THE MODERN SCOT.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20099, 1 December 1930, Page 17

THE MODERN SCOT.

RELIGIOUS ATTRIBUTES. traditions not surviving. "Probably the greatest characteristic of the Scot is his pride of liis raco and his love for his country, and he cannot forget the glens, mountains, and burns which are always in the background of his thoughts, though he may be for many years an exile from his land." Preaching yesterday morning at the St, Andrew's Presbyterian Church, the Rev. J. Lawson llobinson based his sermon on the religious attributes of the Scottish nation, and in opening his sermon with the above remarks, extended a | wclcomo to officers and the pipe band of the Canterbury Caledonian Society, who attended the service on the occasion of St. Andrew's Day. Mr Robinson took for his text the 15th verse of Psalm 144 —"Happy is that people whose God is the Lord." "In this pride of race and of native land," he said, "the Scot reminds one of the Jew of old. The Jew sang of his country as the Scot nowadays sings of his. Generations ago it could be said that Scotland was a land of religion, the Scot knew his Bible as few others knew it; and although his religion was somewhat austere, it put iron into the blood and vigour into the soul, with the result that religion flourished and had a great effect on human character. "We are not able to say, however, that these traditions survive them, and the modern Scot must admit a great declension in his religion; he takes it now less seriously than his fathers did, and austere though the old was, I am not prepared to say that we have gained since that time, Religion has been allowed to slip and wc are much the poorer, and the history of all peoples show that when their religion goes their greatness goes with it. Defective though our civilisation may be, we have built it up at tremendous cost, and it will bo the first to suffer if religion becomes exhausted. Our happiness as a people 1 depends on our religion and on our conception of God, and various mis-repre-sentations of those are held by different peoples." The hand of God was to be seen in the history of to-day, said Mr Robinson, in the same way as it was seen in the history of the Jews long ago. It was sometimes difficult to realise that; and there were occasions when things seemed to get altogether out of control, and when people felt that they were living in destruction. However, the Waster was the Builder also, and lie presided over human destinies. "There is something wrong with our religion if it docs not make us happy," he concluded, "and you' will find that the psalmist's words are not too highly coloured when he says, 'Happy is that people whose God ia the Lord.' "