One of the blessings that came to the world out of the anguish of the
Great War was a new appreciation of God's Word on the part of many who
had never paid much attention to the inspired Book, and the formation of
the habit of Bible reading by tens of thousands of those who were once
heedless of God's Word.
Absence from home in hours of danger, privation and suffering, opened
the way for testing Him who reveals his power to give infinite blessing
by saying tenderly, "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I
comfort you." The sense of absolute powerlessness in the face of
barbarism led to dependence upon God who holds the worlds in His hands.
Realization of the uncertainty of life and familiarity with death made
easy and natural the approach to the Lord of life and death.
Probably there were soldiers who laughed at the words of Field Marshal
Lord Roberts, spoken when the first British troops were crossing the
Channel:
"You will find in this little Book (the Bible) guidance when you are in
health, comfort when you are in sickness, and strength when you are in
adversity," but the day came when one of the soldiers themselves, Arthur
Guy Empey, wrote:
"How about the poor boy lying wounded, perhaps dying, in a shell hole,
his mother far away? Perhaps to him even God seems to have forgotten; he
feels for his first-aid packet, binds up his wounds, and then
waits--years, it seems to him--for the stretcher-bearers. Then he gets
out his Testament; the feel of it gives him comfort and hope. He reads.
That boy gets religion, even though when he enlisted he was an atheist."
A Young Men's Christian Association secretary told of an incident when
the soldiers were just leaving for the trenches. "He saw a young lad
nervously making his way up to the counter. He knew the boy wanted
something, and was afraid to ask or was timid about it. He said, 'Want
something, lad?' 'Yes, sir, I have got a Bible and I don't know much
about it. I'd like you to mark some passages in it. I am going out to
the trenches to-night.' 'Sure!' said the secretary. 'Mark some good
ones, now,' said the lad.
"While he was marking the first lad's book half a dozen other boys came
up and said, 'Mark mine, too, sir!' And for half an hour this secretary
was busy marking verses in the Bibles of those boys. An interested
observer asked him what he marked, and he said, 'Matthew 10:23; 11:28;
6:19, 20; John 3:16; Romans 8:35-39.'"
"Fighting" Pat O'Brian, of the Royal Fighting Corps, whose marvelous
escape from his German captors thrilled multitudes, said:
"I haven't been given to talking much about religion, but when, after
two months of flight through an enemy country as an escaped prisoner,
going without food except such as I could pick up in the fields and eat
raw, and time and again coming within a hair's breadth of being caught,
I finally got through the lines on to the neutral soil of Holland, I was
mighty glad to get down on my knees and thank God that He had got me
through. A lot of men who have never thought much about religion are
thinking about it now. I believe they will read those little khaki
Testaments, and I am sure they will get help from them."
That "those little khaki Testaments" were going into the hands of the
soldiers pleased General Pershing, who said, "Its teachings will fortify
us for our great task." And Secretary of the Navy Daniels rejoiced that
the books were going to the sailors, for he said, "The Bible is the one
book from which men can find help and inspiration and encouragement for
whatever conditions may arise."
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