The War Romance of the Salvation ArmyHill, Grace Livingston
History
The War Romance of the Salvation Army
Hill, Grace Livingston
World War, 1914-1918 -- War work -- Salvation Army
Hung upon a rugged tree
On the hill of Calvary,
Jesus suffered, death, to be
The Saviour of mankind.
His brow pierced by thorn,
His hands and feet torn,
With broken heart He died.
I never knew such pain could be,
This pain He bore for me!
Suddenly crashing into the midst of the melody came a great shell,
exploding just outside the door and causing everyone at the table to
spring to his feet. The singers stopped for a second, wavered, as the
reverberation of the shock died away, and then went on with their song;
and the officers, abashed, wondering, dropped back into their seats
marvelling at the calmness of these frail women in the face of death.
Surely they had something that other women did not have to enable them
to sing so unconcernedly in such a time as this!
Love which conquered o’er death’s sting,
Love which has immortal wing,
Love which is the only thing
My broken heart to heal.
It burst through the grave,
It brought grace to save,
It opened Heaven’s gate.
I never knew such love could be—
This love He gave to me!
It needs some special experience to appreciate what Salvation Army
lassies really are, and what they have done. They are not just any good
sort of girl picked up here and there who are willing to go and like
the excitement of the experience; neither are they common illiterate
girls who merely have ordinary good sense and a will to work. The
majority of them in France are fine, well-bred, carefully reared
daughters of Christian fathers and mothers who have taught them that
the home is a little bit of heaven on earth, and a woman God’s means of
drawing man nearer to Him. They have been especially trained from
childhood to forget self and to live for others. The great slogan of
the Salvation Army is “Others.” Did you ever stop to think how that
would take the coquetry out of a girl’s eyes, and leave the sweet
simplicity of the natural unspoiled soul? We have come to associate
such a look with a plain, homely face, a dull complexion, careless,
severe hair-dressing and unbeautiful clothes. Why?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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