Elijah and our Mission.

We are like Elijah. We also have ascended our Horeb. We have Seen terrible destruction by storm, earthquake, and fire. Never in the history of the world have so many people been slain in war; never have so many cities been laid waste; never has so much capital been destroyed. Millions upon millions of men and women have lost their lives. To Elijah, the destruction worked by storm, earthquake, and fire was not the most important thing; it was the "sound of great stillness"—the "Voice"—that cheered him, enthralled him, and inspired him. It was the "Voice" that gave him his message, that told him

his duty and his mission. But he was a prophet. We are not prophets. What, then, is a prophet? Carlyle told us that the present-day prophets were our newspaper men; they were the deliverers of messages to humanity. Is not, then, any and everyone a prophet who has a high ideal of life, who has a compelling inspiration to devote his life to the people, and who has utterance? If we can only get an ideal enshrined in the hearts of men and women, we will have, as has been said, an irresistible power in the world greater than fleets or armies. We would have then a live people stirred by enthusiasm, devoted to duty, and whose aim would be to uplift humanity. Did not Elijah impress and inspire Elisha to such an extent that he abandoned his farm and went forth to save his nation? And history's records of martyrs, of missionaries, of humanitarians, of prophets since the time of Israel's Kingdom are long and glorious. They obeyed the "Voice"; they strove to redeem the world. At one stage in human history it was thought that there could be no priests except those who belonged to a special order. Nowadays we realise that anyone, and everyone, may have a duty to perform and a message to deliver. We are living in a Democracy—the people rule.