The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1960-08-26


The smallest Of these is the ont
your belt goes around. It is jus
the circle around the immediate
you, which you can never escap,
because you live inside it. It goe.
where you go. Then there is thu
larger circle passing around you
family. You can run away from
that. but you would wish vol
hadn't. Beyond are larger cir
cles, big enough to take in tn,
neigh5orhood, the school, thu
church, the county, the natiol
and so, finally, the grea
circle around the world, the cir
Gle of the sky, under which arr
all the nations of the world.
The Circle of Religion
Where, in-that arrangement, i.
the Circle OF Religion? 1t is no
the same thing as the circle o
the church. for there can be re
ligion outside Of church; other
wise we would be irreligious
people every time we walked on,
OF the church building. The fac
is. religion the Christian re-
llgion in particular - is con
cerned with all those circles ano
all the people inside them, anC
all that makes their lives good
or bad, joyous or sorrowful. Any
religion that can be fenced in is
a mighty poor sort. Christianity
is concerned with everything
human. Therefore Christianity
cannot, without shame, turn its
face away and mutter None Of
my business" when anything is
going on that affects human
lives.
One circle in particular is often
thought to be 'out of bounds
for religion; that is to say, the
preacher should never mention il
in a sermon, and the people need
not look to the Bible for any light
on the subject. This is the circle
of International Affairs. This is
the circle that takes in diplom-
acy, and treaties, and war and
peace. If we stand by the Bible
we must try to think what God S
will is in such matters. For the
prophets of old preached on the
foreign policy Of their nations,
and made no apologies.
In those far-off days, and now
the average man old enough to
pay taxes and be drafted in war
put a good deal of stock in for.
eign alliances Line up with q
large number of nations, arm
them yourself if they are moi
armed, be sure your gang of ma.
tons is bigger and stronger thar
any other gang of nations be.
tween the Nile and the Euphra-
ties River, and you can stor
worrying about your country s
future: you've got it made. Sc
they thought land it sounds ia
miliar in these cold-and-hot wal
and near-war days. but it was
not so. The true prophets did not
urge more and better alliances
Indeed most a | / a n c e S WoulC
prove to be actually dangerous
Isaiah pointed out that alliances
Of armed nations are often short.
lived, they shift like sand, allies
Of one generation may become
enemies of the next, one nation
dragS down others in its fall. To
put it another way: Security is
not finally in force. Security is
not in more force. Real security
is not in decisions Of the high
command, not in the schemes OF
chiefs of staff.
What General Trudeau Says
Don't think the lines you have
just read are clear out Of touch
with reality! The following is q
statement by General Trudeau,
at the time he was placed in
charge of the U. S. Army'S Mis-
sile Development Program:
Despite the extreme impor-
lance of exploring Space to its
furthermost limits, and Of send
ing up satellites that can begin
to do our exploring. even more
important is this goth Century'S
challenge to believing men and
women a challenge for us to
launch our prayers, which can
and do go higher and farther
than satellite or rocket or space
ship can ever reach, namely to
the waiting heart Of our Creator,
if we ever expect to solve these
problems about the peace of our
world, which man clearly does
not seem able to accomplish on
his own
In other words, this devout
Christian military leader, with
know-how enough to be placed
in charge of a vitality important
national military project, knows
the most important thing of all:
TRUST IN GOD!
Biased on outlines copyrighted
by the Division of Christian Edu-
cation, National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the U. S. A.
Released y Community Press
ServiCe.o =. -. -. ..
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