The Washington herald., 1922-06-05
yMAN WRECKS
,sAN BE REBUILT,
; PASTOR REMINDS
ALTERED Souls, as Well
As Cathedrals, Can Be
Reconstructed.
IELP NEEDED HERE
Rev. Covell Tells Of Work Of
City Missions In District
OF Columbia.
IELP NEEDED HERE
By REV. DAVID RANSOM COvELL
Trinity Episcopal Church.

AhA4ty IPs~C~P&A S1uHG.s
This is the time of year when
persons are sailing to Europe to
enjoy the sights. the lessons, the
life and the climate of those whose
language and customs differ from
ours.
Due to the recent war, perhaps
the battlenelds present the great
est attraction to the tourist. But
OF all the things that the devasta-
ton OF war has made prominent,
none will receive greater attention
than those great cathedrals built
10 many years ago and yet reduced
TO ruins In q few moments by the
destructive implements Of war.
One regards those battered build
ings not with contempt or despair
but with admiration and confidence
Of reconstruction.
VIII we not give the same con-
sideration to human buildings, that
We give TO those Of stone? When
the old hymn of the church mill
tant says Fight the good nght," II
recognizes that this earthly life Is
a warfare. and true 1t Is that many
human beings, that Is, human
buildings. are reduced to ruins In
the conflict.
Objects of Hope, Not Despair.
But when We gaze upon a shat
tered body and a shattered soul.
shall We be less inspired by awe
and pity and hope and confidence
than when we look upon the ruined
buildings of stone? Shall we not
see still the former beauty of that
most beautiful material thing in the
world-the human body? Shall we
not be confident that devastated
soul will be rebuilt and once again
send forth its message of grandeur
and service to God and mankind?
Look upon that criminal In the
cell. that sot In the gutter. that
woman whose exalted purity has
been battered down, / tell you they
are objects not OF contempt, but of
pity: not OF despair. but Of hope;
not of death, but of life; with mar
velous powers of reconstruction
such as can never reside in crum-
bled buildings of stone.
No club can well exist without a
purpose. an unselfish purpose of
service for those outside its mem
bership- No parish can well exist
" being parochial. Unless IT works
Inselfishly for persons and objects
,utside itself. it defeats. by its
parochialism. the very growth it
desires.
Those Close at Home.
No church can we'll exist without
foreign missionary endeavor. Un-
less il Is diligent in sending the
gospel message beyond the farthest
seas, II will fail in generating that
power necessary to its growth and
prosperity at home. The man on
the other half of the earth Is as
much our brother as one in our
own city. and II we do not love our
brother whom we do not see, how,
properly, can we love him whom
we do seer
But sometimes those who are far
sighted cannot see things close at
hand. Sometimes the mother. who
Is a leader in a club whose main
work is caring for an orphanage,
neglects the little tots who are her
own flesh and blood and her own
definite responsibility. Because the
saying is old. IL Is none the less
true that charity begins at home.
1t Is so with missions. We get CO.
operation for service in distant
fields. on the "far-hung battle line"
At home We ourselves either look
out for our crippled humanity, or
they are completely ignored. Those
wrecks of humanity that life has
buffeted almost to pieces here in
the District of Columbia will re-
ceive reconstruction from us, or
they will never be rebuilt into in
spring human cathedrals.
Our City Missions.
The Episcopal City Missions has
an inadequate staf Of workers with
inadequate funds, and yet we know
something of the problem, some
thing of ruin. something of the po-
tentialities. and something of the
glorious reconstruction of the
wrecked humanity here in our
Washington streets and institu-
tions. I hope that you will help us
prayerfully. financially. personally
in this inspiring missionary work
for which you and / alone are re-
sponsible. Come with US and see.
come with US and weep. come with
US and pray. some with us and
gaze In awe and admiration upon
some human cathedrals
We can show you a woman with
out money. friends. relatives, or
work: but with totally crippled
limbs. sightless eyes, and pain
wracked body. smiling up into the
- ~