"Now no chastening for the present seemeth
to be joyous but grievous: nevertheless, afterward,
it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness
unto them which are exercised thereby."
--HEBREWS xii:11.
"Six months passed within the danger zone, produces a subtle but
marked change. Bright lads become men, who bear all the marks of
having passed through a solemn purification by fire. And the subtle
influence, as thus depicted, is communicated to us.... To say that
the horrors of war have subdued and overawed them is but part of the
explanation. It seems nearer to the truth to add, that these
harrowing experiences, whatever they may have been, have only helped
to make our young men susceptible to spiritual influences of the
highest quality. In fine, they have been following in the footsteps
of Him who is The Great Sacrifice, and even amid the bursting shells
have caught a glimpse of wounds that transform and consecrate their
own."
--_The Great Sacrifices_, JOHN ADAMS.