The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1913-11-27
WHAT BEREA HAS TO BE THANK
Full FOR.


the people Of Berea, as might be
done in many a town similarly sit
uated, the task would be compare
lively easy. As usually viewed, our
blessings are neither few nor insig-
niilcant. We have equable climate,
pure air and beautiful landscape. The
soil responds generously 10 the la
Dor Of the industrious and prudent.
Tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, and
destructive diseases are almost I'M
known. Saloons and similar sources
Of temptation never existed here.
Church privileges are excellent. A
great College affords educational ad-
vantages rarely excelled. All these
blessings call upon us for gratitude,
not on set day merely, but
throughout the entire year. They
are ours because a loving, heavenly
Father has bestowed gifts upon each
one with lavish hand.
But our question has reference to
Berea as a unit, and not TO the indi-
vldual man as unit. There are
other units than man. There are
corporations. societies. states and
nations. What are the peculiarities
pertaining to this particular place
called Berea, and which demand
thankfulness? Organic or corporate
units have their individuality no less
than do isolated individuals. A
mans character is the product of the
joint action of his different faculties.
In like manner the character Of a
collective unit like town, is the re-
sultant Of the various forces repre-
scented by its Individual citizens.
Here il is proper to say that the real
entity of which we speak is not
made up of persons just now resid-
ing within our corporate limits. Our
Berea would be the same if the cor
pOrate limits were to be extended,
contracted, or even abolished. Its
soul is a thought, policy, a princi-
pie. Regarding men and women as
the members of its body, some NAV
now have domicile in distant places,
or even have been long since trans
planted to another world. And, on
the contrary, some occupying houses
here may be no part Of the true Be-
rea, but only eXcrescences upon its
surface.
Ones reasons for thankfulness are
measured not so much by what one
has as by what he is. What one has
is ephemeral; what he is may be
eternal. And what one is. that is
rich and enduring, is largely deter
mined by what one has suffered. II
has been SUCCESSFULLY said: "Th.
blood of the martyrs was the seed OF
the church" This meant not simply
that the early prosecutions resulted
IN the wide territorial spread of the
gospel but also that the experiences
Of believers were thus made deeper
and richer. Thus has Christianity
become the vehicle for carrying or.
der into society, love into homes,
peace and joy into human hearts.
The deep significance of that first
Thanksgiving day, as instituted by
the pilgrim fathers, was born of the
terrible suirerings previously exper-
fenced, half their number having
To the rigOrs of the first
Without that they would
have had less appreciation of their
first harvest. Their soul-testing
hardships so vitalized that early
Thanksgiving that the observance of
the day has outlived the changes of
three centuries and it has become an
American institution. The sacrifice
es of our Revolutionary fathers, the
libatlons of blood offered from 1861
to 1865, and the answering heart
throes of millions at home have Civ
en- special richness to the bless
lngs of American society today. Thus
may our land send up loud &C
claim of thanksgiving for the cru
chile of suffering through which il
has passed,
Our Berea, named from the an
clent city where they received the
word with all readiness of mind and
searched the Scriptures daily,
whether these things were so" has a
similar heritage. Glance at the list OF
character-making sacrifices: the he
role fortitude of John G. Fee, disin-
herited by a slaveholding father; his
repeated mobbings for declaring the
gospel of impartial love; the unlaw-
full Punishment of the early Bereans
nom their homes; the social ostra-
cism Of Rogers, Fairchild and their |
co-labOrers, whose sublime faith |
and fidelity to principle united to |
give the town distinctive charac-
Ter. And then contemplate the ar
ray of present blessings, resulting |
from the moral courage of a former
generation; the far-seeing patriot
ism of the present college authori-