The king of an African tribe, after many years, faced the fact that his throne was wearing out. It was repaired a couple of times, but eventually collapsed and was replaced with a new one. The king, for sentimental reasons, hated to part with his old throne. So it was hoisted on ropes to the ceiling of his grass hut and stored there. Then one night during a storm, the throne fell down and hit the king on the head. The moral of the story is that people who live in grass houses shouldn’t stow thrones.

We talk about kings and kingdoms today.

I traveled to Izmir, Turkey, not long ago, and there I remembered again the town Smyrna mentioned by John in the Book of Revelation. I saw St. Polycarp’s church and recalled Harry Emerson Fosdick’s tale: "In A.D. 156, Polycarp, a Christian martyr, was p…