Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1922)
nwnw i"' ' mi ...- i niMMwwn m The Commoner FEBRUARY, 1922 (i ' 11 chn modestly declined anything that king or captain couia give, perferring, she said, to dwell with her own people. When she had gone Blisha asked Gehazi if ho could think of anything that could he done for her. The prophet's sorvant answered that she had no child, the greatest misfortune that could befall her. Then Elisha called fier and told her that a son would come to bless her. The woman could hardly believe him and in her joy begged him not to lie to her. A MOTHER'S LOVE In due time the son was born, and when the child was old enough to help in the harvest he went out into the field with the reapers and fell sick, probably overcome by, the heat. The father, feeling as helplessas fathers usually do at such a time, had the lad carried to his mother; The' mother nursed her son until he died upon her lap. .'.( . In her grief, there was just onet .person to whom she could turn-8 Elisha. She took the child up to his room and laying him on the prophet's bed, she shut the door upon him and vent out. Her plans were made in an? instant. Calling to her husband, she 'asked for a servant and an animal upon which to gqiint search of Elisha. The father did not seem to guess the purpose of her visit; possibly he did notithink that the, son's illness was so serious, or, if .he:. had. known that he was dead, he might not have, had the faith, she had in the prophet's plower. . t . f : She found Elisha in Mount Carmel, who, see ing her afar off, sent his servant to incluire what was the matter. Answering-in ;the' usual language, "It ia well," she hurried 'past the- ser vant and fell at the feet of Elisha; Gehazi, of whom .we shall hear more and worse later, tried to thrust 'her away, -but Elisha rebuked him.. . seeing' that something distressed her something Which he said the Lord had not revealed to-thim. .In her anguish, she reminded the prophet that she had not asked a son that she had even begged him not to de ceive her. ,11 ) Elisha correctly interpreting her words, sent Gehazi with his staff to restore the child, to life, warning him not to delay by the way to give or to receive ' salutations. ; Rev. Herbert Booth, a son of 'the founder of the Salvation Army, has a sermon oii the Shunammite "Woman., in his .inimitable way he describes Gehazi as he departed on this errand, puffed up with a. feeling qjC importance; and then he describes Gehazi's surprise when ho found himself unable, to use Elisha's staff as successfully as the prophet used it. The Shunammite woman did npt seem to have as much faith in Gehazi as the servant had in himself. She did not follow' him when he started toward her home, carrying jElisha's staff. She remained with Elisha and used the same lan guage that Elisha had employed in addressing his master, Elijah: "As the Lord IrVeth and as thv soul liveth, I will not leave, thee." So the prophet went with her. Somewhere along the 12-mile journey they met the returning servant, and received from him the report that his mission was a failure. In. due time Elisha reached the woman's home and looked upon the child as he lay upon the bed. Then follows the record of the miracle. The scene closes with the mother bowing to the ground in gratitude and taking her living, breathing son back to her arms. A WONDER-WORKING GOD We see in the story of the Shunammite wom an an exhibition of the power of the Almighty, and, as usual, the power is called forth. by faith. Here are present the three factors that appear again and again throughout the Old and New Testament. A God, all powerful, acting through a consecrated servant, rewards the faith of one in whose heart there is an unfaltering trust. A miracle? Yes but why should a miracle disturb a Christian? ' Christianity rests upon a wonderworking God, on a Bible fijll of miracles and upon a Christ who displayed supernatural power. With out faith it is impossible to be a Christian, and the same faith that leads one to believe in the virgin birth of Christ and in His resurrection leads to a belief in the miracles performed by .the Son of God and by those before His day upon vrhom the Father bestowed power. If one discards one miraclp he is likely to discard them all, for the very 'simple reason that nUracles are usually discarded, not upon evi dence or for lack of evidence, but upon the as sumption that no such thing as a miracle is pos sible. ' This objection is traceable, as we have shown in a previous talk, to one of two propositions, namely, that God cannot perform a miracle, nich is equivalent to say iirg "that there is no, whichVhi04 WUld not pcrform a ra,racl wmcn is based upon an assumption of intollii m 3ectiS?' hen U Is analyzed, difTers but God for n fir?1 a,nd Ia a vlrtual don!al o that th fin i?d tW5 lms ? plans or Purposes self finite Cannot comProhend ia Him- rfnT Sdstian' b0lievIn5 in a God who can S2f,f V i s A8 PrePared to admit the super natural when the evidence of it is sufficient, and the evidence presented by the Bible is sufficient for the Christian. The Bible being accepted as unimpeachable authority, the Bible char acters are real characters because they are Bible characters. Their power is a real power because it comes from a living God. Faith is the force that- turns on the current and makes man the beneficiary of God's bounty. PAUL'S TRIBUTE TO FAITH In the eleventh chapter of Hebrews Paul pays a wonderful tribute to faith, which ho do fines as "the substance of things hoped for, tho evidence of things not seen." He gives illustrations of faith, beginning with the faith that enables us to understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God. He represents faith as the effective force in Abel's sacrifice, in Enoch's translation, and in Noah's preparation for the flood. To Abraham's faith he traces tho founding of a race and of a religion. It was by faith that Isaac triumphed and that Jacob secured a bless ing. By faith Moses led the children of Israel out of bondage. It was faith that inspired Gideon and. Barak and Samson and David and tho prophets. He tells how faith subdued kindgdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the vio lence of fire and escaped the edge of the sword how men out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant, in fight and turned to flight the armies of the aliens. And in tho 35th verse he evidently refers to the Shunammite woman; he speaks of women who received their dead raised to life again. In the 13th chapter of First Corinthians Paul describes love as even greater than faith. To know how great loveis wo must know the farreaching influence of faith and then remem ber that love is superior to it. There are few instances in the Bible of great er faith than -was shown by the great woman of Shunem. The record of her life began with gracious hospitality and ended in the joy of a mother whose child was called back from the grave. "According to your faith be it unto you." "A GREAT WORK" -HARDING A Washington dispatch, dated Feb. 7, says-: The address made by President Harding at the concluding session of the arms conference fol lows in part: "This conference has wrought a truly great achievement. It is hazardous sometimes' to speak in superlatives, and I will be restrained. But I will say, with every confidence, that the faith plighted here today, kept in national hon or, will mark the beginning of a new and bet ter epoch in human progress. "Stripped to the simplest fact, what is the spectacle which has inspired anew hope for the world? Gathered about this table nine great na tions of the earth not all, to be sure, but those most directly concerned with the problems at lianci have met and have conferred on ques tions of great import and common concern on problems menacing their peaceful relationship, on hardens threatening a common peril. In the revealing light of the public opinion of the world, without surrender of sovereignty, with out impaired nationality,-or offended national pride, a solution has been found in unanimity and today's adjournment is marked by rejoicing fn the things accomplished. If the world has hungered for new assurance it may feasj at the h-mauet which the conference has spread. "But your achievement is supremebecause no seed of conflict has been sown; no reaction in rtlrei Tor resentment ever can justify resort to a?ms It little matters what we appraise as the outstanding accomplishment. Any one of them alone would have justified the conference But fne whole achievement has so beared the at mosnhere that it will seem like breathing the mS p I w nr of a new morn of promise. refouhave writteS the first deliberate and ef- JTT M. and SffiSS Petltlr. preparation iSSSWSk lifted burdens and melted totho world that the one sure way to recover from tho sorrow and ruin and stagger ing obligations of a world war Is to end tho strifo in preparation for more of It, and turn human onorgies to tho constructlvoness of peace. "Not all tho world is yet tranquilizod. But hero is tho example to Imbuo with now hopo all who dwell in apprehension. At this table came understanding and understanding brands armed conflict as abominable in tho eyes of enlight ened civilization. "I onco believed in armed preparedness. I advocated it. But I havo come now to bollcvo there is hotter propnrodnoas in a public mind and a world opinion made ready to grant justice precisely as it exacts it. And justtco is bettor served in conferences of peace than In conflicts at arms. "No intrigue, no offensive or defensive al liances, no involvements havo wrought your agreements, but reasoning with each othor in common understanding has made new relation ships among governments and peoplos, now se- t curitios for peace and now opportunities for achievements and attending happiness." PAULEY CHEERS BRYAN EULOGY OP FARM BLOO (From tho Washington Herald, Jan. 24, 1922.) A portly, partially bald man of mature years, whose face was familiar to every man in tho room, sat throughout tho session of tho agri cultural conference opening here yesterday. He heard numerous speeches, accompanied by more or less applause. He was a visitor, not a delegate. He had attended to look and lis ten. Came tho hour for adjournment. The chair man, who had noted tho quiet figure, arose and made some brief introductory remarks, and then: "Gentlemen of the conference William Jen nings Bryan." The visitor arose amidst thunderous applause. These were faces ho was accustomed to look in to during his thirty years of active political life. The applause was music. And his ear during the conference discussions had become attuned to the dominant note. He launched into a glowing tribute of tho farm bloc m congress its work as compared to the "old-time Wall Street bloc." & And here are some of the things he said whilt, his audience cheered. , "The bloc is better than any I havo known, in the last thirty years because It is honest enough to act openly." "The farmer was the first man on earth and he will be the last mail. It is a distinct step forward that tho farmer has a man to speak for him in congress." "This congress has done more than the last congress becau&e it Is more i ,ared. There has been more coercion on tho part of the farmers' representatives in congress." "They say that the agricultural bloc is un patriotic. This Is very interesting. In my thirty years of political observation I have never yet noted the absence of- a financial bloc or a manufacturers' bloc." "The solution of our agrioultural problems will be reached if the farmer will get back of his needs just as the financier has gotten back of his needs in congress." It was a knockout a regular old-fashioned Bryan knockout. The farmers liked it and yelled for more. AS TO MR. BRYAN'S ELIGIBILITY A part of the state press seems to bo consid erably exercised as to William Jennings Bryan's legal qualifications as a citizen of Florida. Tho writers Infer that Colonel Bryan may be harbor ing a senatorial boom. The Colonel is so well liked by all the Florldians who have become ac quainted with him that it would be no surprise if he were to be urged to seek office in this state, and a great many people no doubt would consid er it an honor for Florida to be represented in the senate by a man of the International reputa tion of Mr. Bryan. The question as to tho eligi bility must not be taken seriously In view of the fact that first, the state law which provides for a continuous residence of five years was Intended for carpet baggers. Mr. Bryan is na carpet bag ger. Second: The references to his residence not b.eing of sufficient duration to constitute ' legal citizenship are answered by the fact that he has resided in Florida for eight years. Third: The state law referred to has never been enforced in the past, as. in tho case of Con gressman Clark in 1902. Fourth: The federal constitution and not the state constitution fixes the eligibility of United States senators. Miami Herald. :.-fl v I, 'i ft m M ''.! I - ,Al , . ' -, t . ' f. '-- '& sfc!l ." .' ' m v? aft M n 'AJUia 'JfojjjjgMjd&jiii. t-..:tt'iZkiw4r,y'W 1