Thoughtful Moments

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 50, 18 February 1944, Page 2

Thoughtful Moments

(Supplied by the Whakatont Ministers' Association}.

EIGHTY TALKS WITH

EIGHTEEN

Grandma: Why so glum, Jim? Jim: Grandma Ann, I'm fed up. The Production Counci-1 won't let me away. They're appealing on the grounds that so much more primary produce is needed in the Pacific. We are to let the Yankees fight while lit chaps like me stick to the cow and. plough. Grandma: What does your lather .say? Jim: Oh Dad! lie's so busy selling bonds and promoting the Liberty Loan, the family for the time being has faded into the background. Grandma, li sometimes think 13ad is obsessed with finance. Grandma: Don't be bitter, Jim. .We all have our obsessions, and for the time being yours is joining the Armed Services, but may the. great call to the Armed Services, the call to aid the financial situation or the cal-1 to any other national problem not deafen our ears to the one which is always sounding in peace or war. I/t is the deep full notes of society calling us to citizenship-— calling us to take our place in the community in such a way that we shall make a lasting contribution to the welfare and wellbeing of our fellows.

Jim: Then yon don't think I'm justified in kicking at staying on the farm? Grandma: One is only justUied ill kicking at impedimenta and hindrances which lie in the path ol' duty. Will your continuing on the l'arm hinder your true development? Jim: Just what do you mean? Grandma: J I', we equip ourselves as good all round citizens Ave shall render the greatest service regardless of our niche. Jim: But all the chaps we know are fairly decent citizens. Grandma: Ay, that's the trouble, Jim. the fairly decent are content to be just that. The second best is the greatest enemy the. best has. Mediocrity is a canker worm that menaces personality. Never let it eat into yours. You mentioned just now you were lit, but methinks your fitness only applies to your physical being. Before one can be classed fit for citizenship one must be not only physically, but also mentally, spiritually and socially lit.

Jim: The doe tor said "I was fighting fit." Grandma: Yes, you're a good looking specimen, but. lias it ever occurred to you what you owe to your mother? Do you consider the time and thought she puts into your meals and how she gardens that you might have fresh vegetables all the year round, and the way she bakes the wholemeal bread to insure it being wholemeal? Jim: Mother's great, isn't she ? There isn't anyone lias more attractive meals than we do and when you come to think of it most of the vegetables and fruit are served raw., and, of course, the bread is. her latest fad, Grandma: It isn't a fad Jim, it's common sense. If more mothers had done as your's does we should have more lads like you and not so many military rejects. Have you read Or Grcn fell's "Yourself and Your Body"? In it he points out very clearly the value of a ;ound body and gives us a concise and simple guide to right living. Jim: I; thought Dr Grcnfell was

OUR SUNDAY MESSAGE

a missionary? Grandma: Yes, one of the best, and no doubt a great deal of his success was due to his physk-al ability to carry out the conceptions of his spiritual mind. Jim: It's interesting to hear you on diet, Gran. We usually associate. you with the good old liible i caching. Grandma: Let me quote from Dr Grenlell's wee book, "The old Romans held that in a sound body dwelt a .sound mind. We can go further and admit that the actions of a soul itself are influenced by the health of the body, for it is: only the soul's machine, and it is the soul's only machine on this pianet. More .sins arc the result of defects in our physical machine than avc can realise." You sec Jim there are other aspects of life besides the physical—our bodies house two very important guests, the mi ml and the spirit. 1) would like to talk to you about them. Have you time now? Jim: Yes. I came to talk. It's strange, Grandma Ann, that • although you are eighty and lln eighteen, there is, a distinct ncarness—a bond of appreciation. I believe it's because you see so straight. You're honest in your thinking.

Grandma: One must be. Thought governs all our actions, consequently we must learn' to tlrink honestly and wisely if we would act honestly and wisely. To-day we look on a world of travesty and destruction. If we would build we must start now with right thinking—start by sending thoughts of goodwill, not only to the peoples in our allied countries, but to those in our enemy countries. When the war is over it will be. impossible to establish a lasting peace on hate. We must lay the foundation right now by searching for the good, in all—individuals and nations—and when we have found it, build, not. destroy by destructive critical thinking. The mind is wonderful and it will function better 111 a sound body, but neither the one by itself nor both working together will attain true success unless permeated by the spiritual. Jim: Do you advocate a religious revival?

Grandma: Well, I think it is quite possible, but it isn't necessary to wait for a revival to develop the divine in us. Each one of us has a spark in embryo which may be compared to an infant crying for sustenance, and when the cry ,goes unheeded it wilts and dies, but if it be led correctly the possibilities are unlimited. Every good citizen, and remember Jim, not fairly decent, whether conscious ol." the fact or not, lias a contagious confidence in God and aims at establishing His Kingdom on this, earth. Therefore, we shall find him not a passi-ve creature but an active personality. Not browsing on his hopes but living by Iris actions. Someone has said "Lf you are content to be a mere bystander while others play the game you shall have your reward; you will not. be hurt; you wil'l not Jtc ostracized; you will not be throfcvn into jail; you will be just a hangeron, a poor half and hall', and when you die nobocly will note your passing, and nobody worthwhile will shed a tear and your epitaph wil'l be "Born a man, died a Zero." And now it's, late; come back again when 3'ou have studied Ave 11 the sth, (ith and 7th chapters of Matthew. Goodnight.