"The Call of the War" (excerpts)

A Recruiting Sermon Preached at St. Andrew's Church, Ottawa

The Reverend W.T. Herridge

The eagerness of many of our youth to take part in this struggle is a credit to Canada. I sympathize with those who, while burning to join their comrades, have not been deemed fit for the strain, and with those of like mind who, for various good reasons, must stay, where they are. Yet there are others throughout this big land by whom, whether through dullness or indifference, the call of patriotism has been so far disregarded, and private interest held of greater moment than the public weal. Now the sooner this easy-going selfish spirit is driven out, the better for us all. Whether we buy a sword or not by selling our garment, it will be a poor boast that we have kept our garment, even if we are able to keep it, when it becomes the badge of degradation. By all means let our young lads play their games and make their bodies strong and clean. But the professional sports, where a few are paid to take exercise, while the rest look on: the race-track courses, the moving picture shows and such like things attract too many of our full-grown men who might well ask themselves just now whether their time could not be spent in a more useful way. Perhaps we might even dispense for a while the elaborate sporting columns in our newspapers. They do not fit in very well with the cablegrams from across the sea. We have serious tasks confronting us as a people; and if we fail to discern their importance, and to try, as best we can, to discharge them, any attempt at lighter fun is nothing but a hideous and disgraceful mockery.

Under certain circumstances, "safety first" is an excellent motto. It is pure foolishness for any one to run risks which can be of no benefit either to himself or others; and every corporation which looks for public patron-age is bound to show proper regard for the welfare of all those who have any dealings with it. But, in great crises "safety first" would be the watch-word of a coward. The quality of life on this earth ought to mean more than the mere length of it. Many things come before personal safety; honour comes before it; freedom comes before it; righteousness comes before it. Safety is the last consideration when the dearest treasures of the soul are placed in peril; and, however fierce the attack upon them, no one worthy to be called a man would refuse to guard such an inheritance even unto death. I have no doubt as to the final issue of this strife. It cannot be that military despotism shall yet prove victorious, and an outrage be fastened upon the conscience of the world. Fervent supplication will rise to God that such a calamity may never be, and hope, the last gift that remains to mortals when others have flown away, will turn from an outlook so gloomy and forlorn. But it will not be enough simply to wish for triumph. or to pray for triumph, we must also work for it. We must refuse the blandishments of ease and sloth, and accept the opportunity for heroic self-sacrifice. We must silence all minor discords amongst us in one united chorus whose inspiring refrain shall ring from shore to shore. We must concentrate our best thought and our noblest effort upon the herculean labour which it is our privilege to share, and must not falter till we have fought out and won the battle for liberty, not our liberty alone, but the liberty of all mankind. God bless our boys who have gone or who may yet go across the sea. We mourn for those who have fallen, and pray that a Divine comfort may rest upon the homes which they shall see no more. Yet we cannot feel that they have given their lives in vain. Their dauntless courage will never be forgotten, nor their splendid obedience as soldiers of the King. The voice of their blood cries from the ground in piercing tones; and it would be strange indeed if even the most careless and self-centred youth amongst us did not feel in his breast the thrill of a new patriotism, and the irresistible pressure of a new sense of duty waking the manhood in him to serve, to suffer, aye, even to die for God and his native land. For we need more men in training to take some part in this great war; and if they offer themselves, we must see that no removable hindrances bar the way. We need men who discern the signs of the times, and who will prove all the more efficient, whether in counsel or in fight, because they are men of clean hands and pure hearts. This war is no mere vulgar brawl to be settled in a day. It is a struggle between opposing ideals of life, and a long hard road may yet have to be travelled before the happy end is gained. We are fighting for the rights of others, not less than for our own. We are fighting for those intangible possessions which are the crowning glory of mankind, and the loss of which would cover earth as with a funeral pall, and wrap it in eternal gloom. We are fighting for the overthrow of impious pride and cruel oppression, and for the final triumph of Truth and Righteousness. I see in imagination a stalwart host of young Canadians marching as to war. The cause they espouse should nerve their arm and ennoble their character. They will be "compassed about with a great cloud of witnesses" who watch their valorous deeds and anticipate their final victory. The heroes of past days will seem to share their high endeavour, and from myriads on earth the voice of suppliant prayer will mingle in its ascent to God with the shouts of conflict and the shock of arms. If, when peace has come again they return to the land they have left behind, they will be greeted with the welcome which befits those who have done their duty; and if they are called upon to lay the sacrifice of their lives on the altar of freedom. their names will be enrolled in the ranks of the immortals, and their memory cherished by generations vet unborn.

Source: The Ottawa Citizen, June 28, 1915