. because this gospel
sounds so much like what would
appeal to Peter. a man Of action.
At any rate. In Mark we have
very little said about Jesus
teaching, a great deal said about
what he did. Jesus does not have
. spare minute. not q day off.
What about the rest of us7 Sup.
pose some biographer were TO write
up you who read these lines. Sup
pose he could use in his story only
your actions. not your words or
ideas. Would there be enough ma.
terial for him TO write q book
Words Of Power
WHILE Mark almost never tells
w us what Jesus taught. he does
tell US that Jesus was a teacher In
describing the synagogue-service in
Capernaum Mark tells us the peo-
pie were astonished, and even two
demon-ridden men were struck
down with terror.
What Jesus said that aston
ished the people and alarmed
the dem0niacs we do not know.
Possibly Peter, who was there,
may have been too busy watch
Ing peoples faces 20 hear what
Jesus was saying. However that
may be, Jesus Is here introduced
to US not only as a docr but as
q thinker and teacher.
Life is not all action. il is also
thought. Jesus acts were full Of
power; so and not less so were his
ideas. words. teachings. Look at
the rest OF us again. We may be
full Of talk. but how much power
Is there In our ideas2
Straightway
NNE word Is found many times
~ In Marks stories of Jesus:
"Straigh,way as the older versions
have it.-th0t is, Immediately. II
Is not just Mark style II is his
way Of bringing out something i'm.
portant about Jesus life and habits.
There were no blank spaces.
no pages unwritien, no empty
gaps, no waiting around, In
Jesus life. In his life one ac-
tiviiy followed on the heels Of
another. He had no time 10
waste, and he wasted none.
Let the honest reader try to make
o realistic budget of his time. At
the beginning Of a week LET him draw
up a kind Of chart showing how he
expects to spend his IS waking
hours each day, much for work.
recreation. study and so forth. Then
at the end Of the week let him ask
himself: Where did my time COZ
He will often have to admit that he
did not really live the whole day.
any day. only parts Of H. Living as
q Christian means living ones full
time. living one of those 10 hours a
day.
Copyright BY the International Coun.
Ell 81 Religious Education on behalf OF
~ Protestant denomlna tiens. Released
b. WNU Features
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