Calvin Synod Herald, 2002 (103. évfolyam, 1-10. szám)
2002-01-01 / 1-2. szám
4 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD lutes another, but seeks to uplift and ennoble, and lead them to God. Covetousness and greed, pride and power, all give way before Christlike humility. A new heart and a new spirit bring the evidences of the gifts of God. But Why Lent It is not enough to wash the hands one time, but just like Mom told us it must be done again and again. We need the cleansing experience of Lent, like Mom’s voice, as a personal discipline forcing us to come clean. We are not God, and we know from experience that we will get dirty from our sins over and again. “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” We have, Heidelberg reminds, “a sinful nature with which I have to struggle all my life long.” Lent brings us face to face with our guiltiness and at the same time with God’s graciousness. “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Rev. Albert W. Kovács c ^ Recessional God of our fathers, known of old, Lord of our far-flung battle-line, Beneath whose awful hand we hold Dominion over palm and pine - Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget - lest we forget! The tumult and the shouting dies: The Captains and the Kings depart; Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice, An humble and a contrite heart. Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget - lest we forget! Far-called, our navies melt away; On dune and headland sinks the fire: Lo, all our pomp of yesterday Is one with Nineveh and Tyre! Judge of the Nations, spare us yet, Lest we forget - lest we forget! If, drunk with sight of power, we loose Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe, Such boasting as the Gentiles us, Or lesser breeds without the Law - Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget - lest we forget! For heathen heart that puts her trust In reeking tube and iron shard, All valiant dust that builds on dust, And guarding calls not Thee to guard, For frantic boast and foolish word - Thy mercy on Thy people, Lord!- Rudyard Kipling As God Gives Us To See The Right President Abraham Lincoln The terrible assassination of President Lincoln happened on April 14,1865, despite the surrender of Lee earlier on the 9th. Just a month before “Honest Abe” had delivered his Second Inaugural Address in Washington, on March 4th, addressing his “Fellow Countrymen.” In his opening remarks he noted, “four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war, All dreaded it - all sought to avert it... And the war came. ” He continued, “One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves... a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow, the cause of the war. ” “Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes his aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces; but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered - that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has his own purposes. “Woe unto the world because of offenses! For it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh”. If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through his appointed time, he now wills to remove, and that he gives to both North and South this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to him? Fondly do we hope -fervently do we pray - that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, “The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. ” With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan - to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations. Responding to a friend’s complimentary letter days afterward, he noted that, “ I believe it is not immediately popular. Men are not flattered by being shown that there has been a difference of purpose between the Almighty and them To deny it, however, in the case, is to deny that there is a God governing the world. ” V
