The Discipline of War | Page 8

results to be?
The Guardian, of a few weeks back, thus soundly comments upon the
matter:--
"It is true that the outbreak of war put a sudden end to much that was
thoughtless, stupid, and even base in contemporary life. 'Tango teas'
and afternoon Bridge among women have receded almost as far into
ancient history as dinners at Ranelagh or suppers at Cremorne. But
human nature is easily frightened into propriety by a crisis; it is not so
easy to maintain the new way of life when the fright is safely over. The
things that are amiss in our national life, and above all that lack of

seriousness which so many observers have lamented during the last few
years, can be amended only by a clear conviction of the inherent
unsoundness of our outlook, and a firm determination to rebuild it upon
new and more stable foundations."
The soul of the nation needs discipline, and that can only come through
the effort of the individual to discipline his own life.
There is a ceaseless temptation to echo the cry of the disciples in regard
to the few loaves and fishes: "What are they among so many?"
Of what value or power is my feeble little life among the teeming
millions that go to make up the nation?
Put away the thought, for it is a direct temptation of the Devil.
It was just when, in the very depths of his human despair, Elijah cried
out, "I, I only am left," that God revealed to him the seven thousand
men who had not bowed the knee to Baal.
It was because Athanasius was content to stand contra mundum,
against the world, that the Catholic faith was preserved to the Church.
Let us very seriously examine ourselves as to the use we are making of
our life with regard to other people.
We have considered that life, in various details, in respect to ourselves,
and only incidentally as it affects others, but now let us put away all
thought of self.
Take the one absolute standard of life as set in the text, "I came down
from Heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent
me."
The result was a life entirely devoted, from the first moment to the last,
to one stupendous cause: the lifting up of humanity to the very throne
of God.
You and I cannot reach even a fraction of the way towards that perfect

standard; but it is our pattern, our plummet, our measuring-line.
Very practically, then, we must ask ourselves such questions as these:
What proportion of my time is spent for others?
Have I any method of employing time or any stated hours that I give to
philanthropic or religious work; or do I just, in a casual way, let other
people have odd moments, when I happen to think of it?
Similar questions should be asked as to money. Many people,
especially those who do not keep accounts (which everyone ought to
do), would be shocked if at the end of a year they could see the
enormous disproportion between the vast amount they have frittered
away on self, and the pitiful little doles they have handed out in the
cause of charity.
One man, who kept three cars for private use, reduced an already paltry
allowance made to a dependent because the price of petrol had gone
up!
It is not that people cannot give; it is often only that they do not think.
Look at the vast sums being poured into the Relief Funds. Why has not
some proportion of it gone long ago to Hospitals obliged to close their
wards, Waifs and Strays Societies compelled to refuse poor little
outcasts? The money was there; it could have been spared then as well
as now, but it needed some great shock to wake its owners up to the
sense of proportion, the realisation of responsibilities.
And so in regard to such gifts as music, painting, acting, mechanics,
stitchery; even such simple things as reading and writing. Have you
ever read a book to, or written a letter for, anyone else? We might
multiply these questions indefinitely, but enough has been said to
enable us seriously to take in hand the disciplining of the soul,
remembering that this life of ours is a precious loan entrusted to us by
God the Father, redeemed for us by God the Son, sanctified in us by
God the Holy Ghost, to be used by us, in due proportion, for our
neighbours and ourselves.

_For suggested meditations during the week, see Appendix_.

IV
=The Discipline of the Spirit=
THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT
St. Luke vi. 12.
"He continued all night in Prayer to God."
Last week we looked at the soul as that