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
Righteousness from babyhood has given to these girls delicate beautiful
features, clear complexions that neither faded nor had to be renewed in
the thick of battle, eyes that seemed flecked with divine lights and
could dance with mirth on occasion or soften exquisitely in sympathy,
furtive dimples that twinkled out now and then; hands that were shapely
and did not seem made for toil. Yet for all that they toiled night and
day for the soldiers. They were educated, refined, cultured, could talk
easily and well on almost any subject you would mention. They never
appeared to force their religious views to the front, yet all the while
it was perfectly evident that their religion was the main object of
their lives; that this was the secret source of strength, the great
reason for their deep joy, and abiding calm in the face of calamities;
that this was the one great purpose in life which overtopped and
conquered all other desires. And if you would break through their sweet
reserve and ask them they would tell you that Jesus and the winning of
souls to Him was their one and only ambition.
And yet they have not let these great things keep them from the
pleasant little details of life. Even in the olive drab flannel shirt
and serge skirt of their uniform, or in their trim serge coats, the
exact counterpart of the soldier boy’s, except for its scarlet
epaulets, and the little close trench hat with its scarlet shield and
silver lettering, they are beautiful and womanly. Catch them with the
coat off and a great khaki apron enveloping the rest of their uniform,
and you never saw lovelier women. No wonder the boys loved to see them
working about the hut, loved to carry water and pick up the dishes for
washing, and peel apples, and scrape out the bowl after the cake batter
had been turned into the pans. No wonder they came to these girls with
their troubles, or a button that needed sewing on, and rushed to them
first with the glad news that a letter had come from home even before
they had opened it. These girls were real women, the kind of woman God
meant us all to be when He made the first one; the kind of woman who is
a real helpmeet for all the men with whom she comes in contact, whether
father, brother, friend or lover, or merely an acquaintance. There is a
fragrance of spirit that breathes in the very being, the curve of the
cheek, the glance of the eye, the grace of a movement, the floating of
a sunny strand of hair in the light, the curve of the firm red lips
that one knows at a glance will have no compromise with evil. This is
what these girls have.
You may call it what you will, but as I think of them I am again
reminded of that verse in the Bible about those brave and wonderful
disciples: “And they took knowledge of them that they had been with
Jesus.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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