GOD’S CORNER n n n
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by Ger trude M. Puelicher
ONE OF THE most beautiful figures of speech in the Bible, as well as one of the most poignant of laments, is found in the twenty-third chapter of Matthew, verse 37: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathered her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.” The Nazarene carpenter loved Jerusalem. It was not only a beautiful city, but it possessed the historical background of great prophets like Isaiah who had foretold the coming of the Savior. He had come, he had taught them all he knew, he had been violently angry at the desecration of the temple by the moneychangers, but above everything, he longed to gather the Jewish people into the kingdom of God. There is desolation in that final cry “and ye would not.” Have you ever had the feeling that you would like to gather our country into your arms and protect it from itself? That which we cherish, we would protect; and who of us does not cherish this wonderfully magnetic country of which each of us is a vital and integral part? Love of the fatherland is eons old, and the more love we pour
into it, the more loyalty we give it, the more enduring will it become, and the greater will be the benefits to all who have sought its refuge. Always there will be those who dissent and protest. On the screen and over the air dissenters and protesters seem to number into the thousands. When we find ourselves appalled, discouraged, fearful even, let us remember the advice of the Nazarene carpenter, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” Are we not too often inclined to judge by what we see or hear at the moment, without a careful analysis of the situation? Patriotism, genuine love of country cannot die. America will be as vibrant and robust as she has ever been when we shake off the negativism that has permeated our thinking and adopt the philosophy of a former president to the effect that it is not what our country can do for us but what can we do for our country. Loyalty and love find ways of building up strength, or restoring harmony, or solving national problems intelligently. Let no one ever be able to lament over us as did the Nazarene carpenter over Jerusalem—“I would have gathered you together, but you would not.” n E X C L U S I V E LY Y O U R S
