" Now this is
quite as true in a psychological sense as it is in a scriptural sense. It
is a great pity that we do not read the Bible far more for lessons in
pedagogy. However, too many people misread the quoted passage. They
interpret the expression "unto death" as if it were "until death." This
interpretation would weaken the expression. The martyrs would not recant
even when the fires were blazing all about them or when their bodies were
lacerated. They were faithful unto death. In his poem _Invictus_ Henley
says,
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud;
Under the bludgeonings of chance,
My head is bloody but unbowed.
And only so can the spirit hope to achieve emancipation and win out into
the clear. This is the crown of life. Michael Angelo represents Joseph of
Arimathea standing at the tomb of the Master with head erect and with the
mien of faith. He did not understand at all, and yet his faithful heart
encouraged him to hope and to hold his head from drooping. He was faithful
even in the darkness and on the morning of the Resurrection he received
his crown.
When we set up loyalty as one of our major goals we shall become alert to
every illustration of it that falls under our gaze. The story of Nathan
Hale will become newly alive and will thrill as never before. Over against
Nathan Hale we shall set Philip Nolan for the sake of comparison and
contrast.
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