MAKE HASTE SLOWLY

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 755, 30 August 1929, Page 6

MAKE HASTE SLOWLY

CHURCH’S OFFICIAL VIEW ON SPIRITUAL HEALING HESITANCY OF THE CLERGY ‘‘Until we know more of this difficult subject it is rather premature for the Church to hasten into a movement which at present seems somewhat capricious in its results.” gUCH is the official attitude of the Anglican Church in the Auckland Diocese on the much debated problem of spiritual healing. The remark is from the pen of a writer in the “Church Gazette” for September and the following statement bears the imprimatur of the Church. MISSION OF 1923 “It is now six years since Mr. J. M. Hickson made his memorable visit to New Zealand for a series of missions of healing and it is worth while, after this lapse of time, to review the effects and the permanent results of his tour, for Mr. Hickson is in' New Zealand again, on a visit to consolidate the movement which he started in 1923. “The immediate result of the mission six j-ears ago, in every place which has come under our notice, was twofold,” the article continues. “The patients received a very great spiritual ‘uplift,’ even if in many cases their physical health was not restored; and the spiritual life of the Church was considerably quickened, the practical power of sacramental grace and intercessory prayer being appre dated as never before. This second feature has probably been the greatest achievement of the mission, and we owe Mr. Hickson a deep debt of gratitude for it.” The writer goes on to excuse a pardonable hesitancy on the part of the clergy in attempting to revive the ministry of healing in the Church, for the simple reason that in a large number of cases there was little or no physical improvement in the health of the patients. The curious but undeniable fact was that not a few patients who were known to be full of faith iu the Divine Healer and who were tremendously keen in entering into the spirit of the mission, received no apparent benefit' from it, while others, who were not regarded as possessing nearly so much of either penitence or faith, gained very appreciable phs’sical relief. It was, therefore, somewhat difficult to persuade oneself of any certainty as to the result in any individual case, and it was useless for a patient to come to a healing mission If there was any doubt in his mind. NOT ÜBIQUITOUS GIFT “We have also learnt from experience the truth of St. Paul’s teaching, that it is not everybody in the Church who has the gift of healing to bestow on the sick, just as it seems to be equally true that it is not every Christian patient—however sincere his faith may be—who is capable of receiving it,” says the writer. “Hence, there arises the difficulty of discriminating between them, and, as we have said, the results seem in many cases to stultify our efforts in this direction. We feel sure that Mr. Hickson appreciates these difficulties, and will offer some advice as to how they may best be overcome. “The time may yet come when a ‘healing order’ may be created in the Church, and this branch of her work systematised. Until we are a little more certain of our ground, it seems somewhat dangerous and cruel to raise the hopes of a sufferer, when the prospects of his recovery are evidently dependent upon other things besides his own faith and disposition.

“On the other hand, there have been many cases of restoration to health, both physical, mental and spiritual, which are amply sufficient to demonstrate the reality of the blessings which may accrue. It would be idle to deny this; cases have come under our notice which prove it beyond a doubt. And this live interest taken by the Church in the health of her people, shown in the countless intercessions offered for the patients, can do and is doing much to convince the world that the Church really cares for the sick, and is making her own members more alive to the power of prayer in their behalf.”