The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-01-08

propheSy is based upon the SIr1tdnS response of Jesus. to the bewiFder- ment of His disciples, when they asked Him. saying, Master. what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?'' And He said When ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. be not horriied: for these things must come to pass; but the end is not yet'' Nation shall rise against nation. and kingdom against kingdom "Ye shall see Jerusalem composed with armies" And there shall be upon the earth distress ot nations, mems hearts failing them for fear" And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory
 The incarceration of these Chris tian men is precisely what many thought in Jesus day. The coming of the Son of Man meant the end of the world. The facts of subsequent history showed that this was not what Jesus meant.
 His prophecy was fulfilled; the Son of Man did come, with power. His coming in that power was not, how ever, the sign of the end of the world. It was the beginning of a new life in the world. "... -,. .- History has repeated itself. and tEe worlds struggles have ever been the travail of new birth. Out of them l tried as by fire. has emerged a better and purer world. '~Think not that I came to bring peace on the earth; I came not to bring peace but a sword" There are two kinlis of peace: that of outward similitude and that of inward reality. So again. without any contradiction in His own mind. Jesus said in His last hours. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you.'' But he added. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you."
 War brings out both the worst and the best in nations and in men; it is subject to the universal law of com lpensation One who goes across the Il seas today comes back with mingled lsaJdness and hope. He enters into the lexperience~ of the great psalmlsts
 The sume psalm consists of a dlrge
 and an oratorio. There is a wonder full and apparently contradictory con-
 trast in mood. They move on, with
 their alternating notes, from the eX-
 treme of despair to the height of
 faith the sense of horror ever chang
 ing place with the same sense ot
 hope. There is unity among them in
 this. that their one constant and un-
 failing message is. Hope thou in , God" They all end in the same last resort It is a wonderfully vibrating J111 of breathing sincerity. alive with pathos
 charged with the same solemnity, yet
 ever vibrant with unfailing and re- spending confidence. filled with the gloom of realism. vet fuller still of a magnificent and glowing bdealism, and these psalms are but the reflection o1
 the varied and wildly contrasting
 moods of any seriously thoughtful man today.
 Men have said. with easy-going tip pancy. that the war means the fail , ure of Christianity: Christ stands be- fore PiIate But it is not Christ be : fore Pilate: it is Pilate before Christ - and if we listen we shall hear ii again, This is your hour and the
 power of darkness: but ye shall see
 the Son of Man. coming with power Christian institutions have failed 1T
 so far as they have failed to be Chris
 tian. It is not that their ideals have been found wanting: it is not that their message has been >1ntrue; it is , because they are human, and it is
 becoming clear to ths leaders of the churches that they have faltered fol :. much the same reason that the aIieIi L. F- fn mo ment-because they have been wretch
 edly divided
 The most hopeful sign of our day :, and generation is that while at tht
 immediate moment the powers o'
 darkness seem to prevail, we ma1 witness the steady. largely unseen , unifcation of righteousness.
 The most terrible thing at this hou1 z lis it's terrible waste. Indaed, one 0, the most startling of modern discov
 cries is that human civilization itseE
 is so sadly wasteful of human life ant
 resources The wastage of war is the
 same thing only to a greater degree.
 But these are not the worst Of oul . dissipations. anidl indeed these waste!
 have been largely because of a Geepe1
 and more serious prod1gality. We have let the very light within Us be ' come darkness. and the saddest of al has been the waste of our moral pow
 CTS. our finer emotions and our relig ; ious enthusiasms, through sectaria1
 division. denominational rivalries ant
 unrestraine5 caprice often deludint
 itself as a religious loyalty.
 The greatest social movement of ou | t1,i or,4O destruction by the unifying of our re \ hgious forces. One can see it Ol U every hand. The chaplains in France
 through their devotion and heroism
 have changed the attitude of tn French people and the French gov o ernment towards religion. The Ere r Churches of Great Britain. for tn d first time in their history, have mad l. a movement towards effective ant n permanent federation. The milliol l. Huguenot people of France, who hay ). been extravagantly divided, have e within the last fortnight, come to J. gether in a common body and hay $ sent to this country two of thei
 chaplains as representatives of tn
 entire body of French Christians. ] ts message comes from a representativ Il group in the Netherlands. asking tha le a delegation be sent to them to ren
 der such te1p as it may in 'bringin
 their Christian forces together. A ca = ble from Australia announces the or g ganization of federal council in tha
 land. While this stony is being writ
 ten. there sit beside the writer dele Is gates from the churches of Grea IS Britain and from the Belgian mis n sions upon errands of mutual fellow W ship and practical service.
 The first relfgious body to meet, al . ter the declaration of war. to issue