[H. M. King George, as quoted in the Herald-Tribune, New York, New York]

Among all free peoples, the love of peace is profound, for this alone gives security to the home.

But true peace is in the hearts of men. . . .

A new year is at hand. We cannot tell what it will bring. If it brings peace, how thankful we shall be! If it brings us continued struggle, we shall remain undaunted.

Meanwhile, I feel we may all find a message of encouragement in the lines which, in my closing words, I should like to read to you: "I said to a man who stood at the gate of the year: 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown,' and he replied: 'Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than a light and safer than a known way.'"

May that almighty hand guide and uphold us all!

[From the Blackheath Guide, London, England]

The individual's task in dealing with war begins in his own consciousness. The worst that war can do to him is start a conflict within. If the invading news arouses thoughts of anger, confusion, fear, and hate, then evil, of which war is only one expression, has won the first battle. Jesus, recognizing that until evil had been routed from human thought "such things must needs be," declared, "When ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled."

"Be ye not troubled" is the first mind-raid precaution in this hour when fear that the world will launch itself into catastrophe might help to produce the condition feared. And hate is no answer to hate at a moment when too much animosity has been expressed. The individual who wishes to combat the evils manifest in war will take up arms against them in his own thinking. . . .

The calm thought, exalted by Christian love and assurance in the ultimate triumph of right, will be led to take any necessary steps in dealing with events.

[Rev. A. J. Blackmon, in the Idaho Statesman, Boise, Idaho]

Christianity's greatest and most difficult problem today is that of believing in the central message of its founder. Whatever else Christ [Jesus] may or may not have believed, no one acquainted with his life and teaching can deny his belief in the efficacy of love.

Obviously, this was the central message of his life and teaching. And yet, multitudes of earnest-minded Christians who pride themselves in being practical-minded, find it difficult or impossible to accept this message. One who preaches it may meet with ridicule from Christian folk. Such preaching, they say, is fanciful wish-thinking. It is considered impractical for a day such as this, and is often relegated to days of the distant past.

But we cannot dismiss this message so easily today. He who taught it and lived it, and those close to him who dared believe it, lived under a tyranny all but unbearable.

No, this message was not uttered first in a world that was easy and beautiful, but in one that was hard and cruel. So, if ever this message has application to the lives of men, it has it today. Paul lived and ministered in a cruel world, and yet he dared in his letter to the Corinthians to declare the efficacy of love. "Love never faileth," he said.

However hard it may be for us to believe them, Paul's words are true for us today. "Love never faileth." Whether a nation thinks of itself as winner or loser of a war, it must return from its hate and slaughter of mankind to an attitude of good will before one single constructive thing is accomplished for the benefit of mankind. . . .

If ever nations are to be delivered from the insanity of war, the idea of peace must exist first in the insight of good will before it can exist in the area of demonstrated truth. . . .

We need to see again that everything else, without love, has failed, and that, lacking it, even our western civilization will surely collapse.

"Love never faileth." Dare we believe it? Dare we disbelieve it?

[From the Standard and West Rand Review, Transvaal, South Africa] Is it not possible for humanity to change its traditional war attitude to a positive peace attitude? . . . The only way to stop war and its horrible results is for the ordinary people of the world to unite by international co-operation and create a plan to remove the root cause-injustice, selfishness, hate. Humanity is crying out for peace; let every individual register his cry.

[William Henry Huber, in the Akron (Ohio) Beacon-Journal]

Men for centuries have prayed for peace, for the removal of pain and suffering, for the lifting of human misery and poverty, for the eradication of injustice, and for the cessation of illness. But still these exist and continue to harassmen's bodies and try men's souls. So we ask from day to day, from year to year, Why? Why? Why? . . .

Why does not God intervene? He does. But He intervenes by love and goodness, by kindness and comfort, by sympathy and patience. God does not compel us, but He impels us to do His will. He does not force us, but He woos us and draws us to Him. . . .

God is always intervening but by the impellings of the spirit, by the way of love and goodness and peace. Through Christ He has shown us the way. This is the way that the church exalts and fosters.

[From the Chatham (New Jersey) Press]

Peace is to men of good will. It means that only by having good will toward everyone, everywhere, can we have peace. You can start with your own family unit and carry the thought through groups, communities, counties, states, nations—and so on, to include all peoples. Once good will has been demonstrated, wars and discords will cease. It cannot be otherwise. How could one conduct an organized murder campaign—war—against a group or nation toward which we had good will? It just could not be done. If we think peace, live peace—have good will—wars will cease, and many of our own national problems will be solved.

[From Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Iowa]

If we are to have the kind of country all of us desire, if we are to remain at peace in a world at war, our individual lives must be constructive and our national life must be on higher ground.

There is only one course that offers any real assurance of attaining these objectives. As individuals and as a nation, we must give more attention to the teaching of Jesus.

Bishop William freeman of Washington, District of Columbia, told the American Legion convention . . . that "it may be that the ultimate peace of the world will be determined by the strong moral stand that we now take."

"Our strength does not reside in our man power, genius, our economic astuteness, or our accumulated wealth," said Bishop Freeman. "It resides in the moral character of our people. Here and nowhere else do we find our first line of defense."

Because our strength as individuals and the strength of our nation depend on moral character, the challenge to the churches is enormous at this time. Above all other institutions they are the custodians of moral standards and instructors in the teachings of Jesus.

Never before has this generation of Christians has such a challenge and such an opportunity.

It is not too much to say that the future of our country and of the world depends on how faithfully the churches and their members perform the tasks committed to them.

[Rev. George H. Ziemer, in the Sentinel, Milwaukee, Wisconsin]

Down through the ages, the greatest of statesmen have sat down together to solve the problems of war and to lay down the foundation of permanent peace; but they have hardly arisen from their council tables, and scarcely has the ink become dry on their parchments, until the dark clouds of war and desolation have again arisen on the horizons.

For leaderships, either in the church or in the state, to call for prayers for world peace, while at the same time the world ignores or rejects God Almighty's terms of peace, is only to suggest a groundless hope to mankind. . . . War is the outgrowth of individual selfishness expressed in mass. The solution therefore must be individual before it can be expressed in mass.

[E. K. Van Winkle, Jr., in the Parish Helper, Providence, Rhode Island]

What can we do to bring peace? First we can pray, not for war, nor for the victory of one side or the other, but for peace. Secondly, we can study the terms for a fair peace. Every one of us must think through and construct what he believes would be a just peace. Oh, it may not be expert, but we can at least read and discuss books that concern peace. And then, lastly, we must act together in a solid phalanx of Christian fellowship in our condemnation of war as a means of solving anything, in our announcements that we shall have no part in any way, whether waged by our nation or any other, and in our fervent prayer together to God, hoping and believing that the peace of God that passeth human understanding will still be the salvation for a broken and exhausted world.

[Rt. Rev. Herman Page, as quoted in the State Journal, Lansing, Michigan]

War will never cease, no matter how many peace plans are devised, until hate ceases in the hearts of men. . . .

Do not ever forget to pray. Keep familiar with the idea of talking to God. Do not let the thought of prayer ever seem strange or unusual to you. Go to church, make it a practice, have it the usual, not the unusual, in your life. Read the Bible, . . . grow in familiarity with the great book.

[Rev. Dr. F. R. Barry, Canon of Westminster, in the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, Ardrossan, Scotland]

Every day makes it the more clear that it is only Christian conviction which can give mankind confidence and sanity, and set it free from hysteria and panic.