January, 1933
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
13
“ Not at all. We are told that not a sparrow falleth to the ground without our Father, and that the very hairs of our heads are all numbered, and that our Heavenly Father knoweth what things we have need o f ! And yet, we are told to pray without ceasing, to bring every thought into cap tivity to Christ, and to ask and it shall be given us. There is a condition for answered prayer, but I believe Franz Josef is fulfilling it.” The Princeling raised his head. “ What is it?” “ You remember what the Lord said: ‘If ye abide in me/; and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.’ It works out with such absolute perfection! To abide in is to be part of Christ. And to be part o f Him is heaven on earth. It is also to be surrendered to His uses. W e are members of His body, you know. And to be real members, we act as the Head dictates. And He is the Head. To sum it all up, it’s obedience! ‘Trust and obey.’ ” Maria never forgot the little quarter o f an hour that fol lowed. It seemed to her that a corner of the veil had been lifted. She felt herself entering into a holy o f holies of which she had never dreamed. Afraid to speak, afraid to move, she sat motionless, clasping the arms of her chair as if she were clinging to the nearest visible help she could find for support. She felt as though her soul were being searched by the most penetrating light. It was all-revealing, but it was not searing. In Maria’s life, there had been mere ly gaiety and thoughtlessness. She recognized this. She felt, too, her ingratitude toward Him who had done all for her. “ O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou under- standest my thought afar off.” Where had she heard that ? And why did it come back to her now ? It was a wonderful way that God had with people. She wished she had known about it sooner. Why had not some one told her it was like this? Why did.they go only to missions and to those they called “ down and out,” when there were so many, like herself, in the “ up and out” class who had never heard—who did not know that, as Uncle Alan had just said, it was heaven on earth to be part o f Him ? She felt herself now to be part o f Him. She did not know exactly how it had happened— she just knew it had happened, that was all. She was under His wings and knew the marvelous warm protection of those feathers. Like a homed bird she was nestled there. They raised their heads. The little time was over. Some how she was not surprised to find herself saying® “ And I have the answer to your prayer here.” She took a card from her bag. “ I sat by a man at dinner last night, whose grandfather had made a fortune in hair pins. By the time he (my dinner partner, that is) came along, his family were what your nation call ‘old,’ and ‘established.’ He was brought up to expect a great fortune. And then the unforeseen happened. Bobbed hair arrived! No more hairpins would be needed by the rising genera tion, he was told. But you Americans are so resourceful! He rose up and throttled an unkind fate with his two un trained hands. He proceeded to manufacture the most en trancing ornaments for bobbed locks in the place o f hair pins. And so he wrested a second fortune from misfor tune.” Maria hesitated— blushed. “ He—he asked me to let his company show my picture —you know— to advertise. I did not say yes, or no-—part ly because Theresa has been so angry. He told me he does need—an energetic man! You are energetic, dear boy. Take this card and go to see him today— and—and thank God for answered prayer.”
And Maria herself went on her way, thanking God for this new joy that was hers so wonderfully, and praying a blessing on her knightly young nephew and his Constance, who had shown her the path o f life and brought her into the presence of Him at whose right hand there are plea sures forever.more. NAZARETH AND THE SEA OF GALILEE [Continued from page 8] Him out of the city, and sought to cast Him headlong over the brow o f the hill to kill Him. But He escaped their wrath unharmed. The “ Hill o f Precipitation,” over which they sought to cast Him down, is pointed out, a steep precipice almost two miles from the city. A t first the visitor is impressed with the unlikelihood o f this being the place, for the distance seems too far, and Luke tells us that it was “ the brow of the hill whereon their city was built” (Lk. 4 :29 ). On sec ond thought, however, it is observed that it is a continua tion of the same circling hill on whose sides the city of. Nazareth is built, regardless o f distance, and it is appar ently the only place sufficiently precipitous for such a purpose. T he S ea of G alilee ' There is probably no other body o f water in the world, the size o f the Sea o f Galilee, around which so many sacred events gather. This body of water is six miles wide and fourteen miles in length, and has been known in history by three different names : Sea of Tiberias, Lake of Gennesaret o f Chin- nereth, and Sea of Galilee. Into it the Jordan empties, and out o f it the same river flows to the Dead Sea. It is 680 feet below the Mediterranean Sea level. O f the several cities which once lined the shores o f Gali lee, west and north, Tiberias is the only one of consequence remaining. It has a population o f about seven thousand, mostly Jews. After the destruction o f Jerusalem by Titus, Tiberias became one o f the chief cities o f the Jews. The Sanhedrin was transferred there, and the Jerusalem Talmud was com piled and published there, between the third and fifth centuries. One o f the most interesting things at Tiberias is its hot springs. The water is salty and is celebrated for its healing qualities, especially for rheumatism. The water in the prin cipal spring has a high temperature, varying from 133° F. to 142° F. - The other cities— Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Chora- zin— are gone, and only enough o f their ruins remain to identify them. A t Capernaum, a Jewish synagogue has been uncovered, but it cannot be determined whether or not this is the one in which Jesus taught. It may have been built in the second or third century. But Jesus did transfer His activities to Capernaum after His rejection at Naza reth, which fact makes Capernaum interesting. The city was evidently destroyed by an earthquake. Near the northwest corner o f the sea is a small village called Majdal, which is identified as Magdala, the birth place of Mary Magdalene. With the exception o f the northern end, where the Jor dan enters the sea, and the southern end, where it flows out, Galilee is surrounded by high hills. Its location and shape account for the sudden and violent storms for which it is noted. A ir currents caught in its funnel shape take ven geance upon the sea, and plow its waters angrily. This is what occurred when the Master spoke the word that muz zled the wind and quieted the waves. A fisherman o f the Sea of Galilee told me that these storms come very sud denly, sometimes within a short period o f five minutes. Approaching a group o f fishermen on the shqre, I said,
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