Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-10-19
A Mad World

at any moment strike over them;
afraid within the orbit of the air
squadrons of the sound of the ter
rible engines whirring in the dark
ness overhead, and hearing the
bombs explode all round; boys
sleeping fearfully in the trenches,
waiting for the summons in the
gray morning to go over the top,
and men and women sleeping in
towns and villages, miles and
thousands of miles away, fearful of
what in that very moment may be
happening to those whom they
love; men and women at sea, wait
ing as it were for the explosion of
torpedoes; or even men and women
in immediate physical safety, won
dering what effect the war is going
TO have on their incomes and their
lives. A great fear has stricken
the world, and it is little wonder
if out of this fear there have
emerged pestilence and disease
which have mounted on the winds
of fear, and scattered their seeds
in every direction.
In such circumstances what
would it be expected that a Chris
ton community should do? Would
it not, remembering the words of
the bible that perfect love casteth
out fear" be to ask itself if there
were not something amiss with its
understanding of love which makes
love poweFless to overcome fear?
And should it not naturally fling
wider open the doors of its
churches, confident that in doing
right by worshiping God, no i'll
could touch it? Have Christian
countries so completely come to
distrust the doctrines they profess
that the 91st Psalm is no longer a
protection against fear and against
disease, against pestilence and
against war: He that dWelleth
in the secret place of the most
High shall abide under the shadow
Of the Almighty. There shall
no evil befall thee, neither shall
any plague come nigh thy dwell
ing" Yet, at the very moment
when the churches should be filling
the minds of the people with peace,
and reassuring them of the impot-
ency of evil, it is proposed that
these churches shall be shut, and
that the admission shall be made
that it is dangerous for men and
women to congregate to worship
God, for fear the Lords arm is so
shortened that He cannot contend
with microbes. On the other hand
if people believe that God sends
pestilence into the world, for the
good of the world, what right have
they to protect themselves against
this pestilence, and to attempt by
the drinking Of drugs, by methods
of segregation, or my any means
at all, to prevent the anger of the
Lord from taking effect? The very
fact that all men and women en-
deavor to protect themselves
against disease at all times, is the
proof. to any sane person, that in
its heart the world does not believe
that discord proceeds from princi-
PIE, that death comes out of life,
or that reprisals are the work of
love-
1.-THE way" writes Mrs Eddy, in
a famous sentence on page 201 of
Science and Health, ito extract er-
ror from mortal mind is to pour
in truth through f1ood-tides of
love" Now not even the natural
scientist will deny that the way to
overcome any condition at all, is to
learn the truth about it Until the
truth has been learned a man fights
with his hands tied behind him, or
at the best like the boxer in the
Greek games, who, Paul declared,
beat the air. The Christian relig-
ion is perfectly clear on this point
Jesus of Nazareth Himself de-
clared, "Ye shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free"
II the truth will not free men from
microbes, it will not free them
from anything at all. Now it is
perfectly certain that if the truth
about Christianity exits anywhere,
it exists in the bible, and that one
way to learn this truth is through
the churches consecrated for the
purpose of promulgating it, and
not by closing their doors in token
of their impotency. The church
which closes its doors practically
prOclaims its impotency, and the
admission is a terrible one when it
is made in the hour of a nations
need. If the arm of the Lord is
so shortened that He cannot save,
what is the good of the siren whis-
ties to call the people to prayer
every day at midday? Is it to be
supposed that the prayers for the
success of truth in the war will
be more successful than the pray
ers in the churches for freedom
from influenza? Let the sirens
shrek on week DAYS. but the
churches be closed on Sundays
Surely it was a wise man who once
said, "a mad world, my mastersi"
Christian Science Monitor.