Ruth’s Diary

This morning was bright & sunny. Our first cheery day since we sailed over a week ago. After breakfast we promenaded the decks for an hour and then to church which was held in the first class lounge. Dr. Oldham, Bishop of Albany, was the speaker. Somehow I was very glad that I went. There was a certain atmosphere of sincerity & tragedy for England and France had made their declaration of war on Germany in support of Poland this morning. Many of the congregation were refugees and many were people who had been lucky enough to get passage on the boat without any previous booking, with the playing of the first hymns where several who were weeping. One wonders what & whom they had left behind. The Bishop’s text was – Unless God build a house, their labor is but lost who build it. (or words to that effect). His point was that out of this present chaos, which was man made, all would not be lost if man would only rise & let the Christian teaching be his guiding principle. I can only put crudely what he expressed so well. He had attended many international conferences, meeting to bring about religious unity throughout the world & also striving for world peace. They tried not to believe that war was inevitable. At this one meeting, which was cut short by new developments in European politics, there had been about 60 present representing 25 different nationalities. They closed by repeating the Lord’s prayer each in his own language. In spite of that there was no babel – no disunity. This brought out his main point – that in spite of the present setback, there was still a great deal left that was international. In the evening there was a song service of the old familiar hymns. Bishop Oldham again spoke for a few minutes emphasizing his theme of the morning.