CHURCHES CAN HELP

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 893, 10 February 1930, Page 14

CHURCHES CAN HELP

FIGHT AGAINST CANCER

REAL WORK FOR CHRIST Christ, having spent a surprising amount of his time on earth in healing the sick, the churches could therefore throw themselves into that work with the conviction that they were simply carrying on one important phase of their Master’s programme for humanity. This was a suggestion made by Mr. J. W. Shaw during an address in St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Devonport, last evening, on the part the churches could play in the British Empire fight against cancer. Medical men the world over had found that the success they hoped for was not likely to be obtained unless the general public was lined up for the battle, said Mr. Shaw. They were treating and studying the individual cases, but there was a vast a,mount of field-work of enormous value for the success of the offensive that could be done only with the cooperation of the public. There must be a more rational attitude to the enemy first of all. The current shuddering silence rather than mention of cancer, must be replaced by a courageous facing of reality. The public was asked first to supply sanity and courage.

An important part of the campaign would be the collection of all relevant facts about the incidence of the disease; a co-ordination of the work of all individual doctors and surgeons; a central recording of ail ascertainable facts on the history of the patient before the disease gripped him; his progress under treatment, and in cases of a cure, his subsequent health history. That work could be done best by voluntary helpers, people of sound sense and tact who would not arouse resentment in their collecting of data. Here wa.s a fine field for social service of the highest kind which might be of decisive value ia the stern campaign. The-churches, Mr. Shaw concluded, were particularly well placed to assist in the offensive. They had their organisations already operating over much of the territory the campaign had to cover.

INSTINCT TO WORSHIP

INERADICABLE URGE IN HUMAN HEART

“ CULTIVATE SYMPATHY’”

“Worship is one of the most deeply ingrained instincts of the human heart and it can never be wholly eradicated nor outgrown. It has persisted through all past ages and in every branch of the race,” declared the Rev. W. Walker, preaching on “The Refreshing Springs of Life” in the Pitt Street Methodist Church last evening. “Although this instinct may be ignored or suppressed, no matter how determinedly a man may strive against its pressure, in the time of crisis it will break through the cracks of the soul, and he will cry out to the God of the universe,” said the preacher. “There is grave danger today of forgetting the cost by which liberty of worship has been won. Men and women have hazarded their lives and suffered unspeakable tortures in their endeavour to obtain the right of worshipping God according to the dictates of conscience,” he said. Divine worship elevates the whole being, and it is a moral calamity when the pressure of life’s activities are permitted to crowd out the spirit of worship. Sympathy was also a source of spiritual refreshment, continued Mr. Walker. It was one of the streams which watered the arid patches of life People ought to cultivate the grace of sympathy because there were many who found life exceedingly difficult. Practical sympathy would smooth the rugged path; it would encourage the depressed, and heal the achihg heart. When Mary anointed the feet of Jesus with precious ointment Judas pronounced it a wasteful act, bur. Jesus perceived the sympathy behind the deed and declared that she had wrought a good work. By that act of sympathy Jesus was encouraged to face the ordeal of the cross. It was of interest to note that Jesus received refreshment of spirit not only in the synagogue and from sympathetic friends, but also from the beauties of nature. He loved the wayside flowers, the sunset sky, the hills and the valleys. The person who approached Nature in. a revereutial attitude of mind would discover that God spoke through His created works. Mr. Walker referred to the enriching Influence of music, literature and art. He concluded by reminding the congregation of God’s eternal love manifested in Jesus Christ and urged his hearers to drink deeply at that spring and then to become channels of blessing to others.

POWER OF THE SPIRIT

TRIUMPH OVER THE BODY The subject discussed in First Church of Christ, Scientist, Auckland, yesterday was “Spirit.” The lessonsermon was based on Zechariah iv., 6 : ‘ Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts.” Among the citations was the following from the Bibler “’And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, saying. Know the Lord: for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them,’ saith the Lord: ‘for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sins no more.’ ” The lesson-sermon also included the following passage from the Christian Science textbook: “Through repentance, spiritual baptism and regeneration, mortals put off their material beliefs and false individuality. It is only a question of time when they shall all know Me (God I, Irom the least ;of them unto the greatest. Denial of the claims of matter is a great step toward the joyk of Spirit, toward human freedom and the final triumph over the body.”