, 1922-12-28

One who never turned his back but marched breast
Never doubted clouds would break,
Ne'er dreamed. though right were worsted. wrong
Held We fall to rise. are banled to fight better.
Sleep to wake.
The poet speaks truth. Providence has so Gre
ated manor evolution has so shaped him, If you
prefer to put 1t that way-that there is no greater
spur to his soul than the incentive of the un-
achieved. Always the unaccomplished that seems
worth while challenges his ambition, his courage,
his determination.
Man has already accomplished much on this
earth-so much that he has now a vision of what
his goal should be-so much that he is now able
to see how far he has fallen short of reaching that
goal. And no age has been so well equipped TO
move on to that goal as this present age. Never
has the Incentive to the achievement of that goal
been so strong. For man cannot stand still. He
must press onward to the goal or fall back and
lose much that he has gained. Failure TO reach
the goal emphasizes the incompIeteness of all
that has been accomplished. And this shining
goal Is nothing less than the message of the sea-
son:
Peace on earth, good will to men,"
Practically this means the reformation OF human
nature. And the reformation of human nature
means nothing less than the worldwide applica-
ton of precepts of Christianity TO the affairs of
mankind.
Christianity was blamed for not preventing the
great war. 1t has since been blamed for not pre-
venting the Industrial strife and the economic Ills
and other evils that have afflicted the world. per
haps the best answer in brief to this charge is the
utterance credited to George Bernard Shaw.
christianity has not yet been tried"
1t Is "A noteworthy fact that during the last wear
men of affairs, speaking from the viewpoint OF
business and not that of religion. hive nuh,,clv
declared that In the application of the teachings
of the Gospel lies the one cure for the Industrial
Ills growing out Of worldwide economic warfare
Some of them have gone so far as to declare that
nothing but a sincere acceptance of Christianity
Coya Sncipfv from uffpr min and .tt,t-
from n complete collapse.
1t is not commended by them that Christianity
contains n panncea that Will Mt once cure all In
dustrial and economic Ills. They know that no
such panaeea exists. They admit that Christian.
ity does not teach economies does NOT instruc, ne
to production and distribution; does not. in shor,
set forth a system of industry in any form or
shape. They start from n different basIs and
their reasoning Is about like this:
Christianity. however, does set forth , moro,
formula that can be applied at all times IN aI
systems. This moral formula Is an active soIvsn,
OF wrongs under any system. Its application N
cure the defects OF any system, not SO much 10
changing the system us by changing the attitude
of men toward one another.
Practical Christianity would not tolerate Ip,,s.
tce OF any kind. With injustice Of all kinds han.
ished from the affairs of men and nations ax,s,l..
economic and Industrial systems would either 20
model themselves or would be cast aside. In shor,
economic regeneration would come about as n Nv
product In connection with the larger moral %
generation of mankind through the nccent.nca -.
Christianity. For In the last analysis the faul,s
OF systems have their source In the hearts OF rnar
A stupendous undertaking. An impossIbIs
vlsionf Well, they ask. what other course is there1
The converse Of the proposition has been tried %
the uttermost, And where liz the worldp Annnr-
entity civilization in this Twentieth century is fac.
Ing the great crisis.
George Washington. 1873 years ngo, ms Amerlcn.s
first president. proclaimed Americas first national
Thanksgiving day. And his preamble DECLARES.
1T Is the duty of all nations TO acknowledge