Article January 19, 1929 ISSUE

Signs of the Times

with contributions from Dean Inge, Edwin A. Brown, L. M. Eastgate, A. Grant Evans

[Editorial in the New Outlook, Toronto, Ontario, Canada]

In the Far North, we are told, there are shelters built, into which the weary traveler may go for refuge from the bitter cold, and where he will find that kind hands have provided a plentiful supply of wood to replenish his fires. But the unwritten law of the Arctic says that the traveler must always leave the pile of firewood a little higher than he found it. Others have helped him; now it is for him to help others. This is also the law of our humanity. If we have benefited by the labors of our fellows, we are in honor bound to see that they also are bettered by our labors. If our fathers fought to secure our liberites, we should see to it that our children in turn are handed down this priceless heritage, not only unimpaired, but distinctly improved. We are the heirs of all the ages, debtors, as Paul put it, "to the wise, and to the unwise," to "the Greeks, and to the Barbarians;" now, in turn, we ought to decide that the future shall be in debt to us for our self-sacrificing toil which shall smooth their way and brighten their lives. Rightly understood, the missionary motive is the only one which we have a right to cherish. This is not only Christian, but one of the underlying laws of our humanity. We owe it to our race to free it from all its fetters. There seems to be universal recognition that the nation which devotes itself to the betterment of world conditions is the only one which is doing its full duty. This it is which unites the nations in a crusade against slavery, or in a determined effort to get rid of some common foe. We are coming to see more clearly than ever before that nothing can injure one nation without injuring the race, and so the well-being of all becomes the highest patriotism.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Article
ANNOUNCEMENTS
January 19, 1929
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit