The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-07-03
The Time for PatriOtism.

Inc Time Tor Fatr1Ot1Sm.
Prayer Meeting Topic of the Young
Peoples Societies-Christian En-
deavor, etc.-for July 4. National
Ideals and How Home Missions viii
Promote Them" lisa. 62:1-7.
(BY WILLIAM T. ELLIs.)
These are grave days. The black
shadow or war, which hovers over the
whole earth, has sobered the thinking
of men and women everywhere. 1t
has set young and old to thinking in
national terms. This is the hour for
the creation of a cult of patriotism.
Devotion to our country, and zeal for
her highest welfare, should be Guilt
waited by all possible means. In home
and church and prayer meeting and
public school and daily newspaper
love for the flag and all that it repre-
sents should be systematically incul-
Gated. The nations story should be
told over and over, and the ideals
which are her life should be empha-
sized. The hour has struck for stress
ing the essentially spiritual quality of
patriotism. AS nation thinketh in
its heart, so is it. righteousness
proach to any people" There is a
direct and vital relation between re-
ligion and national welfare; this topic
gives opportunity for setting it forth.
Hat off!
Along the street there comes
A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums,
A flash of color beneath the sky;
Hats Off
The flag is passing by!
Blue and crimson and white it shines
Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines.
The colors before us fly
But more than the flag is passing by:
Sea fights and land fights. grim and
great
Fought to make and save the state;
Weary marches and sinking ships.
Cheers of victory on dying lips.
March of a strong lands, swift in
Equal justice, right and law.
Stately honor and reverent awe;
To ward her people from foreign
Pride and glory and honor. all
Live in the colors to stand or fall.
Hats off!
Along the street there comes
A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums;
And loyal hearts are beating high;
Hats Off
The flag is passing by!
One interesting by-product of the
All the old agencies for peace have
been stimulated into new activities,
while still others have been created
since the war began. Our nations es-
sentially peace-lOving and peacemak- |
ing program should be exalted. This
IS the year that marks the centennial
of peace between the two great ma
lions of Great Britain and the United
States. For hunG-ed years there has
been no fort on the three thousand |
mile boundary line between Canada !
and the United States-a phenomenon
that armament-laden Europe can |
scarcely comprehend. Surely we may
say without boasting, that this west |
ern world has been sitting at the feet |
of the Teacher of peace.
Be just and fear not:
Let all the ends thou aiIn'st at be |
thy county's,
Thy Gods and truths.
Shakespeare.
A worse case of confusion of labels |
than the misuse and misunderstand- |
ing of Social Service can scarcely |
be imagined. On the one hand a |
small but vocal number of persons |
are exploiting the term Social Ser |
vice." as meaning adhesion to the lat |
est fad for social amelioration. Of |
ter these ardent radicals cbnfOund |
an interest in the thing which they |
call Social Service with the real |
doing Of social service for their fell
low men. These are the ones who |
have brought the phrase into a meas /
ure of disrepute. On the other hand, |
there are a host of earnest Christians |
who look askance at Social Service"
as something modern and almost |
pagan They do not see that social |
service is merely more of what the |
Church of Christ has been doing |
throughout all the ages, making over
the order Of human society, to con-
form more closely to the standards |
set by Jesus. Helping the man who
has fallen among thieves is social |
service; visiting the sick and the |
prisoner and the fatherless is social |
service Offering a cup of cold water
is social service. Following the ex-
ample of Jesus among men is social |
service. Earning the "Inasmuch" is !
social service. And social service is
also Christian patriotism. Doing what |
Jesus would do for our country and |
but it is the essence of loyalty
to national ideals.
National progress is the sum of in
industry, energy and upright
ness, as national decay is of individual
idleness, selfishness and vice.-Samuel
Smiles.
This is an hour for heart-searching
Wise patriots are testing the quality
of our citizenship and ideals Are |
we equal to all possible tests? To
talk of national defense and efficiency
only in terms of ornaments is super
ficial; a nations real defense is in
the character of her people. Now, in
the light of possible Developments
from the world war, we are forced to