When we think of God, we think of Him in just about the same way that
a Tommy in the front-line thinks of Sir Douglas Haig. Heaven is a kind
of General Headquarters. All that the Tommy in the front-line knows of
an offensive is that orders have reached him, through the appointed
authorities, that at zero hour he will climb out of his trench and go
over the top to meet a reasonable chance of wounds and death. He
doesn't say, "I don't know whether I will climb out. I never saw Sir
Douglas Haig--there mayn't be any such person. I want to have a chat
with him first. If I agree with him, after that I may go over the
top--and, then again, I may not. We'll see about it."
Instead, he attributes to his Commander-in-Chief the same patriotism,
love of duty, and courage which he himself tries to practice. He
believes that if he and Sir Douglas Haig were to change places, Sir
Douglas Haig would be quite as willing to sacrifice himself. He obeys;
he doesn't question.
That's the way every Tommy and officer comes to think of God--as a
Commander-in-Chief whom he has never seen, but whose orders he blindly
carries out.
The religion of the trenches is not a religion which analyses God with
impertinent speculation. It isn't a religion which takes up much of
His time. It's a religion which teaches men to carry on stoutly and to
say, "I've tried to do my bit as best I know how. I guess God knows
it. If I 'go west' to-day, He'll remember that I played the game.
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