The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1959-09-25

on this planet. S2Sl
One Of these ~
might be called b a. Si
situation. We Or. Foreman
could call it the Problem Of the Rut
It ID the state Of things when moth.
ing Of great importance is happen.
ing a. far AZ we can see. when one
day Is about like most other days
In fact, It's the way life looks te
many people over 40. Tho great
thrills are over, death Is nowhere
yet in sight, there Ii nothing to d
but to keep on plodding as patient
ly ~ possible.
Fer the leng Pull
The prophet Malachi lived IN
such times. This Last book Of the
Old Testament comes from 4 Tina
Of establishment, WEAKNESS and
tedium. The great thrill Of coming
home from exile was over long
since more than one hundred
years, in fact. Nobody had seen q
miracle. no Moses was In sight.
The Jews In Palestine. where NAL
achi preached, had once been all
excited about being able to come
back in peace to Jerusalem to
build temple and to worship the
true God. But as time went on
people became tired OF the endless
series of sacrifices. oven the priests
became bored with the whole thing.
People stopped coming to the
temple The priests did not think
Of carrying religion to the people,
and the country was sinking deeper
and deeper into religious indffer-
ence and moral decay. There were
many religious observances, but
not much heart-religion.
In this situation Malachi preach
cd. He did not have the dramatic
power Of Amos nor the tenderness
Of Hosea nor the majestic world
vision Of Isaiah !. to this very day
Malachi Is nobodys' favorite prop
het. Nevertheless what he said
then seems to At our day remark
ably we'll. For he was giving his
people hints for what we might call
Religion for the Long Pull"
Do Better
MAlachi's recipe for doing Gods
will, AZ a nation, was simple and
will always work. He did not pro-
pose anything new or startling.
What he recommended, In nut
shell, was doing the good things
better-the good things they were
already doing in 4 half-hearted.
discouraged sort of way. They had
priests, men Of God they were
called. BE men OF God! was Nal
achis word for them. Take your
responsibilities, get out there and
teach the people, don't live selfish
secluded lives. This in modern
terms would be a plea both for
better ministers and for better
schools)
Then Malachi spoke Of support
Ing the law. The expression law
abiding" is not exactly thrilling.
even to l4w-abiding people; but
Malachi laid It on the line: You
viii never make any progress 50
long a. you keep breaking the laws
that you know. A nation Of law
breakers IL headed for a break
down ITSELF.
Further, Malachi did not fail to
mention those two institutions, the
church and the home. Put him into
modern language, and We can hear
him saying. better churches make
better homes! Better homes make
better churches! What was hap
pening 10 homes in those days, this
prophet says, grisved God himself
No Shesi.euts
Quack medicines always sell, be-
cause people want to get well O
their troubles right away, they
can't wait. Quack religion "sells,
too, and for the same reason
People would BE- glad for God Z
pass Z miracle" and bring tha'
better world right down from tn
clouds. They wish the day Of tn
Lord" would come. Anything at al
to save themselves trouble. Nal
achi has no comfort for such per
sons. He believed there could be
better Jerusalem; but It woul'
come only II Gods people wante'
It enough to work for It.
tBsssA % Outlines eeDyrightsd B
The Davlsioa Of ChYie1taa Educadei
Nstiena! Council q tse Cnufehss !.
Csn1:ustv Ss.sc sssvsss.i
In Virginia one can find the ty
of home he wants m long cab
in the pine woods. cottage
the Atlantic, Chesapeake Bay
one Of the great rivers. He c
have a house in the Blue Ride
in the Shenandoah Valley or t
Appalachians He can own a pl
Revolutionary m a n S ion or a
coon's palace. He can own proper
costing from a few hundred dolls
up to quarter or half-million d
lars.