The Caledonian-record. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1920-current, 1921-10-31
DR.. Hylton's Plea for a
Better St. JOhnsbury
(Continued from Page u

Continued from Page -
life as citizen OF public officer,
/ cast my vote, pay my taxes, be-
cause feel that in these natriotic
services | am working for the
strength of those moral and spirit
ual forces which make my country
strong.
The ideals of nation are foster
ed by the church. Democracy be-
comes a political catchword unless
it is shot through with Christ's
conception of brotherhood. Liberty
and equality stray into license and
individualism unless based upon
the sonship of humanity and the
equal opportunitv of every man to
the best because he is a child of
God.
Ex-President Taft, verv proper
ly says: "The longer my expert
ence with government the more
deply impressed have / become
with the tremendous Importance
of the part the Church plays in
making popular government what
it oughe to be, and in vindicating
it as the best kind of government
that an intelligent people can es-
tablish.' When we turn to Christ
for conception of our task we
find this: "And He came to Naza-
reth, where He had been brought
up: and He entered, as His custom
was, into the synagogue of the
Sabbath day. and He stood up to
read. And there was delivered un-
to Him the book of the prophet
Isaiah. And He opened the book,
and found the place where it IS
written,
"The spirit of the Lord is upon
me,
Because He Amounted me to
preach good tidings to the poor:
He hath sent me to proclaim re-
lease to the captives,
To set at liberty them that are
bruised,
To proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord.
And he closed the book, and
gave it back to the attendant. and
sat down: and the eyes of all in
the synagogue were fastened on
Him. And He began to say unto
them, Today hath this scripture
bene fulfilled in your ears"
In this Jesus enunciated the ,
heart of patriotism and religion. |
There can be no other. "The only
safe goodness is a serviceable
goodness. You can only save
your soul by making it of use. Pa
triotism and religion are of very .
little value when they consist
chiefly of words and vague emo
tons and mere professions of be-
lief. In both cases it is the fife,
the act, the deed that is of mo-
ment. We must like religion and
patriotism if we are really possess.
ed Of them. Our fathers were
Christian statesmen, they founded
our civilization upon religious
learning. Their watchwords were
intelligence, liberty, equal oppor-
tunity and justice. In the name
of our fathers and of our Christ.
| call the Christian men and
women of st. Johnsburv to Law
their all on the affairs of freedom
so as to help reconstruct this
world and make it safe place for
Christian democracy. It is Wen
for US as church in this town to
remind ourselves of our task and
responsibility as a moulder of
public opinion, an inspirer of nat
riotism and leader Of inspilitual
culture.
Here in the Church of the living
God, dedicated to the principles of
justice and equality, to liberty
and universal brotherhood. stirred
by the consciousness of liberties
won for us by the sacrifices of our
Fathers, and the defense of
hese liberties by our sons, which
20 to guarantee the peace which
we have treasured these many
ears, | welcome you, Gentlemen of
ur Town and Village government.
bring you greetings from the
church which / am privileged to
epresent and bid you in the name
# our common Master Jesus
Christ Goods Speed" in YOUR Of
icial duties. / pledge you the
Hearty support and sympathy of
ur church in all the work of pro-
.ressive construction and conser-
alton for the protection and we'll
,eing of the citizens of our town
nd village. May God bless you.
We are to study together the
principles of Christ for Recon-
the Community. We
ave tried to study Christ's Pro-
ram of Reconstruction as it
ouches all of the large problems
f human life and society. II
Let us look briefly at the Cos
'el of the Lord Jesus Christ for
he community. hence the nation.
NE theme OF Jesus ministry was
he kingdom of God. In giving to
he disciples the fundamental
principles of His Kingdom, Jesus
described certain essential pr1nA
iples of the life which He had
ONE to inspire in what is known
S the Sermon on the Mount.
[esus dealt with the Individual 4
nd his responsibility to the social
I