SHAMS
Christianity, like its Founder, is the enemy of all false pretense. Jesus's denunciations were severest against hypocrites:
The amount of pain and discomfort which
malingerers are willing to endure to obtain
their discharge is almost incredible, but the
facts are well attested. A limb has been held
in a fixt position for many months and not
even the application of the actual cautery
has sufficed to move it. Many men have
chopped off some fingers and have claimed
that it was an accident. Mental derangement
of one sort or another is a favorite form of
malingery, but the results usually resemble
the popular or stage idea of insanity rather
than the true products of mental alienation.
The threat of the application of the actual cautery has cured paralysis, but cases have been recorded where malingerers have endured the cautery on several occasions. A man who simulated blindness was placed on the edge of a jetty and told to walk straight forward. He stept out and fell into the water, for he knew that those who were testing him dared not let him drown. In another case, however, a man who seemed to have paralysis of an arm allowed the amputating knife to be placed to it without flinching, but when thrown into the river he struck out with both arms and swam. (Text.)
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Musical connoisseurs often express disappointment at the sound of some imposing-looking organ. The instrument with the great dimensions of its outer frame and the gorgeous show of its great gilded pipes in front would give the impression of great power. But those pipes, instead of being of hollow and sonorous metal, are solid pieces of wood. They are decorated dummies, incapable of giving forth a single sound. The musical pipes in such an instrument are hidden from view but they alone are of service.
In the world we must expect shams
of character and ostentations, impositions,
but in the Church of God there
should be no such thing as "folly that
is set in great dignity." (Text.)
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Examination of the premises occupied by a Los Angeles private bank, lately closed for lack of funds, showed that the supposed vault was a big door without any opening behind it. The door was of steel, with plate-glass knobs, shiny combination dials and all the features of an imposing safe protecting quantities of money. Just how such a sham affair could be put in without becoming a matter of comment is hard to see. Or do workmen set such doors often enough not to be surprized by them? (Text.)
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Sharing Blessings—See Responsibility. SHELTER He was only a butterfly, one of those beautiful, large, bluish-black ones that we so often see about the garden, but he knew enough to get in out of the wet. It was during one of the heavy showers that so frequently, in the hot days of mid-*summer, come suddenly upon us, driving every one to the nearest cover. To escape the downpour, which meant great injury, if not destruction, to so delicate a creature, he quickly flew to a near-by Balm of Gilead tree, where, alighting on the under side of a large leaf, he clung with wings closely drawn together and hanging straight downward, using the big leaf as an umbrella to shield him from the great drops falling all around. High and dry, here he remained until the shower had passed, and the blue sky and warm sun called him once again to his favorite haunts.—St. Nicholas.
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See Compensation.
SHEPHERD, THE GOOD
A gentleman traveling in the lonely part
of the highlands of Scotland was attracted
by the bleating of a ewe, as the animal came
from the roadside, as if to meet him. When
nearer she redoubled her cries and looked
up into his face as if to ask for assistance.
He alighted from his gig and followed her
to a considerable distance from the road,
where he found a lamb completely wedged
in betwixt two large stones, and struggling
with its legs uppermost. He took out the
sufferer and placed it on the green sward,
when the mother, seemingly overjoyed,
poured forth her thanks in a long-continued
bleat.
The good Shepherd giveth His life for His sheep. He rejoices more at the safety of the lost sheep than over the ninety and nine that were safe in the fold. (Text.)
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Shining—See Lives that Shine.
