FIFTY MILLION STRONG 



horizon, treading meanwhile on the feet of the passersby, or 

 jostling them without being aware of their existence." x 



A certain Sunday-school teacher in a Kansas village 

 through a long period of years has sent out into the world 

 scores of boys who have been shining lights in the establishing 

 of the Kingdom. Her influence through the godly young 

 men will never die and will lead to achievements that God 

 alone can estimate. Not long ago, a very capable and success- 

 ful teacher in a rural school, receiving $50 a month and 

 having a little farm home near his school, was offered $150 a 

 month to take a position in a city school. He refused to 

 leave the country. The Rhodes scholar of South Carolina 

 who spurned the city appointments and dedicated his life to 

 the rural church of the South will be a shining example in 

 generations to come of the principle of losing one's life to 

 save it. Instances might be multiplied. The faithful Sunday- 

 school teacher, the rural pedagogue and the Rhodes scholar, 

 untouched by mammonism and taking the work nearest at 

 hand, are having a share in the great work of producing a 

 higher civilization. The task is not an easy one. The path- 

 way that leads to a higher civilization is rugged and steep, 

 and the words of Ibsen's Brand apply to all who, with their 

 eye on the summit, struggle toward the goal: 



What will you gain? A will that's whole, 



A soaring faith, a single soul; 



The willingness to lose, that gave 



Itself rejoicing to the grave; 



A crown of thorns on .every brow. 



1 Charles Wagner, " The Simple Life," p. 61. 



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