134 The State and the Farmer 



the quickening of country life, making such 

 Hfe worth the attention of educated young 

 men, and developing its natural and legitimate 

 social attractiveness. 



There is no greater field for service than in 

 the country church. Young men should be 

 prepared consciously for this service. A good 

 part of the training should be in social ques- 

 tions in their rural phases. A course in a good 

 agricultural college might supplement the train- 

 ing in the theological seminary. Religion 

 should be native. It should be concrete and 

 applicable. Religion is the natural expression 

 of living, not a set of actions or of habits, or 

 a posture of mind added to the daily life. The 

 type of religion, therefore, is conditioned on 

 the kind of living; and the kind of living is 

 conditioned, in its turn, very largely on the 

 physical and economic effectiveness of life. 

 The religion of the open country should 

 run deep into the indigenous affairs of the 

 open country. Everything with which men 

 have to do needs to be spiritualized. This 

 is much more effective for our civilization 



