In the last few weeks
during the meetings we have heard air-raid warnings and listened
to the explosion of delayed-action bombs, but our students still
gather and thoroughly enjoy our beautiful service."
Another letter reached me from war-torn England just before America
entered the conflict. In nobly pathetic words, Dr. L. Cranmer Byng,
noted editor of THE WISDOM OF THE EAST SERIES, wrote:
"When I read EAST-WEST I realized how far apart we seemed to be,
apparently living in two different worlds. Beauty, order, calm,
and peace come to me from Los Angeles, sailing into port as a
vessel laden with the blessings and comfort of the Holy Grail to
a beleaguered city.
"I see as in a dream your palm tree grove, and the temple at
Encinitas with its ocean stretches and mountain views, and above
all its fellowship of spiritually minded men and women, a community
comprehended in unity, absorbed in creative work, and replenished
in contemplation. It is the world of my own vision, in
the making of which I hoped to bear my little part, and now . . .
"Perhaps in the body I shall never reach your golden shores nor
worship in your temple. But it is something and more, to have had
the vision and know that in the midst of war there is still a peace
that abides in your harbors and among your hills. Greetings to all
the Fellowship from a common soldier, written on the watchtower
waiting for the dawn."
The war years brought a spiritual awakening among men whose diversions
had never before included a study of the New Testament.
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