Thoughtful Moments

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 41, 19 January 1945, Page 2

Thoughtful Moments

(Supplied by the Whakatnfle Ministers' Association).

DON'T BE TIRED TOMORROW

"Don't be tired tomorrow" is the free translation of an African proverb . It might seem as though tiredness were a physical thing with which religion had no concern . . . What we call tiredness often has a physical and what I am setting out to do is to show what I think will be of value in this age of nervous breakdowns and tiredness. when you can hardly look round upon any crowd without be." ing struck by the weariness in people's faces. A great deal of tiredness has its origin in the mind, therefore it is the mind that must be. tuned up. And a certain aspect of religion is the ideal tonic for the mind. Some of us have vivid memories of long route marches during our army experience. We can remember reaching the stage when, through sheer weariness, men no longer sang 5 when they trailed their rifles, and some be£an to fall out. Then, perhaps on the horizon would appeal' the 'little white triangles which meant that we were in Sight of the best substitute we had for home. At once the men picked up theii rifles, burst into song and marchee with heads up and shoulders back. What had happened? It was- the mind that had been tired . . • Think of a mother, utterly tirec out Avith house who protest; at night that she- can hardly pul one foot before the other. Her chilc falls ill, and with tireless energy she nurses it day and night. Hei mind is stimulated by love for hei child, and her body carries on, show ing conclusively that it was hei mind, and not her body that wa: really tired. I once stayed with s friend for the week-end, and on tin Saturday afternoon his wife asket him to cut the grass in the. Iron garden. The lawn was about tin size of a pocket handkerchief. H< grumbled, and complained of fat igue but at last began. He ha< many rests, and came in exhausted and lay on the couch until tea-time After tea a friend came and aske< him to play tennis. He played har< tennis for three hours, and thei came home and said, "It's nice t< get a bit of exercise." In the latte case his mind was interested, am therefore, the body wasn't tired . . The question will arise whetlie there will not be a reaction afte mentally stimulated activity. Wil not the mother go 'flop' when th child recovers? It ought to be sai( clearly that one of the main factor that makes for what we call re action is our expectation of it. . Since the. mental factor in fatigue i so important, we must find a wa; to tone up the mind,, and so be th master of our mind, that we cai reduce fatigue to a minimum. One could cite hundreds of case

OUR SUNDAY MESSAGE

in which a so-called rest-icurc is no cure at all, because the patient is worrying. For everyone who is tired by having too much to do, there are ninety-nine people who haven't enough to do. Ennui is the most tiring thing in the world ... It. is for the mind we must find a means of refreshment . . . The answer is the way of prayer. You would find it the. greatest tonic for the mind, the greatest specific against nervous if you would resolutely keep even a quarter of an hour a day, during which you pushed back the tumultuous demands of the things you have to went into the silence where God chn be more easily realised, and held in the. mind the thought of the presence of Christ. 'One hot night at sea,' says the late Mr F. A. Atkins, 'I was- sitting out. on deck, when a dear old man joined me and began to talk of politics social reform and religion. After a time we spoke of Jesus, and I remarked that a man had written a book to prove that He was a myth. "A myth!" exclaimed my companion. "So they call Him that, do> they? Well, then, a myth saved me from suicide." With a little encouragement he told me the story. Overwork and a nervous breakdown had led to insomnia. He consulted specialist after spent weary days in health and still endured awl'ul endless nights of dreary sleeplessness. "Every night " he said, "I went to bed worn out, worried and wakeful. A dozen times I would get up, turn on the walk about, go back to bed—but all in vain. . . . I was unable to read or work and life was becoming an intolerable burden. I felt that reason was tottering and, to my horror, I had begun to think of suicide. "One nighty when I was desperate, I megan to jiray. I told Jesus I had heard that He helped men when they were at their last gasp, and I was pretty nearly finished. I told Him the whole story—all I had gone through and begged Him to come to my help. Then I turned over and slept peacefully for three hours. Since then I have prayer every > night and every night I sleep— good,' refreshing sleep—for five or six hours. I just tell Jesus all my worries and turn them over to Him." "Did you tell your doctors?" I asked. "1 told the best two of the bunch, ! and they both said there was noth • 1 ing mysterious about my experience. 1 It was what they would expect. ■ One of them, a nerve specialist,, said that if his patients woutld pray ' every night, lie would be a poorer man for he would hear very little 5 more from the victims of insomnia." (Abridged from a lecture by Les- > lie D. Wcatherhead, M.A.)