The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-11-30
WAR CAN DO SOME GOOD.
Rev. E. Grassland Says 1t Stirs Some Of
the Finer Sentiments.


ices, which opened with music and wa
followed with the scripture reading by
Rev. j. i. Plainfield of the Brook street
Italian church. Rev. B. G. Lipsky of the
Hedding Methodist church offered prayer
while the services continued with the
reading of the governors Thanksgiving
proclamation by Rev. j. B. Reardon OF
the Universalist church, this being fol
lowed with the singing of an anthem by
a mixed choir, An offering was then
taken, this being given to the City hos
pital. Rev Edgar Grassland of the Pres.
byterian church delivered the timely and
appropriate sermon of the evening and
the services closed with Rev. Mr.. Lehigh
giving the benediction.
Can Man Give Thanks in War.
Time? Z" was the subject, and Rev. Mr..
Grassland took the text for an unusually
appealing Thanksgiving homily from III
Kings, chapter Q, verses Is, l8, II, which
reads as follows "And when the servant
of the man of God was risen early, and
gone forth. behold a host with horses
and chariots was round about the city
And his servant said unto him, Alas, my
master, how shall we dor And he an
swered, fear not, for they that are with
us are more than they that are with
them. And Elisha prayed and said, Je-
hovah, | pray Thee, open his eyes that
he may see. And Jehovah opened the
eyes of the young man; and he saw,
and, behold, the mountain was full of
horses and chariots of fire round about
Elisha"
The clergyman said in part Services
and observances and sermons that were
customary in days of great national pros
perity and worldwide peace would be un-
appropriate to-day. This Thanksgiving
season calls us to special recognition
of Gods Interchangeable goodness. He has
called us to a great task. He has given
us righteous cause. There have never
been so many men thoughtful and |
somehow feel that the minister's stock is
rising in the thought of men who had
little use for ministers in the past. The
family reunion which has made Thanks
giving festival of home returning joys
will be seriously invaded this year. There
will be many ,pensive thought of the
unknown tomorrow, this Thanksgiv-
ing, because mo mans land is getting
nearer to our homes and we must have
the soothing, strengthening faith of
Gods land" to make it tolerabe We
must possess faith which grows more |
clear and bright as human hopes give way |
The preacher went on to say that |
many were seeing in the events of to- |
day the collapse of the Christian church /
and he admitted that the church is at its
crisis. She must concede her defeat or
her victory. The church, he |
continued, must proclaim to the weary,
waiting world that back of the slaughter /
and sacrifice is a purpose, great and
good purpose, that is more than the mere
preservation of a nation. In this terrible
conflict we must be able to say, mine
eyes have seen the glory of the coming
Of the Lord"
We come to the question; Can any Il
man give thanks for this horrible war?
answer emphatically, Yes! Despite
The fearful casualties of war the church
has sensitized the heart in such a way
hat it cries out in horror at spectacles
which centuries ago excited no comment.
Then again, in former times kings and
,mperors offered no excuses when they ;
vent to war, and now, behold, whole
continent of rulers, all holding up their
lands, or. like PLATE, washing their ,
lands. and saying, Il am innocent of ]
he blood" To-day statesmen are draw !
ng distinctions between wars of aggres-
ion and wars of defense. Christian ma I
ions are no longer willing to appropriate q
money for guns to be used in attacking y
ther nations The only way to get mon a
v is to avow that every cent shall be {
pent for defense. 8
Again, the church has not yet been
BILE to put an end to war, but it has "
reated in the hearts of men and women il
mighty pity, so that when war is pre- +
ipitated host of physicians and nurses G
pring to their feet, eager to care for a
he wounded and to comfort the dying. | \
n the very hell of war this flower of p
aradise. the Red Cross, has blossomed II
n the field of blood. il
The clergyman at this juncture spoke t.
{ length in praise of the work which t.
of the Red Cross and y. NJ. L
A. are doing for the men who are h
ghting the battles of democracy Turn cC
n again to his main theme. the speaker Il
,ferred to President Wilson's saying p'
The world must be made safe for de- S
II is a sentence which ran hi
ke fire around the world, and yet that OF
what the Christian church has been NJ
,ing for 10 centuries. The greatest st
,mocrat the world has ever known was
,sus Christ There is nothing sectional
provincial about Christianity. You
ust not forget that Christianity is in A
litely bigger than any nationalism. The
lg with the cross upon it, the church
lg of many armies, is symbol of Him
hose name is above every name. NJ
Continuing, the preacher said, 81 thank 10
ID that America has found its soul hi
rat we have taken the ground that A,
ritual things shall have undisputed We
ecedenee Our view is that the great ri,
{ elements in a nation are not gold fir,
d silver, not armies and navies, i'm W,
rtant as these items are. They do not Wa
me first. The most precious things are wi
ritual. the love Of God, the love of to
manity, the love of moral goodness, to-
e love of freedom, the love of Justice. m;
e love of the most exalted sentiments.
ese and other Jewels are the largest re;
lues And we are to fight TO make tri
I'm good Every noble cause is Gods tol
use. and every battle fought in behalf loc
His battle David went forth to Gods Su
tile when he faced Goliath Of Gath, eKl
he won the day in the name OF the th'
rd of Hosts. With unflinching faith. hlr
too. may. saw. They that are with Ma
are more than they that are with