The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1897, Page 26

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26

The Lutheran Pioneer.

Nazareth.

Our picture shows us houses in Nazareth as
they are still seen by the travelers in Palestine.
One of these travelers, speaking of the Naza-
reth of to-day, says:

‘*One of the best views of the city is to be|
had from the campanile of the Church of the’

Annunciation. In the distance is the brow of

the hill to which Jesus was led by the enraged |
multitude who attempted to throw Him from it. |

A modern house in the foreground brings to
mind the time when they uncovered a roof
and let down the bed whereon the sick of the |
palsy lay. This must be very much the same
kind of a house as that historical one of Caper- |
naum. There is the peculiar roof, and there |
are the outside stairs leading to the roof. The |
eastern householder makes his roof serve for |
more than a protection from the weather. It!
is the piazza, the quiet place
of the dweller, and sometimes
it becomes his summer resi-
dence. As a rule it is not
very heavy or strong. Rafters
are thrown across from wall
to wall, say a yard apart, then
the whole space is covered
with twigs, such as we saw the
women selling in the market-
place. On these the slender
limbs of trees are thrown and
thickly coated with mortar.
Lastly, a thick spread of earth
is thrown on, rolled to a level,
and oftentimes sown with grass
seed.

“Thus by care many of the
roofs become as smooth and
soft as a machine-mown lawn.
They may be easily broken up
and anything lowered inside from above. By
some such process the four bearers of the poor
palsied man managed to enlist the attention of
the Great Physician in behalf of their friend.
It is not hard to understand it all when view-
ing such a house as this one at Nazareth. It
would not be difficult for four men to carry a
lame friend in a hammock by the outer stair-
way up to the roof, and breaking through, let
him down to the apartment or court below.
Not far from this same house, in a narrow
street, is a little chapel erected upon the site
of Joseph’s carpenter shop. Over the altar
is a picture representing Mary and Joseph in-
structing Jesus. Another painting represents
the lad Jesus assisting his father at work. It
contains no accessories of the carpenter's shop,
but there are enough of them in the shops
close by. ‘The web-saw, the glue-pot, the
plane and the hammer are the principal tools
used in such shops, all without the modern
improvements. Yet whatever the Palestine
carpenter produces is from the fragrant cedars
of Lebanon, or from the eccentrically knotted
and gnarled olive-wood. The operation of
bargaining and waiting for any article of

}wood to come from a Palestine carpenter’s
|shop is a lengthy one. Articles of wood are
}a luxury there, and when the carpenter re-
lceives an order for one, he usually employs
| the next three days of his life in soliciting the
| congratulations of his friends upon his won-
derful good fortune in receiving ‘an order for
something made of wood.’’’

And another traveler says:

“The climb to Nazareth is long and tedious,
especially on horses already tired, but the
view is glorious, including both the Mediter-
ranean and the Sea of Galilee, and a wide out-
look in every direction. Nazareth is a beauti-
fully situated town, nestled in the midst of
hills, is clean when compared with the other
towns, and has a street arrangement peculiar
to itself, the water running through the middle
and leaving a narrow path on the sides for

Houses in Nazareth.

pedestrians, who must take good heed to their
steps or suffer from wet feet.

‘*It is a Christian town, the most Christian
to appearance of any in the land, for it has
not only a Greek church, and a Roman Catho-
lic church and school, but also a Protestant
church, under the care of an English mis-
sionary society, and an orphan asylum, also
in English hands, and a very attractive home
for the little ones.

‘Many places are pointed out in connec-
tion with the early life of Christ—the car-
penter’s shop of Joseph; the well where Mary
was accustomed to draw water, and to-day
some of the far-famed beautiful women of
Nazareth may usually be found; the church
over the site where the holy family lived, and
where the pillar of the annunciation, and even
the kitchen of Mary, are shown; the precipice
over which the angry crowd tried to throw
Him— but how little is left to tell in certain
tones of those thirty years of His life here!”’

———_S ~< o> 0

‘THANKSGIVING Makes our prayers bold and
strong and sweet; feeds and enkindles them
as with coals of fire. — Luther.

Worshiping Idols.

The Lord God tells us to worship Him and
Him only. But the heathen do not know God,
and they have no Bible. They worship idols
instead of God. One of the many idols wor-
shiped in India is called Juggernaut. It is
a large carved block of wood. Its arms are
mere stumps, without hands, and made of
gold. It has a large, flat face, with a mouth
colored blood-red. It has two shining stones
in the place of eyes, and a slit in the wood
answers fora nose. It is very ugly looking.
It is kept in a large stone temple. There are
twelve feasts to its honor every year. The
one held in July is the chief. At this time the
idol is brought out, put on a car sixty feet
high, and shaped like a tower, and covered
with flags and silks. There are two other
idols put on the car. Tiuey are said to be the
brother and sister of the one
called Juggernaut. The priests
crowd on the car, and then the
foolish people draw it through
the city. There are multi-
tudes of people along the way.
Some blow horns, others beat
drums, and others shout and
dance. Some creep under the
car and cling to the axle-trees,
while others throw themselves
in front and are crushed to
death.

The people travel many
miles to worship Juggernaut.
They often travel in a most
painful and tiresome way.
Besides it is very hot in that
country. Many persons die
on their way to or from this
idol-temple. A young man
traveled nearly 800 miles by dragging himself
along the ground, beating his head on the
ground three times every time he went the
length of himself. It took him over eight
months. He was nearly dead before he fin-
ished his task. All this he did in the hope of
gaining forgiveness of his sins.

And do these poor people know nothing of
our Lord Jesus? There are missionaries at
work in India. May God bless the work of
these noble missionaries to the salvation of
many souls!—Jittle Missionary.

—s+ oo oe

Only Two Classes.

The Bible everywhere divides men into two
classes, the sheep and the goats, the tares and
the wheat, the wise and the foolish, those who
belieye and those who believe not. The fact
that there are only two classes greatly simpli-
fies the duty of self-examination. If there
was a score of classes, we would become be-
wildered in determining to which one we be-
longed. No question can be more sharply
defined than this: Am I a believer or an un-
heliever ?