Article November 17, 1923 Issue

Signs of the Times

with contributions from David Lloyd George

["God is Love," from the Christian Guardian, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Sept. 29, 1923]

The world is coming more and more under the sway of the great truth that this universe is controlled and directed by an all-loving God. . . . There are tragedies on every hand which seem hard to reconcile with a belief in a Love-controlled universe, but faith clings to its vision, and rejoices in the belief that God is really Love, and that fuller knowledge will ultimately completely justify this belief. Till then, we wait and trust. But if God be Love, then what about His children? Surely it follows inevitably that if His children are to be like Him, they also must show the same divinely unselfish love triumphing in their lives; and the greater the love that dwells in them, the more Godlike will they appear; and true greatness in the Christian sense will be measured, not by intellectual power, not by our righteousness and truthfulness and courage, but by our love. . . . The ideal Christian is the one in whose life pure love reigns supreme. Some may object that this is ignoring the importance of righteousness and the square deal, but this objection can only be made by those who do not understand what love implies. Love needs no law to compel it to be just. Love needs no whip to drive it along the pathway of honesty. Love is greater than justice, and includes all that we mean by justice and righteousness. The man who does not use his neighbors fairly, certainly does not love them. The man who does not give his employees a square deal, need make no claim to love them. "Love seeketh not its own." Love delights in giving; and when we have done all that righteousness and justice can demand, Love is ever ready and anxious to go one step further. To enthrone Love in the home and church, in the council chamber and the market place, is the mission of the Church of God. Law can do but little, but Love works miracles, and brings to pass the things that were impossible. The hand of love is soft as velvet, yet it silences the cannon and breaks the warrior's sword; love's voice is low and sweet, yet it makes itself heard above all the roar of the busy street; and the ear of humanity can catch its message above every other. Wealth, and power, and high authority all bow the knee to Love; and the triumph of the Christ will be the triumph of divine Love.

[From the Mail and Empire, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Sept. 24, 1923]

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