SUNDAY READING.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 September 1922, Page 9

SUNDAY READING.

THE PROBLEM OF PROVIDENCE. “Master, carest Thou not that we perish ?” —Saint,Mark, IV., 38) (By Bev. A. H. Collins, New Plymouth.) “Carest thou not that wc peri-li?” Such was ihe abrupt, half pleading, half reproachful cry which rang out. sharp • n dedear. above the hoarse scream of ■he storm, and broke the spell of the •’’vine Sleeper. Such ie the cry that .still ■-•’• aks from a multitude of perplexed ■ nd affrighted hearts in the presence of frowning providence, and an apparent- ’•■ indifferent God. Recall the Storv. For brief spell Christ was the popular idol, fis presence pulled like a magnet. Multitudes thronged round Him. eager to -hare His healing mercy, til] He is utterly ’ >rdan Valley. Stepping into one of the sher craft that lined the lake. He bade lis fisher folk push off and out to sea. or a moment the fiat-bottomed boat ■raped the shingle of the beach, then ■th steady, rhythmic stroke they left o shore. 1411 lost in the distance and ie dark. Nothing was .seen and nothing heard save the plash of the oars, and ■erhaps a snatch of =ong from the lips ; the men who plied them. Meanwhile •he Master sank to the bottom of the boat with no second garment to pro ‘e I Him from the (drill .right wind, nn food to refresh His -vp tried powers, and no comfort cxcep- ,i "Allow." which may- • ided. ri perhaps a bin De of dried nets supplied. Ji was A WONDERFUL SIGHT. There on the hard planking of a fisher slept the Lord of All Worlds! The • :?ee that was ‘marred more than ■ ■ n< of men.” Thunders pounded ‘ -ky. lightning flashed and gleamed. " Spirit of the Storm laughed the loud ■ of triumph, but none had power to .•: His slumber. "His head was on ;. piiiow laid, and He was fast a.-.icep." lecD. as if soul and spirit and gone un in holy dream, to ba.sk in the Divine tier beside the °River of Paradise, where angelo moor their boats and watch the currents of Eternity! We owe much to the wakefulness of Christ. The thought tb.at "He that keepcth Israel doth neisolation: but that sleep in the teeth°of and how sympathetic was His identity with toil-worn men!

MINISTRY OF DARKNESS AND STORM. But what of the disciples? They had learned -something from Christ's wakefulness and resource, but there are some things fair weather and smooth seas can darkness and storm. Danger may be ‘•Prayer is good at a dead lift.” says quaint Matthew Henry. Lass than an hour ago these jaded men had left the land in the hone of finding rc-t. and lo! the unexpected, had happened! A sudden squall swooped down nn them like a beast of-prey. Sails are shortened, oars are shipped, and. keeping her head to the wind, tb.ev seek to avoid falling into the trough of the sea. They are reliictant to awake the tired sleeper. He so i.ceded rest. But the peril was grave. "Wake Him,” said one. “Yes. rouse Him.” said another. Then a chorus of voices cried: ‘Master, carest Thou not that we perish?” It was no exaggeration. The case was desperate. These were no dry land sailors. They had been brought up to the sea and were used to handling a boat. It must have been a serious storm to frighten men who had spent a lifetime on the lake. Put. the water was sixty fathoms deep. • nd the strongest swimmer could not ! live in such a sea. Some of them were married men with wives and weans, and bfe sweet: whilst night lent terror between them and a watery grave! THEIR FEARS EXPLAINED. And yet it was not the storm alone that explains their fears. Their perplexity rather lay in the seeming inditter- « nee of Christ. They were His' servants. They were in the path of duty. If they Dad been a company of Jonah's, fleeing from God’s commands, the case would have been different. But thev were Christ s (li-eiplcs. carrying out His will, and every pull of the laboring oar witnessed to their fidelity. Yet He seemed ignorant or indifferent to their desperate. plight! That was the rub. Besides, Christ’s honor seamed at stake. In a memorable passage Shakespeare ex“Good name in man and woman, dear my lord. He that filches from mo my -rood name Robs me of that which not enriches And makes me poor indeed.” ASLEEP IN THE STORM. Yet Christ’s good name was involved jn the safety of that storm-wracked craft. For that craft held the World’s Redeemer and the pick of the apostles; stood all this. They certainly did not. But we. standing on their shoulders, can see further, and we can see that the wreck of that boat would Ira re meant was asleep in the hinder part’’ of the Now it is this aspect of the story that appeals to ns, for the sleep of Christ in the presence of threatened disaster seems so true to our experience. God rules people have their trials like other folk; ist says, "the waters of a full cup are tion of dieobd&ience. for their greatest trials come in the plain path of duty.' Lazarus is sick, and. instead of -speeding to His side. Christ “abode at that time two days where He was!” Peter is in prison, and it i« not till the hammer is busy nailing up the jihbet that the angel comes. The child -sickens and pray, and the heavens are as brass. The storm bursts, and Christ sleeps! And the problem cf Divine indifference is one of the problems of religion. It is not insoluble. but it is a serious problem, and it is useless to burk it. "M'here is the do nothing,” says Carlyle. “Oh! it is hard to work for God, To rise and take His part Upon this battlefield of earth, not sometimes lose h—-

He hides Himself so wondrously, ,As if there were no God, . He is least seen when all the powers Of hell are most abroad.” WHY ARE THEY ABROAD? Armenia runs red. with Christian blood and “the unspeakable Turk” isn’t brought to book! Brutal war ravages the world and plants the battle fronts crazy Jineo sing -his songs about glorious war! (.rafey diplomats lie an.’ scheme, and die wisest are deceived and ail ’ b””v V‘'7 ? I world in such a welter of misery.' NameI le<?s multitudes a.-e trarnnied i.n l foot i that others may mount to -v. .ili a ar-l power on their prostrate forms! The sweated slav. -. and the hopeless slii-r -iweller. civ: .> Go'd, that bread should lie so dear and flesh -n.l blood so cheap!” Drink and gambling and lu.t hold hi;!; carnival, and still the sword of God’-?, i righteousness sleeps in its scabbard! The i sneaky submarine launches its bolt, and i hundreds of innocent women and ehili dren shriek and sink. The assassin’s I bullet flies, and Ireland’s hope lies stark. Yet no Divine hand deflects the holt or the bullet from its mark. ' Yet I would and you would if we had the If God i-s almighty, all wise and all good, why does He do nothing? Oh! it :is not a handful bf fisher folk: it is' a distracted world that lifts the cry: "Master, carest Thou not that we perNO EASY PROBLEM. The problem is not easy. I don’t envv . the people who think it* is simple. But , it is not unanswerable, and we might csk a question more difficult still: AA'hv did not God step in when the Son of His love, who i’.ad done nothing amiss, was exposed to Pilate’s wild and savage crew ? When we speak of innocence suffering. let us bethink us of Him who was not only innocent but holy, who ! was “made perfect through suffering.” i If the sad and weary world suffers. God i -offers more. He is no idle spectator. He is standing in the circle of the world’s woe. An English padre tells how. when visiting a military hospital in France, an serious wounds, said to him: “What I want to know, padre, is. whatsis God >ik;>? When I am transferred into a new battalion. I w "it in know what the colon:*! is like. He b?-se.s the show, and it makes a lot nf difference what sort ho . Now I realise that 1 am in the battalion of humanity, and I want to know what the Colonel ’is like.’’ The chaplain pointed to a crucifix which hung over the officer’s bed, and said: “Yes. 1 think I can tell you. God is like that.” AVasn’t that a true answer? What is God like? He is like Jesus on the rood. He is a suffering God. Thus in “Rough Rhymes of a Padre” there are these true lines: “The sorrows of God mun be ’ard to If ’e reallv ’as Love in ’is ’cart. And the ’ardest part in the world Mun surely be God’s part.” WHERE GOD IS.

When the storm bursts and the billows God is in the put to me in the years of war was this: “Why does not God stop the war?” It does H ‘ not stop much beside the war? For example: Why does God not stop typhoid, -smallpox, red plague, poverty, drink. Just, and every other evil thing? Why does God not stop sin? The answer, of course, is that God cannot. In making man a free, intelligent, responsible being God limited His own power. If man is to be accountable for hi-s acchoose right or wrong. You can’t make man good, peaceable, just, fair, without consent of his will. wharf, but if she is to prove her duality she must cast off her mooring nJ nut cut to sea, and that necessaril’ evolves risk. A lad. tied to his mother’-; apron something less than a robust and virtuous man. It. means risk, but there is no other way. The evil of the world is c.om without which he would be a machDIFFICULTIES MAKE MEN. Beside, difficulties make men. Sailors yachting on smooth seas have neither the joy of conflict nor the vigor that it brings. Better the darkness, when we cannot see our way. and the wind is in our face, and problem-.? that tax our strength, if these give us “the wrestling thews that throw the world.” It is after the storm that the shores are strewn with treasures. We are not sent into the world to be made comfortable, but to be made strong orave, time. W4iat we regard as God’s indifference is not indifference at all. It is patience arid love that will not let us p±ay truant from the school of life. Lowell has these, lines

which may help us: “Over the keys, the musing organist, Beginning doubtfully and far away. First lets his fingers wander as they And builds a bridge from Dreamland for his lav. Then as the touch of his loved instruGives hope and fervour, nearer draws his theme.” So is it with the music of our lives. This is the prelude stage; the rounded harmony has yet to come. “Heaven will make perfect our imperfect lives.” God understands the meaning of life’s strange medley of joy and sorrow, o tears and triumphs. But wo surely know • iwi-.’h to trust His providence so large and kind. God has a far greater stake in the world than we have. If His cause failed Hi.* less would bo g.'eater than ours. His honor is bound up with the redemption of the world, and if one trusting soul perished it would dim the splendor of His glory. The story of the text conic- to a grand finale. “Why are ve fearful?” said Jesus, for He could not understand how any soul could doubt God’s fatherlv care. Then Ho rose and stilled the tempest. “Peace bo still.” rang across the swaying hills of water, and the foam-crested waves, like whipped hounds, crouched at His feet. “He maketh the storm a calm, s othat the waves thereof be still.” “Thrice blest is he to whom is given The instinct that can tell That God is on the field when He Is most invisible.”