OCTOBER 1, 1916 



943 



That he and we anrl all mon move 

 Under a canopy of love 

 Bioad as the blue sky above. 



That doubt and trouble, fear and pain, 

 And anguish all are shadows vain, 

 That death itself shall not remain. 



That weary deserts we may tread, 

 Thru dreary labyrinths may thread. 

 Thru dark ways underground be led. 



Yet if one guide we will obey. 



The dreariest path, the darkest v>'ay 



Shall issue forth the heavenly day. 



And we on divers shores now cast 

 Shall meet one perilous voyage past, 

 All in the Father's home at last. 



And ere thou leave him say thou this — 

 One word more they only miss 

 The winning of that heavenly bliss. 



Who will not count it true love 



In which we all may live and move — 



Blessing, not cursing, rules above? 



And one thing further make him know, 

 That, to believe these things are so. 

 This firm faith never to forego. 



In spite of all that seems ..l strife 

 With blessing and with cursing rife, 

 This is blessing, this is life. 



The poet has the right of it. He lives most who 

 loves most and noblest, and his love promotes his 

 everlasting joy. 



Restore 'into me the joy of thy salvation; that is, 

 restore unto me a consciousness of thy presence — 

 power to bear fruit unto him, and a love spirit that 

 loves itself in seeking to love as he loved. 



I was pretty sure when I listened to it 

 that the good brother could not write it out 

 exactly as he gave it. If I am correct 

 about it he had no notes, but gave it off- 

 hand. My recollection is that Avhen speak- 

 ing of tlie banker with his chicken-farm he 

 said something like this : 



" Brethren, a bank and a chicken-farm, 

 no matter how extensive, do not make a 

 man happy who is in a jangle with his 

 mother-in-law." 



May God be blessed for the above mes- 

 sage; and may it awaken a lot of the read- 

 ers of Gleanings to the importance of 

 standing by the pastor of your church, 

 giving him encouragement and a helping 

 hand as he delivers his message from the 

 great Father of us all. 



Hmiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!iiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!iiiiiiiiii^ 



" WHAT WOULD JESUS DO ? " 



Dear Mr. Root: — In Gleanings for January 1 

 you publish a letter by Mr. Sheldon, author of " In 

 His Steps," answering President Wilson's challenge 

 that any man who diflfers with him on the question 

 of preparedness shall make it clear " how far and 

 in what way they are interested in making the per- 

 manent interests of the country safe against distur- 

 bance." 



If I understand Mr. Sheldon's position he differs 

 with the president, first, because he " has not named 

 a single country tha.t threatens us with war." In 



spite of such being the case, is it not reasonable to 

 !is.sume that, when he adopts any course that con- 

 cerns the welfare of the country, he must have 

 strong and sufficient reason for doing so — especially 

 since he has used all the acumen of a trained, scho'- 

 arly, practical mind to avert war, and with a will 

 of iron and a noble patience and steadfastness un- 

 der recrimination, sneers, and ridicule, has succeed- 

 ed in keeping us out of an imbroglio with Me.xico ? 

 Events have justified his far-sighted policy with re- 

 gard to our neighbor. We find his jiidgment was 

 good when he opposed intervention; can we not 

 trust him when his decision is for preparedness in 

 self-defense ? 



The fact that we are in friendly relations with all 

 the world now is no guarantee that we shall con- 

 tinue so, and doubtless the President has informa- 

 tion which it would be neither politic no'- safe to give 

 to the general public with uypiienated spies on rvery 

 side ready and eaf;- •■ tn frustrate ''"° r'.^'i'S of our 

 government. Wouia ii not '•- e f'-""" for our Presi- 

 dent to name any bUigie nation whose design? he 

 may have reason to suspect, however friendly it 

 might appear at present, until such a power had 

 given proof of its intentions? 



Mr. Slieldon states that the money asked of the 

 people (for their own defense) for warships and 

 other necessary means of defense would answer the 

 same purpose if expended on education, mission- 

 aries, and prohibition. It takes years to educate 

 the people. Christianize the country, and carry thru 

 the prohibition measure. Suppose while this money, 

 instead of putting the country in a state of defense, 

 were tised for these purposes, our land should be in- 

 vaded. Would education, religion, or sobriety repel 

 ihe invaders? 



Several years before the present European war 

 broke out, a wi-iter of one of the foreign powers 

 published a book stating that the next war (this 

 present war) would be fought along the lines that 

 it has followed, and would .include in its plans an 

 invasion of the United States. 



Mr. Sheldon speaks of " Christianizing Europe 

 after the great war is over." The great war is not 

 over, and no man can tell where it will spread; 

 moreover, European nations consider th.emselves 

 Christianized already. Does not the kaiser tell his 

 troops continually that God is with them, and will 

 give them the victory? As to the moans he proposes, 

 what does any reasonable being suppose would be 

 the reception of " a party of our Lest young people 

 sent over " to any one of the European powers for 

 the purpose of Christianizing them? Yet this is Mr. 

 Sheldon's practical (?) plan after the war is over. 

 Even Mr. Ford, in his good ship " Fol-de-rol," is 

 more practical — enough so, at least, to try to do 

 something now when it is most needed. 



As for our country's self-defftnse being " contrary 

 to the spirit of Christianity," and as to what Jesus 

 would do now, not after the war is over, with all 

 the disasters it may bring even upon us, this is 

 what I believe the Master would do : He would say : 

 " Under the old dispensation my Father helped his 

 people in their wars against the heathen that the 

 oracles of God might be preserved — the oracles that 

 foretold my coming and the regeneration of the 

 world. I am come. In this land that I have given 

 you, where worship in freedom the oppressed and 

 enslaved of all nations; in this land where spirit 

 may expand and rise to noble heights under free 

 government; where hearts throb quickest in sympa- 

 thy, and full hands are held out most readily to 

 those suffering under the world's great disasters, 

 you confess me in word and deed; this land defend. 

 Let no barbarous flag proclaiming Old World stan- 

 dards of injustice and slavery supplant its star- 

 spangled banner which leads all nations in freedom 

 and brotherly love. Defend it; and he that loses 

 his life shall find it." 



Canutillo, Tex., Jan. 31. Mrs. O. N. Turner. 



