TO-DAY'S GREAT DISCOVERY.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 4, 15 January 1915, Page 3 (Supplement)

TO-DAY'S GREAT DISCOVERY.

WHAT HAPPENED IN OUR PARISH

TEE MEANINGOF A WORD

WHAT THE WAR HAS DONE.

(From "The Scotsman. ) While the thing is fresh in my mind I will trv to put it down on paper, tlie incredible tiling that has happened in our parish. . . Long years ot ease dimmed our vision. Those who had six whole days in the week to devote to their own pleasure began to devote tho seventh also to the same end. Ilio day of peace was becoming a day oi unrest. Thus it was when, with the suddenness of a lightning hash; the incredible overtook us. . . . . If onlv one could put is into words. But words can never express this sudden meet ing of man and God w hen that meeting is least expected. It was heralded by the booming of W the sea. . . It w#s war. o\ei all the seas death would soon be n^g° n the billows. Faces stern. Good-byes were spoken. Ah! that woid " Good-bve," which we hear every day, and whiah, like those oU , t ' ou J s jS have nassed froln hand to hand so lo 0 tion are gone, had lost all t c ® , • original meaning, retaining not f."" hut a faint aroma of courtesy, winch Kmetimes vMisted m the intat.on the voice, until, the +« the ore at harvesting ot aeain, « of a word. THE MEANING OF A WORD. . Ifc tftmament of life and burned red into our souls, hat God It seemed incredible to s we should f word- - astSvSfVsft 4 ® i= £iSS •neary loci. tii<-Tv. - , ,mn of men Veared V the heroism of genea atlo- - under our , l to deeds of our very doors? JJ e understand children, and could er the light in our eyes. ine-e PRAYF.R— WHAT » rr. We had built a "<•»' A F ch , ™ • i T?,if the desire to " 01 parish. . H«-t tm i Thee ship was dying of at. i on . sfe fcn %S «-h"uo™r he. t^oTJme set a htrly head like a dome. He h<j vould sland fc, antour in the lane among ?he hawthorn explaining "s Prayer was laws unchanging and[ unci an Sat ono laws should be alterS 'tltat ..boon conferred en us "' ,S | mlu tol. Prayer

- BREAK nWVN THE MRCE POWER 01' 01R ENLMILb-

The 'minister began to J King's forces "on the sea, oil the land, aH " Bn ak°Thoii down the fi^rce power of our enemies," cried tho juj rt suddenly. "tlm t with fu 11 heart* crowd«l church. The shut the red .battlefields, with tho lines to and fro, while the shramicd hirst and the aeroplanes whirred the smoke of the cannon. . • • n be can to speak of the sbneken 'eartsa* home, of fathers and mothers to■ « ho « their sons would never co ™. j k j ' women in empty houses with theu hu, bands laid in nameless graves ol httl children who would never learn to say •• Ki r." • • was then that my friend stifled a sob. There thiiwr after all. Someone greatci than cosmic force'.;, greater than law with an eve to pity and an arm to save. There was God. Ai-d my friend's son was with, the famous regiment that was swaving to and fro, grappling with destinv. He was helpless—and theie was only Gcd to appeal to. Here comes an hour in life when tho heart realises that instinct in mightier tar than that of logic, which is the a-fc rf fuo-e of the feeble. There came lip the "sudden lifting of a curtain tho vision of a whole nation—nay, of races firdling the whole earth —i:o whom tho same high experience has come. Everywhere the sanctuaries fdkd_. the eyes turned upward, for instinct is mightier than reason. Tho smoke of battle has revealed the face of God. AMEN! AMEN! Only at rare intervals does the minister of our parish give way to passion. Suddenly there came a wave of emotion. He flung his held back, and his eves glowed. " \\ hen. I think," he exclaimed. "of the things that have beMi done with tho name of God on men * lips; of atrocities such a.s the unspeakable Turk never r>drpetrated; ol war waged, nof upon to-day, but upon tho <" nturies of faith that reared great cathedrals now in flames; of women and children laid upon the reeking altars of human passion ; and all this in the ii!Wlh», of culture, the culture of the superman who doenifl himself BupeTior to the Ten Commandments —then. I Far may God grant that the culture which beawth such fruit may nensh from off the faee of tho earth. Prayer for 'the triumph of suoli a cause cannot be in Christ's name." . . . The preacher got ro further. A Scotsman in church is a stoic, motionhss and dumb he listens to the Word. But all the traditions of the parish were snapped in a second. Til

the side gallctry sat the General, sitting, as he always docs, with his back to tjlio minister. . . To-day, little by little, as tlie sermon went on, ho turned round. At last he was facing tlie pulpit. His gleaming eyes were fixed on the preacher. Mis son was dead. And when the words rang through the church, may God grant that such culture may perish, the General sprang to 'his ipo'. " Amen!" rang his voice through the elm veil. There was a sudden movement ; as one man they all rose to their feet. Hand-; were lifted 'to heaven. "Amen!'' "Anion!" they cried—and then there rose a cheer, muffled, but still a cheer. In the pulpit t'he words died on the preacher's hps. He seemed as one suddenly stricken. He gazed bewildered over the sea of faces. They sank back into the pews as though ashamed. The last man to sit was my friend who stood to the last uplifted hand. The sermon was never finished. The preacher, in a low said, "Let us pray." . . . And that was how we made the greatest of all discoveries; w© found God. . . And in the evening, near the top of the brae, I saw the General . . . talking to the shoemaker, the greatest Radical in the parish—one of a party with which the General has no dealings. But they talked like brothers. For the shoemaker has a son fighting at the front, and the General's son is dead. And as I came up the blrae. I saw the General putting his hand on the shoemakers shoukW . . . and there was a tender look in the old man's eyes. . . In our parish we have truly mad;, the greatest of all discoveries. We have found God, and, finding Him, we have found each other.