SPIRITUAL HEALING.

Shannon News, 20 July 1923, Page 1

SPIRITUAL HEALING.

THE HICKSON MISSION. EX-JE»RIME MINISTER’S VIEWS. . : « ARTICLE BY MR W. M. HUGHES. The following article was specially written .for ,£he “Sydney Daily Telegraph” by Rt. Hon. W. M. Hughes, M.P., Prime Minister of Australia from 1916 to 1923. ' Like' many others, I ljyave beep greatly interested in Mr Hickson’s mission. Mr Hickson expressely disclaims the possession of extraordinary powers. He is just an ordinary man Of, the people. But a, map with at mission! He comes to heal the sick, to.bring comfort to those in affliction and hope to those upon whom the doors seemed to have closed. To a world groping in the. darkness of materialism, brings the, light of perfect faith, in spiritual "Hirings. To at church upon whom the world is turning its back, he points a sbY* which it can regain its dominion over men’s hearts. , 1

Strange scenes have lately , been witnessed in our metropolitan and provincial cities. Wherever Mr Hickson has been, great multitudes of people have come from far and near to see and hear him —and to be healed by him. j

And it is amongst these—for whom it would seem as though medical science, wonderful though its achievements are, had availed nothing—that Mr Hickson works. Not a . yery promising field in which 1 to labour, one would say: to cure where all other means were powerless to cure, or—if that be too sweeping a phrase—whepe none have cured. Yet, if we accepts as genuine the .statements publishedinthe press, many have been healed, in some cases of grievous maladies. : * ; Even those who denounce or jeer and scoff tat Mr Hickson, and iwho strive, after the manner of their kind, to belittle him, declaring him to be a charlatan or , worse, can., hardly deny, in the face of the evidence, that the sick have been healed. But what! they ,and all, want to know it: How have, they been healed? By what power, if not; as Mr Hickson himself declares, by that of. Christ, does this man do these, things? THRESHOLD OF THE UhfKNO'V^N; Any attempt to explain’ brings us to the very threshold of -the .unknown; it may be the unknowable; we are in the darkness, and. can but grope blindly, hoping to find some ; tiny chink through which We may peer into worlds that lie, beyopd, the ken of the physical senses. The materialist, that priceless fool Of . all the ages, rushing in where angfels fear to tread, takes,, refuge in denial, and declares Mr Hickson to be a charlatan or worse. Others say that he cures, not, as he contends, 1 -through te power of Christ, but through auto-suggestion. What they say is this: These people’ are cured because, they believe they can be cured—that, while it is. true that faith has made them whole, it is not faith in Christ, but in the certainty of cure. Their belief in. Christ is immaterial. It may be that those who speak thus are in the right. Let those think so who will. For myself, I say Quito, frankly that, although I do not know whether they are in the right or not. their explanation seems a little inadequate. It explains something, but not all. MATERIALISTIC CRITICISM. To me, the most amazing thing about the hostile critcism of Mr Hickson is the materialistic note that runs through it. The critics are united in this; they all laugh to scorn the sug gestion that God has the power to heal, or, having it, ever exercises it in response to prayer. They are prepared to accept any explanation tut that.

They seize on auto-suggestion tecause they think it excludes Divine power. They say the age of miracles never did or can happen. They are of those who, because they cannot understand, will not believe. Miracles, ,—things they cannot explain—happen every day, but these men pass them by unnoticed. Life itself is a nv 'acle. They speak of auto-suggestion, the poyrer of .the i sub-cons,Qio is jpvhul to heal the 'body, as if it necessarily excluded spiritual agencies. But how do they know this? Can they explain, it? We know that the mind does-influ-ence the body. And we are told that the sub-conscious mind —that is, the mind of which we are not conscious — can work wondrous and incredible things. But what is the sub-conscious mind, and how does it heal the ailing body? It is not so simple a§ some would have us believe. If . mind be' an attribute of matter, whence comes' its power over matter From matter of which it is an attribute, or ’from God?

THE MASSES AND THE CHURCH. Mr Hickson preaches Christianity in a Christian country. He says that if we have faith in Christ that faith will make us whole now, as it did when He vas on earth. An when Mr Hickson says this, men . speak , as though he ‘preached ‘.some new and incredible thing. He comes amongst un o' Hr die again the lamp of faith in a creed tl at we learned at' our mother's knee. And some professing Christians are shocked'and pass by on the other -ride.

They do not think it respectable to say ,such things. The masses have ceased to go to church. Mr Hickson shows js hew the'church can regain its influence oyer men’s hearts. Is it not time that it took its rightful place in the world? What is wrong with the world? It is full of unrest, discontent, and class hatred. Envy and greed are in men’s hearts. How is the world to.be saved? Surely not by material means alone. Why should men, calling themselves Christians doubt the saving power of faith? Surely it is because they do not believe. Mr Hickson not only preaches Christianity,, but acts as though he believes it to be a creed that brings comfort and help to people in this world as well as ensuring saiyation in the next; To him Christ is a living force; not a mere figurehead in a dying creed. Mr Hickson’s mission will not spend its force with; the cures of physical ills, whether the .list be leng or short. It goes far deeper than this. He has reminded us all that -without faith we and . his mission has proved that the people are not only ready, but eager to accept .Christianity if but those who preach it show by theli conduct that tfley sincerely believe In its great truths.