Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-06-14


mat other young man, the Hero of
t ie ases, who gave up all. and suf-
Iereu all, for the sake of an ideal and
OF a service.
ReVerently. many soldiers know
IN thelr deepest hearts that they are
IoIlowing in His footsteps when they
nlhg their lives into this ministry of
HLahhlnd. Chaplains remark upon
Ihe eagerness of soldiers for the
rnoIHs supper; men who have never
partaken OF the sacred emNems in
civil life kneel reverently in Y. NJ.
y. "A. nut or in barracks or in a dug
OUT 10 receive the Memorials of the
Sruclned. What is this but a crav-
ing Tor the fellowship of the Re-
aeeIner, who first gave His body to
oe broken for the sake of the world?
Inc sense of fellowship in sacrifice is
real The soldier servants of a cause
that would have been impossible had
not Jesus taught men how to die for
an loeal and duty feel their kim
snip with, as we'll as dependence
upon, the Christ who became a sac
rlnce. With a new and living and
untheological reality, the cross has
become central to this war. All the
countless battlefield crosses that
Polht backward and forward and up
Waru with their arms of faith testify
70 fresh appreciation of Christ and
Him crucified.
From Calvary to the Somme
horror-smitten by the awfulness
ot .nlS war, many persons are unable
10 look beyond the moment, with its
weight of suffering and death. They
see no reason for it all. To such il
is Wen to recall Calvary. 1t has been
nearly two thousand years since
1hrist died. the just for the unjust.
now many times during these long
centuries 1t has seemed as if His
supreme sacrifice was in vain! The
cross-principle seemed to triumnh
Wltn heart-breaking slowness. An
cient selhshness and sordidness and
snallness persisted. Twenty CEN
turles is long time to wait for the
Ninulcatlon of an act and a principle.
But behold! In an unexpected
uay, when materialism was rampant
on earth, and pride and ambition
stalked abroad in vaunting AFRO
gance' there sounded the call of the
cross--the summons to lay down life
IoI the sake OF Gods goals of right
eousness and justice and mercy. Al
power calling itself "Superman,"
1hat scored at right and sneered at
Jesus as a weakling, flung its iron
gauntlet into the whole worlds
arena. Would the nations dare to
respond? Or would the crushing of
Belgium be permitted and the de-
strucuon of Serbia, and the nullifica-
tion of all the slowly erected sane
tlties OF civilization be allowed to go
by default?
Then came the answer that proved
the reality of the cross principle in
the life of Christian peoples. Great
nations flung themselves, in sublime
surrender of all the former prizes of
ilfe' upon the cross of sacrifice. The
lesson or Calvary has not gone un-
learned. Life laid down is still the
hlghest conception of existence. To
ofer up all for the sake of others.
ana OF principles, is the act that
INKS man with God, and that relates
calvary to the Somme. Whoever
would see the outworking of the
Crucihxion OF Jesus needs but to be-
hold the stream of dedicated soldiers
nouring across the waters to France
These young men who go forth to
die are in the train of the Hero of
the cross. BY their labors and death
they are establishing the supremacy
OF the cross-principle in civilization.
IL is a new world, pledged to vicari-
BUSINESS, that is being created on the
hattlefelds of France. This reward
is worth all that it costs even as God
deemed the salvation of mankind
worthy the sacrifice of His only Son.
The Gift From the Garden
Il find myself liking this cross
pest OF all my treasures, and wearing
1t oftenest," said one, a few days ago.
to whom had once brought a little
olive-wood cross that I had made tn
Jerusalem, from a piece of wood of
the ancient olive tree that still grows
in the Garden of Gethsemane. The
sentiment symbolizes the mood of
our world to-day. We are learning
to prize the cross of sacrifice. and 10
enter into its deeper meanings. Un-
counted parents and wives and
sweethearts have come to a new
spiritual height as they have offered
up their spirits upon the wars cross.
Theirs is the greatest sacrifice; and
by IL they have come to know the
fellowship of the Crucifed. Life at
home is being sanctified by the self
surrender of all who suffer because
of what they have given up for this
wars sacred cause. 1t seems, att
times as If this Calvary experience
of our countries may be their real
To bear a cross, and even
to be crucified in spirit on the cross.
is to know life's redemption and
life's Redeemed.
Two great words of Scripture are
often found in many minds during
these days. One is without the
shedding of blood there is no remis-
sion of sim" We perceive how wars
sacrifice is purging the
nations of grossness and evil. The
price that is being paid should free
us from our national sins. Should
this war end without the trans
formation of the life of the nations
engaged, 1t will have been fought in
vain. Every drop of blood shed on
the battlefield is call to sanctifica-
ton at home. The other Bible verse
in mind is, HE shall see of the ira
vail of his soul and be satisfied"
Out of all this harvest of woe there
is being threshed the fine grain ofI
the fulfilled purposes of a Supreme
Authority whose thoughts are
greater than our thoughts. Some
how, in ways we cannot freely un-
derstand. God is fulfilling the sacri-
flee of His Son in this great hour.
All who serve and suffer vicariouslv
in this hour of crucifixion are sharers
in the travail and triumph of the
patient Christ.
The Little Crosses of Brittany
A few weeks ago, in travelling
about fair Brittany, saw a new
usage and learned a new lesson.
Like all the devout peasants oil
France, 1t is the custom of these peo-
pie to erect wayside crosses, with the
figure of the Crucified upon them. In
Brittany, however, they have a usage
all their own. For at the base of the
crosses by the roadside they have
laid little wooden crosses. which rep