In the victory which is peace.
(2324)
“The inauguration of a monument of Christ, the Redeemer, on the Cordillera of the Andes,” says Carolina Huidobro, in The Christian Herald (New York), “has a grand significance, at once political and social. The colossal statue upon a pinnacle 14,000 feet above the sea, surrounded by peaks of perpetual snow, dominating as it does the two countries which stretch out on either side of the mountain range, is a tangible witness of international brotherhood.... Chile and Argentina have not only created a symbol; they have inculcated into the minds of men for all ages an idea of greater significance than any other in our contemporary age, by erecting that colossal monument to the Christ, with the inscription on its granite pedestal: ‘Sooner shall these mountains crumble to dust than Argentines and Chileans break the peace which, at the feet of Christ, the Redeemer, they have sworn to maintain.’ On the opposite side of the base are the words of the angels’ song over Bethlehem: ‘Peace on earth, good-will to all men.’ The statue cost about $100,000, and was paid for by popular subscription, the working classes contributing liberally.” (Text.)
(2325)
See [Christmas]; [Militarism].
PEACE PACT
When William Penn made his treaty with the Indians under the spreading branches of an elm-tree on the banks of the Delaware, it was not for lands, but for peace and friendship. “We meet,” said Penn, “in the broad pathway of good faith and good will; no advantage shall be taken on either side, but all shall be openness and love. I will not call you children, for parents sometimes chide their children too severely; nor brothers only, for brothers differ. The friendship between me and you I will not compare to a chain, for that the rains might rust, or the falling tree might break. We are the same as if one man’s body were to be divided into two parts; we are all one flesh and blood.” The Indians replied: “We will live in love with William Penn and his children as long as the sun and moon shall endure.”
Such a peace pact does God make with men; and such a pact ought man and man, and nation and nation to make with each other.
(2326)