WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION.

White Ribbon, Volume 39, Issue 465, 18 June 1934, Page 6

WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION.

Via C ruris, Via Eucis. “The way of the Cross is the way of Light, In darknpas the thickest its rays are seen.” How differently we look upon the Cross now. to the way the Jews Ixheld it. To them it was the symtiol of dis grace and shame unutterable. To us. who view - it through the centuries of Christian culture. it is the sign of con serration to service. How lofty was the courage of St. Paul when he took his stand lx*side the Cross and itoldly said: “I glory in the Cross of Christ." And well may the poet sing 1 — “In the Cross of Christ I glory. Towering o’er the wrecks of time. All the light of earthly story. G» . ners round its head sublime.” Hut is there not a tendency to Imnish the Cross from our life to day? Do we not hear all ground us plea for ease and comfort? In our schools the cry is ever to make the w’ork as easy as possible. We spoon feed our pupils, and then wonder that they do not develop into leaders. The cry eve rywhere is for ease and amusement. Even our Churches sometimes fail to keep up the high ideal of the Master. When Jesus called his disciples fie did not promise them a life* of ease, the\ were to take up their cross and follow Him. So pampered have our people become by the various social services of a paternal Government. tha only a short time ago we read in our daily papers of a man whose chimney caught Are. He rang up the police station and said: “What are you going to do about it?" Can we imagine any of the sturdv l*and of pioneers, who built up homes In tins colony, asking for help under such circumstances? They went out !n»o the virgin forests and there carved out a home. They passed through Mood and flame, but they built towns and cities, laid highways and railways a left a * sfor those who followed. ('an we imagine our pioneer women grumbling because their husbands had to go from home to flnd employment? Vo! They stayed alone, week after week, milked cow’s, tended the garden, cared for their families and did each day’s duty nobly and well. They had no picture shows, no wireless no teletihones. no motor cars, hut they had homes where mother was the central

LVAH V. I ISTIc+DLP AUTM EN T *

figure, the stay of the household, the guardian of her children. Hut all this is changed. Home life is fast dying out, service und sacrifice are becoming obsolete. Personal responsibility is shirked, and get the Government to do it is the constant cry. Th< Bible, with iis lofty code of ethics. Its high standard of duty, is banished from our schools, is fast disappearing from our homes, and a well-known and able minister expressed the opinion "That even in our Bible Classes we study everything but the Bible.” Hut we cannot alter the eternal law*of God and we cannot banish the Cross from our lives The Master is still calling to us, “Take up thy cross am! follow me”; and in many loyal hearts a response is given. Is a life of ease conducive to spiritual growth? The creeper grows by clinging, but the sturdy oak braves the gales of centuries. Deep into the ground it drives its tap root, and the harder blows the gales the deeper Its roots strike. So strong characters are formed by m**eting \nd conquering difficulties And after all it is character which is a nation's most valuable asset. Whatever else we may teach our children, if we fall to train them into strong, sell reliant manhood and womanhood, then we have failed at the point which matters most. Not goods nr wealth are the nation’s l>est asset, neither are the> the indi vidual’s best possession. Character is a man’s most valuable possession, and it is the only thing he will take out of this world with hirr. Shoulder the cross, bear it nobly, and win the crown of character No cross no crown.