With Our Fighting Men: The story of their faith, courage, endurance in the Great WarSellers, William E.
History
With Our Fighting Men: The story of their faith, courage, endurance in the Great War
Sellers, William E.
Great Britain. Army -- Military life; World War, 1914-1918 -- Religious aspects
It is not necessary to claim that these qualities are the sole
possession of the Christian man. It is, indeed, far otherwise. But the
Christian graces produce them best of all. Mr. Day is right when he
says, "Though apparently careless and light-hearted, one realised that
there was a deep-rooted religion in our soldiers, and that it was
indeed a fool's game to judge a man by his outward appearance." It is
largely because of that "deep-rooted religion" that the qualities of
"bravery, endurance, heroism, and patience" are produced.
We must remember that our Army at the front is made up in no small
degree of men from homes in which God is honoured, many of them old
Sunday-school boys. They have been trained in religion, they have been
taught to pray. Some have forgotten much that they were taught, but
they have not forgotten the old hymns and prayers, and in their time
of need that "deep-rooted" religious instinct has asserted itself. As
one of them said to me, "I grew too old for Sunday-school, and I
wandered far away from God. For years I never prayed; but in the
battle of the Marne I began to pray again, and I have kept on praying.
I tell you what it is, sir, most men out there are praying now." Yes,
there is felt the need for God and so there is prayer. My point is
that, all things being equal, the man who prays is the best soldier,
because he possesses spiritual power as well as material.
[Illustration: _Central News Photo._
THE BISHOP OF LONDON AT THE FRONT AT EASTER.
Addressing men of the Army Service Corps from a transport cart]
I purpose therefore telling in this chapter of the heroism of the men
who pray, while at the same time I do not overlook the heroism of the
Army as a whole. My purpose will be answered if I convince my readers
that, instead of religion impairing the courage of our soldiers, it is
increased and intensified thereby.
May I first speak of the courage of our chaplains? Not every one
expects a "parson" to be brave. The pulpit has been spoken of by the
ill-informed as "The Coward's Castle," but hundreds of these parsons
have been transferred to the forefront of the fight. As I write this,
many of them are already fighting in the ranks, and many more will
soon be there.
But the chaplain is not a fighting man. Not a shot does he fire, not a
bayonet thrust does he give. He sees the shot and shell bursting round
him, but he has not the stimulus of the fight. How have they borne
themselves--these men who have been transferred from the pulpit to the
battle-field? Two hundred of them are there. Has there been one
lacking in courage? I doubt it. The stories I have already told are
stories of conspicuous bravery. Let me add one or two more.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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