The Tribune. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1951-19??, 1952-09-20


demons. He was never more wise
than in his prayers.
Dreams Give You Away
THEY SAY that when one is learn.
ing new language. one can be
sure one is making progress when
one starts dreaming in the new lam
guage. Dreams, psychologists be-
Ieve, show us what our minds are
like. beneath the smooth surface.
We should not take all our dreams
too seriously, because, after all. it
is the conscious mind that is at the
wheel during our waking lives. But
still a dream may show the kinds
of wishes and desires and fears
which lie deeper than our usual
consciousness.
Now when man dreams
about praying to God face to
face, you may be sure he Is real
ly God-fearing, praying man.
So the young Solomon's dream
of his interview with God is a
good indication of the depths of
his mind and intentions at that
time.
1t was not a silly dream; 1t was
quite serious. We may well believe
that the young king often thought
about it afterwards. and that God
actually took this way of speaking
to Solomon.
Ask for One Thing
TN THAT dream Solomon Is invited
to pray, and God guarantees to
answer the prayer, whatever it is.
1t is remarkable what Solomon did
not ask for.
Considering the fact that his
father had been such a warrior,
one might expect Solomon to ask
for victory in war. But the young
king, even In his dreams, did not
picture himself as a conquering
hero. Then again, he might have
been expected to want to be rich He
came of a race that rated property
very highly indeed. In the Hebrew
language. the expression "a great
man" often meant simply a very
rich one. But 1t was not money that
Solomon desired most of ALL A third
blessing too might have been in
Solomon's mind something that
every man of his time looked on as
a sure sign Of the blessing of God:
namely. long life. But this too was
not what the young man most
mished to have.
Instead, he prayed for wis
dom. knowledge is knowing;
wisdom Is knowing how to use
what you know. And he wanted
this wisdom, not In order to be
rich, powerful or IOng-live6, but
in order to become a good lead
er Of his people.
One cannot help believing that
Solomon already had in him the
seed Of wisdom, or he would not
have offered that prayer Only the
wise know what jewel wisdom is.
Prayer of a Mature Mind
n MOTHER prayer Of this famous
IA king is recorded at the dedica-
ton of the Temple. Solomon had
grown older by that time, and we
can see in this prayer that ne had
grown wiser as well. For good as
his dream-prayer was. this later one
was deeper, higher. wider.
BY this time his idea OF God
Is higher than it was. He is
aware now that God does not
live even in the most gorgeous
OF temples; his dwelling place
Is In heaven, and his care is not
for the nation Of Israel alone.
Then again, in the earlier prayer
Solomon's horizon was bounded by
the limits of his native land. His
prayer was unselfish, indeed, but 1t
took in the welfare Of mis- own SUBJ
jects-no others. Now at the Temple
he prayS for ''the stranger all
the people Of the earth.
Furthermore, IL in his earlier
prayer young Solomon was aware Of
his and his peoples weakness and
ignorance, now he feels something
deeper, more serious: the burden
OF human sin. He prays for many
blessings, but above all for this: for.
giveness for every heart that turns
to God. When we ourselves pray,
are our prayers mature? How high
is our thought Of God? For how wide
circle OF persons do we prsy2 And
do we pray drst, and most of all,
for things, or for power, or to be il
harmony with Cod7
NOTICE 80 The TRIBUNE