And these mounts of anguish number how each generation learned One new word of that grand Credo which in prophethearts hath burned Since the first man stood God-conquered with his face to heaven upturned." -Lowell, "The Present Crisis.' POINTS FOR DISCUSSION 1. Why is it most young folks at a movie-drama will applaud the hero rather than the villain? Then why are so many of them unwilling to pay the price of living like the hero? What percentage of young people in your school or shop do you suppose have hero-stuff in them? 2. Why do you think Jesus, in his nine Beatitudes, put the joy of being persecuted, the joy of martyrdom, highest of all? Discuss what he told his disciples would probably happen to them on his account (Matthew 10: 16). Why does heroism cost so high? 3. Why is it impossible for a soldier to discuss with his officers what sacrifice he will or will not make? What remarkable promise did Jesus make to Peter and others who sacrifice their best for him? (Luke 18: 28-) Show how a foreign missionary has to make these great sacrifices, but wins even greater rewards. 4. What is your idea of twentieth-century heroes? What battles do our Knights of the Golden Rule have to fight to-day? Do you think heroism is any less needed than in the past? 5. In what ways are young folks in danger of killing out their growing heroism by self-indulgence? How does the cigarette habit do this? What else tends to make a boy soft, flabby, and spineless? Are you more afraid of ridicule or of disobeying your own conscience? Why? Explain the heroism of daring to break with your crowd and stand alone. Have you reached the point where you want to do God's will, whatever it may cost you? FOR FURTHER STUDY AND HONOR WORK 6. Contrast Christian heroism with the folly of wasted sacrifice. What bad causes can you think of, in which the sacrifice called for was worse than wasted? Explain why sacrifices to be Christian must be for a worth-while cause. 7. Study once more Jesus' heroism on the cross. Explain the burden of his prayer in Gethsemane. Just what had God's will to do with it, and how do you think he found out about it? 8. In Rauschenbusch's Social Principles of Jesus, study Chapter XI, "The Cross a Social Problem." Then try to explain in writing the need of heroes in our modern life. CHAPTER XXVIII COMRADESHIP THE HEART OF RELIGION We have been studying in our last section some of the keenest tests of Christian character and purpose, in the ideals of service and sacrifice, which reach the climax of Christ's own life and of his challenge to us. Now in this closing part of our course, we discuss the ideals of the friendly life which must prevail in the coming Friendly World through the progress of the religion of Jesus. How important is comradeship?—High-school life is probably the great friendship period, the time when friendships are most easily formed. Have you a downright hunger for friends? Do you find a real zest in discovering in your comrades common interests in life? Is there anything you like better than sharing your good times with your chums and your deepest interests? Comradeship is tried and tested friendship resulting in mutual confidence. Had you ever thought that this comradeship, which you find so precious in your own school or shop life, is just as important in everything else in the world? All human associations are tested by comradeship. Do you think a school can be really successful unless the teacher is a good comrade with the pupils? If he stands on his dignity and keeps aloof from them, what do you think of him? But if he shares his life with you, both working and playing with his pupils in school and out, doesn't this make his teaching more effective? And what about the home? Can parents who are not good comrades with each other and with their boys and girls, really make |