Created for Service   "Oh, how absurd is it to conceive that God should work a body so `curiously in the lowest parts of the earth,' embroider it with nerves, veins, variety and proportion of parts, (miracles enough, saith one, between head and foot to fill a volume,) and then enliven it with a spark of His own fire, a ray of His own light, an angelical and heaven- born soul, and send this picture of His own perfections, this comely creature, into the world, merely to eat, and drink, and sleep, or to buy, and sell, and sow, and reap. Surely the only wise God had a higher end and nobler design in forming and fashioning man with so much care and cost."   -- George Swinnock (1627-1673) Churches Beautiful is the large church, With stately arch andsteeple; Neighborly is the small church, With groups of friendly people; Reverent is the old church, With centuries of grace; And a wooden church or a stone church Can hold an altar place. And whether it be a rich church Or a poor church anywhere, Truly it is a great church If God is worshipped there.   -- (Author unknown)   Why Should Men Love the Church? It is hard for those who have never known persecution, And who have never known a Christian, To believe these tales of Christian persecution. It is hard for those who live near a Bank To doubt the security of their money. It is hard for those who live near a Police Station To believe in the triumph of violence. Do you think that the Faith has conquered the World And that lions no longer need keepers? Do you need to be told that whatever has been, can still be? Do you need to be told that even such modest attainments As you boast of in the way of polite society Will hardly survive the Faith to which they owe their significance? Men! polish your teeth on rising and retiring; Women! polish your fingernails; You polish the tooth of the dog and the talon of the cat. Why should men love the Church? Why should they love her laws? She tells them of Life and Death, and of all that they would forget. She is tender where they would be hard, and hard where they would like to be soft. She tells them of Evil and Sin, and other unpleasant facts. They constantly try to escape From the darkness outside and within By dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good. But the man that is will shadow The man that pretends to be. And the Son of Man is crucified always And there shall be Martyrs and Saints. And if blood of Martyrs is to flow on the steps We must first build the steps; And if the Temple is to be cast down We must first build the Temple.   -- T. S. Eliot (1888-1965)