In a recent issue of the New York Sun was quoted a letter from a man distinguished in literature, addressed to the young soldiers fighting in the trenches who had no father, mother, or friend to send them a word of cheer. Extracts from the many letters received by one who having no son of his own sent an embrace to those who had no father, are pathetic in their revelation of the craving of the human heart for affection. Poor indeed is the man that has not some tie of kindred, some one who cares for him, and likewise he who has no one on whom to lavish the affection that yearns for expression!
It is well to remember in times like these the words of the great Teacher: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." He who, because He loved mankind, could give His "beloved Son," He who notes even the fall of a sparrow,—surely He is ready to comfort every one that mourns, and cherish those who have no earthly ties. Nor is this loving Father to be held responsible for the sorrow and suffering that with so many have seemingly quenched the joy and peace of the Christmastide and the hope and happiness with which we should enter upon each new year. God still reigns, and out of the darkness He will bring light. Mrs. Eddy had learned to look away from the seeming to the real when she wrote (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 277): "No evidence before the material senses can close my eyes to the scientific proof that God, good, is supreme. Though clouds are round about Him, the divine justice and judgment are enthroned."
It is said that the associates of the beloved disciple in his later years, wearied of his constant reiteration of the Master's command: "Love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." And yet, if that command had been obeyed in its entirety, how much of the sorrow that men have endured throughout the ages might have been spared them! It is because men have not loved one another that hatred, injustice, and greed have seemed to rule and the many have suffered for the few. The world has grown cold and selfish and hard of heart because men have lived for themselves and not for others, have ignored the divine command to love God supremely and one's neighbor as one's self. It has seemingly forgotten that the coming of the babe of Bethlehem was heralded by the angel host as the ushering in of an era of "on earth peace, good will toward men."
