ed them. One by one they smiled in
his grim visage, and refused to be dismayed. They had been lost, but
they had found the path that led them home; and when at last they laid
their lives at the feet of the Good Shepherd, what could they do but
smile?"

It has been well said that there is much natural religion in the
trenches, but that much of this religion is not Christian. What is the
attitude of the men to Christ Himself? Most of them associate Him with
all that is highest and noblest in life. They link Him with God in their
thought, and with themselves in their time of deepest need. Although His
name with that of God is sometimes taken on their lips in profanity,
there is often a deep reverence for Him. Thousands have seen the cross
of Christ standing among the ruins in the villages of Belgium and
Northern France, when all about seems to be battered and wrecked. The
old skeptical theories and captious criticisms of pre-war days are little
heard during this awful time. Generally speaking, the facts of the
gospel narrative are not disputed. They believe in Christ as the
revelation of God. They have no difficulty with the doctrine of the
divinity of Christ and do not doubt that He is a living reality and has
power to save. Their only difficulty is with their own sin. They do not
know how to break from it or are unwilling to give it up.

The great need of the hour is for interpretation. On the one hand, men
have had in their hours of great need a deep experience of God which they
do not understand; yet on the other hand, they are gripped by the power
of temptation which alone they cannot overcome. They admire the virtues
of courage, generosity, and purity, but for the most part they see no
connection between these and the presentation of Christ in the lives and
words of those about them who profess to be Christians. What is needed
is personally to relate the man to the God and Father of Jesus Christ,
with Whom he has been brought face to face at the battle front. There is
urgent and imperative need of the giving of that message, both in public
presentation and in the channels of personal friendship.

One chaplain says of the men: "I am sure the soldier has got religion: I
am sure he has got Christianity; but he does not know he has got
Christianity. I am convinced that of the hundreds of men who go into
action the majority come out affected towards good rather than coarsened.
They come out realizing