The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, August 12, 1906, PART FOUR, Image 36

The Sunday Oregonian., August 12, 1906, PART FOUR, Image 36

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Newspaper Page TextPART FOUR PAGES 37 TO 48 VOL. XXV. PORTLAND, OREGON, SUNDAY MORNING," AUGUST 12, 1906. NO. 32. ' ' 11 ' " - - "- ' ' "J .....,.....-.-. ----- I IN THE RELIGIOUS WORLD International Sunday School Lesson for August 12, "The Parable of the Two Sons." Luke 15: 11-32. Golden Text Mai. 3: 7. mammot; H SALE it VEm OF CHOICE FURNITURE Wl. GADSBY & SON COR. WASHINGTON AND FIRST STREETS The third week of the great INVENTORY FURNITURE SALE at GADSBYS' STORE be gins tomorrow. The past week was a record-breaker. It dem onstrated most effectively the magnificent expan sion of this business. We Inspire This Business by Giv ing the Best Values in Portland We cut away from the commonplace; we com pel activity by resorting to vigorous methods. The INVENTORY SALES OF FURNITURE at GADSBYS are always distinctly notable events. You can buy fine Furniture in greatest possible variety from the leading factories of the United States at . Prices So Low That They Are Positively Phenomenal "We take the best Furniture money can buy and offer it at the lowest prices that can be asked. Many pieces were used as exhibition samples, and are therefore the finest that can be constructed. Tomorrow's Specials Include PARLOR SUITS AND ODD PIECES, ODD DRESSERS, CHIFFONIERS, MORRIS CHAIRS, MISSION MIRRORS, LEATHERED OAK LIBRARY SUITS, VELOUR COUCHES, BRASS AND ENAMELED BEDSTEADS AND MATTRESSES At Prices One-Third Lower Than During Any Time of the Year Except in Midwinter EASY PAYMENTS IF SO DESIRED. WE OWN THE BUILDING NO RENT TO PAY THAT'S WHY WE SELL FOR LESS ex FECI mm 8 Solid Oak Sideboards, worth $35; reduced to . . ... $23.50 7 Sideboards in genuine oak, 7 feet high, 52 inches wide, French bevel mirror, 18x36, worth $38; reduced to . . . . . $25,00 7 Parlor Suits, upholstered in Ver ona, 3-pcs, worth $25 now $17.50 10 Bookcases, in golden oak or ma hogany, worth $38; for . $25.00 7 Mahogany finished Combination Bookcase and Desks, worth $25; bargains at . ... $16.00 10 Steel Ranges, 4 or 6 holes, sold everywhere at $46, our special price guaranteed is only $27.50 12 $25 Pedestal Base Parlor Ta bles, mahogany and oak $17.50 15 Per Cent Discount, on Refrig erators this week. 9 Extension Tables, solid oak, either round or square, pedestal bases; regular price $25.00; spe . cial this week . . . . $18.00 24 Extension Tables, 6 feet long extended; regular price $14.00; now ....... $9.00 2 Buffets, pretty golden oak finish, worth $38.00, close them out for . . . . $25.00 3 China Closets, $30 was the price; reduced to . . . . . $22.50 15 Iron Beds, value $13; reduced to . ... $9.00 25 Iron Beds, value $9; reduced to . . ... . . . $6.50 1100 Dining Chairs, cane seat, worth $1.50, now . . $1.10 Mission Furniture will be reduced 10 Per Cent in order to stimu late trade in this popular style. REMNANT SALE OF CARPETS w IAN. GADSBY SOUS THE HOUSEFURNISHERS COR. WASHINGTON AND FIRST STS. TWO continent have lately been rins ing with the vile scandals associ ated with a recent murder In the "fast Kt" of New York City. Thus is the world ever freshly reminded of the un changing verity of - the most familiar story In all literature, that of the Prodi gal Son, which the Sunday schools are this week studying. The tale Is no mere fablt. It Is a transcript of actual life; and almost every observer of wlda ex perience can furnish an astonishing present-day parallel from his own knowledge. It has happened more than once that when a preacher has spoken upon this story some prodigal has arisen to charge him with making public the story of the letter's life. The prodigal is a factor in the life of today. Hidden from the gaze of the many by a dress-suit, or lurking in the shadow of a great fortune or of eminent respectability. Is many a son who has broken his father's heart by turning his back upon home and by consorting with the swine. This may all be so without the world's knowledge; the startling dou ble life of the victim of the New York tragedy recalls the sober truth that everybody lives two lives one of busi ness and of routine habit and external conditions and actions, and the other within his own breast. It is possible for one to be a prodigal without ever ap pearing in the company of the base and the vile. The glimpses occasionally to be caught of the putrid imaginations of outwardly respectable persons are dis turbingly suggestive. The Nub of It All. One school of literature demands fiction without a moral teaching. Not so the present story. It Is told to Illustrate a great truth. The reason for its relation lies In the two sentences which introduce these three parables of grace. These are the key to the narrative; without them Its meaning may not certainly be un locked. Here Is the significant Introduc tion: "Now all the publicans and sinners were drawing near unto him for to hear him. And both the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, 'This man re ceiveth sinners, and eateth with them.' " That was the reproach of Jesus then; it Is his praise now. He cares for the com mon people. I once heard a blatant dunce declare: "Christ came to found an intellectual aristocracy." Jesus came to found no aristocracy, except of holiness, and that by its very nature is no aris tocracy, but a humble, self-effacing broth erhood of people unaware of their own goodness. His kingdom Is not a selec tion of the self-righteous, but a reunion of the lowly, sincere, penitent and heart hungry. A sinner, sorry for his sin. Is surer of a welcome with God than the proud and self-assertive Pharisee. This Is the meaning of this parable, which Farrar calls "A divine epitome of the wandering of man, and the love of God, such as no literature has ever equaled. . . . Put in one scale all that Confu cius or Sakya Mount or Zor-aeter or Soc rates ever wrote or said and they wrote and said many beautiful and holy words and put in the other the Parable of the Prodigal Son . . . and can any candid spirit doubt which scale would outweigh the other In eternal preclousnessr" A Son's Folly. The central figure of this story Is a "green" youth; ho was an unripe soul. He thought that "the old man" was "slow," that the home life was "dead," and that he "knew it all," which last was a sure proof of his Immaturity. Nobody is so distrustful of his own Infallibility as the man of knowledge and wisdom. This youth was still In the veal period. So he got his share of the family for tune, and played the fool with it in "the far country," until it was gone and he was reduced to the lot peculiarly loath some to a Jew, that of a swineherd. At last,, so hungry, that he was minded to eat the very food of the swine, he "came to himself" and went home. This experience, bitter and deep, made a man of him. True, it perpetually saddened his life and left Ineffaceable scars and robbed him of the purity which Is the sweetest fountain of Joy; but this was the price he paid for his folly. The man who "sows wild oats" in his youth will reap tares ln his old age. "The bird with the broken pinion never 'soared as high again." Ask any man of the world who has repented of youthful folly, and he will bid boys to preserve their first sin cerity and purity, as they would pre serve their lives. Living with the pigs, the Prodigal learned what it is to be a man. He "came to himself": he. had been beside himself before. And when any man comes to himself he comes to God. "Lord, show me myself. Lord, show me thyself," was a childhood prayer which some men have not outgrown. In the light cf a true revelation of his own character he sees the real nature of his father; nowhere is the beauty of the old home more truly understood than by the prodigals in the far country. A Father's Heart. In the long run. home folks are best friends. Sentimental youth thinks that some new-found (and quickly lost) "affinity" appreciates him more truly than the members of his own family. As the years pass, he learns better; no one Is quite so interested In him, or so true to him. as his own blood kin. After the prodigal's boon companions, upon whom he had wasted his for tune, had cast him off. his father wait ed for his return. Out in Colorado a few days ago I met a youth, still scinl lntoxicated. who had been up in Lead vllle, where In a saloon he had been cheated of a large roll of money and even his watch, which was an heir loom. When I saw him he was on his way home to tell it all to his father. The stupendous, revolutionary and almost Incomprehensible truth which Jesus cam0 to teach is that God is a father. As President James D. MofTat recently said, "The Church has long emphasized the sovereignty of the Father; now we are emphasizing the fatherhood of the Sovereign." The wise father grants his son liber ty. "Compulsory virtue is no virtue." It breaks the father's heart and how many fathers' hearts are breaking to day from this cause to see his boy going into the far country of sin; but he is a son and not a slave, so he must let him go. The liberty which God allows to man is essential to man's manliness; God seeks us for sons, not puppets; and without free will char acter Is impossible. The picture of his father, who Is God. patiently waiting, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after rear, is unspeakably touch ing. He knew the son would come back some day, even though It might not be until his garish world had cast him out. Ah. the homes that wait and watch;, the windows where the light burns all the night through, and the doors that are never locked! They may have the comfort that God understands all about It, for he, too. Is doing this. This father saw: his son afar oil; ' much watching had made his vision keen. On the Instant he was up and running, with no thought of stiff knees or the burden of years; his eager heart lent speed to his feet. Then he fell on his son's neck, breaking down In a tumult of Joy. and kissed him "kissed him again and again" not giving the embarrassed and overwhelmed young man opportunity to utter his carefully prepared speech of penitence. He was forgiven; the hideous past was over; a new day of happiness had dawned for both. There Is a place in heaven for the forgiven; God takes back wanderers. He gives another chance. He does not hold old scores, or nag about long-gone and once-forgiven offenses, as some earthly families do. He rejoices that he has back a son. Transgressions are blotted out, all things are made new. The whole gospel is summed up in a "personal" that is sometimes seen In the daily papers: "All forgiven. Come home." A Brother's Plgglshness. Here enters the Jealous elder broth er, self-satisfied, consciously virtuous and in a pet because of all this ado which was made over the returned prodigal. His was a small, self-centered soul. He represented that Puri tanism which is willing to let the sin ner rot in his sins so long as it is safe and comfortable Itself. A prig and a Pharisee was this older brother, lacking the vital spark of true religion, which is brotherliness. He wanted to know why a fuss had not been made over his immaculate self. Instead of over this soiled and scarred penitent. The elder brother's righteousness has apparently done lit tle for him. If a' man's religion does not ' make him kind an charitable it may be doubted whether It will event ually open the door for him Into any region of bliss. Small wonder the father spent his days in looking for the wastrel boy Instead of associating with his older son. The eventful experiences of heaven are not caused by the formations of new worlds out of chaos; nor by great works of creation In the unimaglned borders of limitless space; nor by the production of new symphonies of praise by the celestial chojr about the throne of God. The greatest gludness of glory is over the finding of the lost, the return of the wanderer, the penitence of the erring. We may read this deep meaning in the exuberance of the prodigal's fath er. He needs have brought forth the best robe and a family ring to re habilitate the boy in the eyes of the community. The fatted calf must be killed that the household and neigh borhood may feast. It Is "meet to make merry and be glad; for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and Is found." Or, to quote the Teacher himself, "Even so, I say unto you, there Is Joy In the pres ence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." "The Far Country." The far country is remoteness from God. Everyone who comes to himself leaves the far country. Memories of home are tho bitterest sorrow of the prodigal. There Is nothing in the far country of sin that permanently (satisfies a human soul. Famine is inevitable In the far coun try. There are plenty of boon companions for the prosperous in the far country, but no real friends. The far country is a long way frcm home, but there is a straight path back. "A good time," is impossible with bad people. At first feast with the swells: at lat fast with the swine: that is the pro gramme of the far country. Our common word "talented" Is an echo of the parable of the talents, with ui command to every one to administer most effectively his God-given powers, because they are God-given. Life Mirrored by Stories Terse Comment on the Uniform Prayermeetlng Topic. BT WILLIAM T. ELLIS. HVf ITHOUT a parable spake he not YV , unto them." All the arrows shot by the peerless Teacher were pointed and feathered. He never preached above peo ple's heads. The plain man could grasp and remember the stories in which Jesus embodied great teachings. Therefore "the common people heard him gladly." . . . The only, stories that live are those which convey a spiritual teaching. ... In the light of the parables, and the truth which they represent that Jesus addressed himself to the understanding of the multitude, may it be said that no re ligious instruction and no preaching is successful unless it reaches the people and Is plain to them The dignified and learned minister who weekly speaks to only a handful of people and rather prides himself on that fact because his sermons are "above" the masses, needs a sharp awakening. He is acting contrary to the example and teaching of his Master. Bearers of the good news must make themselves understood by everybody. The glorious gospel of the Son of God must be translated Into the speech which the. plain people speak; and it must be illu minated by living parables from the pres ent day. ... A story will stick In the mind which a sermon cannot touch. ... The whole realm of literature contains no more familiar or prized writings than the parables of Jesus. Take that pearl of parables, "The Prodigal Son." Everybody knows it. Its beauty appeals to the deep er human Instincts in all men. And It has made plain to myriads the tremen dous truth that God Is not "the Good Man," up in the sky, with his eye alert to catch mortals In wrongdoing; but that he Is a loving, forgiving, patient Father, who never ceases to care for his children. even though they have wandered into the far country of sin. ... The profoundest truths may be told In the simplest language. ... The world can never hold a harsh opin ion of Christ, for it knows him as the Good Shepherd. ... So long as the parable of the ninety and nine and the one lost sheep survives, the most desolate wanderer on the wild moun tains of sin may hope for restoration to the fold. ... The vexatious social problems which dis turb our time are illuminated by the par ables of Jesus. The story of Dives and Lazarus Is as up-to-date as the latest deliverance of a twentieth century So- clallst. The big questions cannot be set tled without taking two worlds into con sideration. The rich man may oppress the poor man for a time, but Justice Is done eventually by the Almighty, who' cares not for material wealth or poverty, but only for the stuff of which souls are made. ... The Good Samaritan is still saying to the world, that sorely needs kindness from man to man, "Go thou and do like wise." ... Heaven is no place for ecclesiastical aristocrats. It has room for all who ac cept its Inclusive invitations. In twd parables Jesus represents salvation as a rich feast to which everybody, even the miserable sojourners In the highways and hedges, are freely Invited. There Is room and raiment at the King's wedding supper for all who will heed the summons to attend. ... The Pharisee's pride, as he prayed, and the publican's penitence, have a message for all classes of men. News Notes From Everywhere Permission for the laity to listen to the teachings of Christian Science is denied by the Roman Catholic Church. A report from Madrid states that a radical scheme of reform which includes religious equality has the approval of th young King. A recent decree from the headquarters of Christian Science forbids parents from attending Scientist Sunday schools with their children. Within the last few years 40 Protestant churches have moved out of the district below Twentieth street In New York City, while 300,000 people have moved in. The famous Church of St. Michael's, Hamburg, Germany, of interest to Amer ican travelers from Its valuable collec tion of relics relating to German history, was recently destroyed by fire. The American Tract Society has voted to contribute $3000 worth of publications to aid In replacing the Sunday school libraries which were destroyed In the various churches of San Francisco. The American Federation of Labor, rep resenting 2,500,000 working- people, has unanimously indorsed the work of the De partment of Church and Labor recently instituted by the Presbyterian Church. A series of lectures on the religions of the world will be delivered at Hartford Theological Seminary next year. The first course will be, given by one of the most distinguished scholars of the Church of England, Professor Frank B. Jevons, of Durham University, England. A census was recently taken by the American Institute for Social Service of the persons engaged in philanthropic work, with a view to ascertaining the number of professing Christians among them. Out of 1000 persons thus Inter viewed, 76 per cent' were found to be com municants of some church. The Congregatlonalists of America are asked to unite in raising $200,000 for the purpose of rebuilding the churches and re establishing Congregational interests in San Francisco. This sum is a third less than what the Presbyterians consider necessary for their work, and less than one-half of the sum which the Methodists are endeavoring to raise. A live issue in French Catholicism today concerns an edict forbidding the adher ents of that church to read certain books named on an official list. This list was first published by the Vatican In 156 and has been added to from time to time. It was republished as recently as 1900 by or der of Leo XIII. The Index at present fills 400 pages and contains many thousand titles. The larger part of the prohibited works are French, including the writings of Voltaire, Montaigne. Housseau and Victor Hugo. Kant and Mill are also tabooed. , Seven Sentence Sermons. Judge not thy friend until thou stand est In his place. Rabbi Htllel. ... 6o I will trudge with heart elate. And feet with courage shod. For that which men call chance and fata Ia the handiwork of God. Alice Cary. . Great men are tho true men, the men In whom Nature has succeeded; It Is the other species of men who are not what they ought to be. Amlel. ... When any one has offended me T try to raise my soul so high that the offense cannot reach it. Descartes. ... It is In every way creditable to handle the yardstick and to measure tape: the only discredit consists in having a soul whose range of thought is as short as the stick and as narrow as the tape, Horace Mann. ... No work Is futile that is nobly planned. No deed Is little if but greatly done. E. R. Taylor. . I hold not with the pessimist that all things are 111, nor with the optimist that all things are well: all things are not 111 and all things are not well, but all things shall be well, because this is God's world. Browning. The Deceptive Glass. Puck. In Summer days when fierce thlrat oft Makes strong demands for something cooling. Oh. then beware of the drinks called soft Tour stomach likely they'll b. fooling. Look not upon that fruitlike tint, Which gives the glassful such a savor It's aniline with Just & hint Of extract that will give it flavor. That exquisite and dainty taste Of sweetness softening the sour You may thlnk'a sugar in your haste It's saccharine's enormous power. And pause once more! That sour, too. Which has a charm that's most Flndario, With which a burning thirst you'd woo. Is. like .nough. Just plain, tartaric. So than bewar. the cool, aoft drink. That seems to lend a charm to Summer;. 'Twill not refresh you as you thin. And make you think that you're hummer.