Article July 10, 1943 Issue

Willing Obedience

[Of Special Interest to Youth]

JOHN MURRAY BURRISS

Not long ago it was my privilege to visit the mother of a young man who survived the sinking of one of our warships in the battle of the Coral Sea. It seems that immediately after the ship was struck by enemy bombs a hurried survey revealed that it could not continue to sail under its own power and would have to be abandoned and sunk, lest it fall into enemy hands. In this situation a number of the crew apparently decided it would be safer for them to go overboard at once, but the more thoughtful awaited the orders of the commanding officer.

Those who awaited the captain's order to abandon ship were rescued, but many of those who went overboard without waiting were not found. The young man about whom this is recorded was rescued about a mile from the spot where his ship went down, and he is convinced that this was because he awaited his captain's order.

Someone has said that freedom is voluntary obedience to law. Then the satisfactory citizen is he who renders willing obedience to the laws of his country, and the good Christian is he who faithfully obeys the precepts of Christ Jesus. The boy whose experience we have related did both in the hour of his extreme need. The law of the land clothed the captain with authority to order abandonment of the ship, which the boy obeyed; and the law of God gave the boy the authority in a desperate situation to claim his safety as a son of God.

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