"...Deliver us from cant"

Yes, that's right. Another World War One bit.

(I can't believe that my disinvitation of that heretic Bailes didn't get more discussion. Go to his blog and denounce him!)

I've spoken of this fellow before; G.A. Studdert-Kennedy was a C of E chaplain in World War One, and wrote in raw and honest fashion of the heartache and theological bankruptcy experienced by Christendom after the War.

In "A Sermon," S-K follows the logic of an anonymous cleric who counsels mothers and countrymen to simply "trust God" in their grief. That is, whatever misery, whatever pain, is an expression of God's will, and your sin is your refusal to accept it with a smile (sound familiar? Anyone?). He seems almost sympathetic, right up to the end...

Remember, rather, all your sins,
And bow to God's decrees.

Seek not to know the plans of God,

But pray upon your knees

That you may love with all your heart,

With all your soul and mind,

This perfect God you cannot know,

Whose face you cannot find.

You have no notion what He's like,

You cannot know His Will,

He's wrapped in darkest mystery,

But you must love Him still,

And love Him all the more because

He is the unknown God

Who leads you blindfold down the path

That martyred Saints have trod.

That is the Gospel of the Christ,

Submit whate'er betides;

You cannot make the wrong world right,

'Tis God alone decides.
. . . . . .
O, by Thy Cross and Passion, Lord,

By broken hearts that pant

For comfort and for love of Thee,

Deliver us from cant.

"Woodbine Willie"
Rev. Geoffrey Anketel Studdert Kennedy
27 June 1883 - 8 March 1929
Priest, Church of England