THE REAL E.P.S.

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 41, 18 February 1942, Page 4

THE REAL E.P.S.

HOW WE WILL WIIJT THE WAR

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

(By "Christopher Perm.")

In the first article on individual responsibility in relation to the war it was proved from history and from the words "of great men that when the forces of evil combine, the good must associate else might will vanquish right. This suggested that there is only one answer to the oft-repeated question, "What's wrong with the war?" —that we have not cast off the old selfishness. I quoted the philosopher William James to show that; the way to prepare for an hour.of need i is' to make a little gratuitous effort each ' day—to do something for no other reason than its difficulty so that if an hour of need should come it may find us trained to stand the test. Just as our E.P.S. today is preparing for this hour of need, so must our | character .be strengthened for the j emergency—E.P.S. must also spell j Eliminate Petty Selfishness. This is the real E.P.S. that will win the war for us—the force that has built the great men of history. CONSTANCY OF PURPOSE.' In tlie few days since the appear- j ance of the first article how many | have attempted to meet the now | rapidly-approaching , war danger by i adopting the sense of responsibility plan? You may have done little or nothing. If you had only the unfulfilled intention, however, you have done something. Intention or even desire towards good is half the battle towards achievement. . Atfer that, constancy of purpose spells victory. Also it would be wise in our efforts towards unselfishness to be of the same mind as Charles Lamb, who said that the greatest pleasure he knew was to do a good action by stealth and to have it found out by accident. To this we might add another wise precept: "The good that thou doest write in the sand; the good which thou receivest grave in marble. Do what is worthy of praise -and thanks, but seek neither." As a further qualification there is the advice of R. L. Stevenson: "There is an idea abroad among moral people that they should make their neighbours good. One person I have to, make good: myself. But my duty to my neighbour is much more nearly expressed by saying that I have to make him happy—if I may." OUR "UNHISTORIC ACTS." However, there is the natural thought that our small acts of selfsacrifice are as one small drop of water on a drought-stricken continent. This is not so; you and I are to be one of "the million skipping feet of rain" that will bring to us? once more the green fields of peace.' Here is .a supporting thought from George Eliot's "Middlemarch": "For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on the unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life and rest in unvisited tombs." These words were written in the peaceful Victorian days of the more keenly-realised sense of responsibiilty. Those days will come again. They will be brighter days, for we are learning much from our present troubles. I have a passionate belief that the practical realisation of the words of great thinkers and the lessons of history will win this war for us. We are fighting for liberty, but, says George Bernard Shaw, "liberty means responsibility—that is why most men dread it." There is a world of wisdom in this witty remark. Like many of the sayings of the sardonic Celt the jibe drives deep into our thoughts with a devastating jolt. If we regard this ] G.B.S. aphorism in the right perspective, we realise that by n,ot accepting responsibility we sacrifice liberty. BUT, WHAT OF RELIGION? A final word. My readers may say I have left religion out of this responsibility appeal. This is not so. The spiritual side is paramount though it is not mentioned. Any normal man who makes an effort to develop a sense of responsibility must develop instinctively, a spirituality. This is where religion comes in. The extent to which! the two forces co-operate means, the extent to which we shall succeed or fail in this war. We are all very busy just now, for the enemy is near. . Even so, we may make our day's work a prayer. One of the most human prayers ever uttered was spoken by Sir Jacob Astley before the Battle of Newbury: "Lord, I shall be verie busie today. I may forget Thee. But -doe not Thou forget me."

A terrible responsibility is on all of us. As the war danger draws nearer, so does this responsibility increase. By small acts of unselfishness we can win to an ideal. History proves that men reach their greatest power because of an ideal, and the only ideal that has survived the centuries is the religious ideal. The civilisation that denies God denies its own foundation. It denies morality and therefore must fall. We know, therefore, that our enemies cannot endure, but, are we going to contribute to their temporary triumph by allowing the "fifth column" of irresponsibility to rule in our midst?

The outcome of the present struggle is in our hands —your hands and mine. If I have faith in God, and, because of this, faith in myself, I can defy the world.

It takes a man to be a Christian, and, God knows, we need men at this moment.