Thoughtful Moments

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 61, 2 April 1943, Page 2

Thoughtful Moments

(Supplied by tlie Whakatane Mimst e.rs' Association)

THE FUTURE j Greet the unseen with a cheor God is tliere as well as here We need never feel alone He is nhvi'ys with his own And it is stars shine brightest "when Tis darkest on the paths of men Therefore journey without tear Greet the unseen with u elieei*. UNUSED WEALTH Tiiere is a story of an aged. Indian, half-naked and J'amishcd, who wandered into a settlement, and begged for food to keep him from slarvi.ng. While he was devouring liliVi tfood given him, a bright coloured ribbon, from whiclt was suspended a small, dirty pouch, was .seen around his neck. On beilig j questioned, he said it was a charm ) given him i.n his younger days; and j (\>eni ! ng it lie handed over a faded j greasy paper. It proved to be. a re. J gular discharge from the Federal j army, entitling him to a pension * for life, and signed by General Washington himself. Now, here was a j name which would be honoured al' j most everywhere, and which, if pre- j sen.tcd in the right place, would I have him support for the j rest of his days; and yet here he was wandering about hungry, beg- j ging bread to keep him from starv* ■ ing. | What a picture of men and women, boys and girls, with all' the promises of Jesus in their hands. • i I ! THE CURSE OF AFRICA—BUT j NOT ONLY AFRICA I Dr. Albert Schweitzer says that one, day sailing up a West African river, lie saw the ruins of abandoned huts on the banks. "When I came out here 15 years ago," 1 said a trader who stood near him, "these were all flourishing villages." "And why arc they so 110 longer?" asked Schweitzer. The trader shrugged liis shoulders and said in a low voice, "Alcohol." Most of the money which the timber industry brings into the country, Schweitzer says, is converted into rum, "the great enemy of every form of civilisation." Missionaries, doctors, educationalists, social workers, all say the same., yet the stuff continues to be shipped.. There arc biig profits for what is called "IP/iq Trade," and big revenues, in tlie form of taxes, for the Governments concerned, but those who rule the country get this money at a very dear pi)'ee. THE CORPORAL AND THE COM-MANDER-IN-CHIEF During the American War of Independence, an officer set his men to fell some trees which Avere need- 4 ed to make a bridge. There were not nearly enough men, and the work was getting on very slowly. CJp rode a commanding-looking man. He spoke to the officer in charge, who was urging on his men, bui ' doing nothing himself. "You haven't enough men for the job, have you?" i "No, sir; we need some hell)," said 1 the officer. < "Why don't you lend a hand your- ] self?" asked the man on horseback. 1 "Me, sir? Why, I am a corporal!" ;

OUR SUNDAY MESSAGE

| replied the officer, looking very indignant. "Ah, true,"' quietly replied, the other, and getting off his horse he laboured with the men until the jobwas done. Then he mounted his horse again, and as he rode off ho said to the officer, "Corporal, the next time, you have a job to put through, and, too. few men to do it, you had better send for the Com-mander-in-Chief, and I will come again." It was General Washington. "NOW SMITH!" Arthur Mee has told this story in his "Children's Newspaper," of how a man came to be known by this strange, name. The volcano Etna had burst into eruption and thrown fire, hot ashes, and lava over the j hills and plains of Sicily. An EngI lish ship came into harbour to sec j what could be done for the terrified j people of the district, and the crpiw i went on shore, to start the work of | rescue. In one place a ladder was I put U]> against a lotterlmg wall, at the top of which were people in j peril. The wall seemed as if it, j would cojlapse before. anything ■ could be done, i't would, soon be too i late. Who avouUl risk his life to go j up the ladder? The captain did not ask for vol- • unteers. He knew his men too well ■ for that. They would fill have vol- | untee.red. If they had, he would still have been in the same difficult}'-, and precious time would have been lost.. He just turned to one of his crew and said simply, "Now j then, Smith." .And Smith went up j the ladder at a run. JESUS WOULD DO, IF— As one. Melbourne preacher said, not long ago, "Christmas comes but once a year—that is the Avhole trouble." He meant that the Christmas spirit, the spirit of Jesus is present in the hearts of so-called Christian people only once a year. For the other 3G4 days, they do not let it "interfere with business." Is this a good advertisement, to non-Chri&-tians? What about all the Avars, strikes, disputes and jealousies that seem to be started, cvciy uoav and then, by those who have had centuries in Avliich to learn what Christmas really means? A Russian Avas discussing Communism Avith a Christian man df another country. He said, "One of the weaknesses of Communism Is that Ave have no one person to Avhom we can be loyal, all the time., For a while avc are loyal' to Lenin, and now Ave are loyal to Stalin. In a feAV years avc shall have to shift the gears of'our loyalty once more. What avc need is a man like Abraham Lincoln, avlio can live, on as our leader for generations." "But," said the Christian, "you can't have Lincoln, because you have no slaA-es. Why don't you take Buddha?" "Because he doesn't appeal to those who work," said! the Russian. "He Avon't do." "Then why uot take Confucius?" "He never worked.. He won't do." "Well," said the Christian, "why not take Jesus? He worked in a car-i penter's shop." "Yes,' said the Rus-t sian, "Jesus would do. He would meet every need, if it Avere not for the fact, that He has not been very successful with, you."