Morris tribune., 1918-12-20

Lord;
He is tramping out the vintage where the grapes of
wrath stored!
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible
swift sword;
His truth is marching
After years of bloodiest of history,
the angel song of peace earth, good will to men,
raised the midnight air Bethlehem, ceases
to appear mockery The desire for peace is in the
hearts of all and genuine good will reigns between
the nations of the earth never before.
Men of widely-scattered peoples have answered the
call support the right and with high ideasm have put
cruel miitarism, maerialism, and the doc
trine that the strong-not the 'meek'-shall and by
right must inherit the earth.
The four years of terrible suffering have turned
men back to God, unashamed, whole nations have
the of peace the whole human thrills with
aspiration which it hardly dares voice. aspiration
which lumnes the future with the almost unbelievable
promise that the universal action of mankind chain
the devils of for thousand years. Worldly
almost the point of confessng to one another
"In the beauty of lilies Christ across
the sea,
With a glory in his bosom that transfgures you
and me-.
There is a something for which the United States
fought England, and France, and little Belgium
and the rest that is not found written in utimatums and
formal declarations. is that something which caused
uncomplainngly to make the great sacrifices of
effort and substance and life itself 1t is that something
which caused not only to be willing to make sacr
fees but also to be dissatisfied because they did not make
more Show man who is satisfied with what he has
in this great conflict and will show you who
has failed to grasp the greater meaning; show me
who has done his utmost and will show you who
accounts his much little because he has the vision
Underlined and indistinct-seen by the Wise who
the rich gifts to him who lay
in the manger at Bethlehem.
For the purpose of translating into what will at
best be only hating phrase and expression the
wise of nearly all the nations of the earth will
gather in solemn conference there to do either
of two things they may attempt what to the worldly
wise the height of folly in consecrang their efforts
establishing the relations of the nations of
Christ would establish them if he set up His
Kingdom here; or they may proceed upon the assump
tion that the eaths is and the fullness thereof
and with the nice balances of diplomacy and the
made measures of law build edfce imposing and
useless and certain of crushing ruin the
). Babel.
We are not indulging in poetry, but seek only to
read the Christmas message of 1918 The true Peace
Conference is not going to be held in the Mirror Room
of the Palace of Versailles but only formally there AL
ready the minds and hearts have met during the
terrible hours of the mighty conflict have
that the inhuman scourge of must be banished
the earth; that justice shall be established upon
earth and shall remain and it only remains to be
whether the great men of the earth gathered in formal
concave shall have the courage to acknowledge that
God truly does reign and that the Prince of Peace shall
rule in the hearts of and in the of nations
The universal aspiration is expressed in the term
League of Nations, and when it is expressed the
statesmen of the world attempt circumscribe
cept into the formulate of satecraft but the
people of the world do not want crcumscription but
only translation Of the aspiration. high degree of
may be needed to break the shackes of world
tradition, but yet the Christmas spirit of 1918 calls
evangel who will risk all for what the worldy-wse
deem the supreme folly.
IS 1t may be that Gods time has not yet arrived and
that the Christmas shall not yet be written into
Christmas message before has found Judgment
in the hearts of the nations and today the world
than before the universal acceptance
angel message, peace earth, good will to men,"