and sits down to read a love story, why you can not make a newspaper man out of him.—Charles A. Dana.
(1660)
Interests, The Functioning of—See Atrophy.
Internationalism—See Statesmanship.
Interpretation and Individuality—See
Individuality in Interpretation.
INTERPRETATION BY EXPERIENCE
A little boy who was born blind had an
operation performed which enabled him to
see. His mother led him out into the fields,
and uncovered his eyes for the first time,
and let him look upon the sky and trees and
grass and flowers. "Oh, mother!" he cried,
"why didn't you tell me it was so beautiful?"
"I tried to tell you, dear," was her answer,
"but you could not understand me."
So it is sometimes with great verses
in the Bible. When we read them first
or commit them to memory, we do not
understand, but after, when they fit the
heart life and our eyes are opened, we
wonder at the beauty of them.—Phebe
Palmer.
(1661)
Interpretation by Love—See Love, Interpretation by.
INTERRUPTION
It is to be feared that much of the force of God's spirit is cut off by the world's atmosphere before it reaches a soul that is immersed in worldliness:
The greatest difficulty in arriving at a
correct conception of the amount of heat
received from the sun lies in the fact that
all such measures must be made at the
earth's surface. Before reaching the apparatus
the sun's rays pass through many miles
of atmosphere; the heat and light are absorbed
and only a small portion of the original
energy of the rays actually reaches the
surface and becomes effective in heating the
water of our apparatus.—Charles Lane
Poor, "The Solar System."
(1662)
In "One Word More" Browning tells us that Dante "once prepared to paint an angel"; but "certain people of importance" broke in upon him, and so, much to the poet's and the world's regret, we can never see that angel he might have wrought.
Perhaps the very serious power of interruptions, and what we may call their irreligiousness, has been too little appreciated. Florence Nightingale recognized the possible harm done to an invalid by making any abrupt change in his condition. "You may suffocate him by giving him his food suddenly; but, if you rub his lips gently with a spoon, and thus attract his attention, he will swallow the food with perfect safety. Thus it is with the brain." Miss Nightingale adds acutely, "I have never known persons who exposed themselves for years to constant interruption who did not muddle away their intellects by it at last."
(1663)
See Happiness.
INTERVENTION, DIVINE
A large number of Russian criminals were
standing in the courtyard of their prison,
chained together, and about starting for their
long journey to Siberia. Among them was
one Christian Stundist, sharing their banishment
because he had spoken to his fellow
workmen about the faith in Christ he profest.
His fellow prisoners were jeering him
about it, saying: "You are no better off
than we. You are wearing the bracelets
(handcuffs) as we do; if your God is of any
use to you, why doesn't he knock off your
chains and set you free?" The man reverently
replied, "If the Lord will He can set me
free even now; and tho my hands are
chained my heart is free." At that moment
his name was called; a paper had just been
received granting him a full pardon. He was
then told to stand aside; his chains were
struck off. At the same time the prison
gates were thrown open and all the rest of
the convicts filed out, the Stundist remaining
behind with permission to return to his
family and friends. It is said the prisoners
were perfectly awestricken with what they
had witnessed. Unknown to the Stundist, a
Christian lady had obtained his pardon, and
God had ordered its arrival at the critical
moment.
(1664)
But for the divine vigilance, an unseen Helper, what youth but would go down! In every hour when Achilles is about to be overborne by the number and strength of his enemies, Homer makes some goddess appear to lift a shield above the hero for protection. Again and again Thetis stands between her son and the enemy. Of your youth, how true it is that God hath interfered in your behalf!—N. D. Hillis.
(1665)
