The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1915-03-16
CIVIC VIRTUE
IS EXT0LLED
BY NICHOLAS
RECTOR OF TRINITY EPIsCO-
PAL CHURCH DWELLS ON
MUNICIPAL MATTERS

Rector A, b. Nicholas OF Trinit!
Episcopal church, took up civic af
fairs in his regular sermon Sunday
Taking Ezekiel chapter aS; verse
35, he said
Ezekiel As chapter, So verse.
"The name OF the city from tha
day shall be, The Lord is there
Ezekiel is the third of the grea
prophets. and uttered his predictions
in Chaldea about six hundred years
before Christ
Like st, John he had glorious Wis
ions Of the majesty of God and the
mighty cherubim that guard and
serve about the throne of the iHighest
These beautiful revelations and the
sweet promises OF God cheered the
sad heart of the captive, patriot and
prophet
Now the text that we have select
ed for this occasion closes his splen-
did prophecy. The name of the city
from that day shall be, The Lord is
there"
And first we have the thought OF
patriotism. The civic federation Of
noble hearted women and the COM
mercial club of earnest men are
working together with other associa-
tions and city authorities, to advance
the interests OF our beautiful city of
Guthrie.
We need a sanitary city. and these
bodies stand for that. We need bus
iness to support our families and
these societies are making efforts for
that. We need morality and good
government and these bodies are in
touch with these. We need religion
and all the spiritual interests OF life
and these association are supporting
the churches which stand for the inn
mortal interests Of man through
Christ the Savior. Now all these
are included in a true patriotism. In
his day OF the last minstrel Sir Wal
ter Scott writes:
nBreathes there the man, with soul
so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This Is my own, my native land."
How Daniel, another captive proph-
ct opened his window in Rshylon
three times q day to pray and look
toward Jerusalem and the temple.
And this patriotic feeling was not
peculiar to the prophets Ezekiel and
Daniel. but pervaded the whole cap
tive nation. Israel. at this time was
a mourning Rachael, weeping for her
children and would not be comfort
ed. because they are not" Hence
the 1877 Psalm was the De ProfantioI
OF captive Israel BY the rivers Of
Babylon. there we sat down: yea, we
wept, when we remembered Zion.
We hanged our harps upon the will
( lows in the midst thereof For there
they that carried us away captive re-
quired of us a song; and they that
wasted us required Of us mirth, say
ing, Sing us one of the songs OF
Zion. How shall we sing the Lords
song in a strange land? If forget
thee, o Jerusalem, let my right
hand forget her cunning. If do not
remember thee, let my tongue cleave
to the roof OF my mouth: II ! prefer
not Jerusalem above my chief JOY, =
This was an earnest and God Civ
en- patriotism, Though in strange
land and surrounded with all the
magnificence of the golden kingdom.
the patriotic Jew could not forget
Jerusalem, and think 4 am looking
into the faces Of my fellow citizens.
who have something of this feeling
toward Guthrie. meet many re-
turning citizens and they say 'Guth-
rie looks good to them. They have
faith in the business and develop
ment Of our city. For place OF rnis
size our city has remarkable his
tory. Here the first shot was fired
aud the race for a home commenced.
Like the Arabian nights entertain
ments canvas city Of ten thousand
arose as II by magic This must ey-
er be sort OF Mecca TO the old S9ers.
One old friend told me how lk-
Jacob OF old, he lay down on the
ground 10 secure his claim with no
thing tnt the starry sky above him.
And this was a common experience.
When we think Of the struggles and
trials Of the early pioneers the site
OF Guthrie seemed somewhat like
holy ground II had In some respects
the features OF the Abrahamic emf
grafton. the gaining OF homes for fu-
ture generations where God helped
the Oklahoma pioneer to gather dear
ones under the family roof-tree.
And we may reserently say thai
chrirt has great sfmpathy with the