The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1922-12-21


Chi . season. 1922 gives rise
't a5w thoughts aaat matters uo.
rIFf 800 rrafa Hd
mar lH0ar. four years g.t0r q de-
r.suHau a- peace 1nd 81 hored-lor
~ufsHeratc5 world. brings us face 20
lass uItt iHe poverty OF human 81
pIniaus wreH guided Hy human
argrricu alone
Il ia. sad commentary on human
nature that a world WAT 70 end war
and bring peace has brought no
peace-not yet More shan nineteen
hundred years ago the angels sang
Peace on Earth. 10 men, Good Will
This divine message has come down
through the centuries. has inspired
religious zeal, stirred the souls Of
men and woueH changed the geo
Ersphy Of the world and founded new
nations.
Christmas thoughts take us back
TO the struggle for religious freedom,
the sacrifices Of pioneers, the voyage
Of the Mayfiower and the birth Of
s. republic. They carry us back to
the gathering Of patriots who failed
TO frame their new republic until
they had kne't in prayer and asked
the blessing and aid Of Divine Froyi-
denee.
Christmas thoughts remind Us that
our republic never drew the sword
save in a righteous cause and for the
promotion Of the message from Beth
lehem. America entered the World
war in the belief that it was the
last-that the dawn Of permanent
peace was near.
-Four years Of doubt and almost de-
spsir, and there is no peace. The
ouarrels and strifes Of the Old World
are poisoning the universe like some
plague.
After an unparalleled sacrifice Of
men and treasure, America is not
credited with the spirit Of the Nazsr-
enc, but is charged with selhshness
and aloofness. The reflex &c n q
T%urope's endless STRIFE and turmoil
is a perilous disregard for law and
order, for the sanctity Of established
social customs and for human life
itself-all amid an environment Of
apparent peace.
1t is useless to talk about world
peace until there is a rebirth Of the
spirit of Christmas in the human
heart. 1t is admitted that the Christ
ian church has failed in a measure,
because the doctrines Of the Nazarene
have not been tried. True, the church
is a powerful agency for good, yet
the fact remains that it has been un-
able to establish the Prince of Peace
on the throne. Yet the world would
have been lost long since had it not
been for the church. No institution
is better or stronger than its con-
stituent parts.
Whatever may have been or now
may be, our human aspirations, some
how there is lacking in our national
life, that uplifting spirit Of Christ
ian loyalty and patriotism, that in
deinable love Of country so dear to
our forefathers and ~foremothers. 1t
may be due to the by-product Of a
world war known as internationalism,
or to the effect Of too much alien
immigration; yet it is here.
The solution Of the vital problems
confronting US as a nation, lies in
less dependence on a nebulous and
material search after world regener-
alton and more dependence upon the
tenets and principles Of the fathers
and mothers who left US a priceless
heritage; less reliance on human
agency and more reliance upon the
help Of Providence and prayer.
No mere human machinery, no
mere act Of Congress, can keep this
republic great and secure, and able
to set an example TO and uplift the
world. We must get in touch once
more with the emotions, with the
sentiments, with the moral and spir-
itual forces which surround US, and
which in a mysterious way are wait
ing to be utilized by a cropping ma
ton.
As a people, we are in danger Of
losing our national character, be-
cause we are crowding out the mora.
and spiritual forces Of life. Nationa.
character is as important as indi.
vidusl character; the first cannot be
uithnut the seSoud and hp4b arg