UNDYING HOPE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 17 September 1941, Page 3

UNDYING HOPE

SPRING WILL COME AGAIN. “We live in evil times,” said Bishop Barnes, preaching in Birmingham Cathedral. ‘‘Men are angry, bewildered, embittered. But there is still much quiet goodness, quite astonishing bravery, and a widespread resolve, in the words which have almost become a new national anthem, to ‘build Jerusalem in England’s green and pleasant land.’ To many of us, the contrast between the fresh splendour of May and the iniquities of war is almost intolerable. We wish, like our forefathers, to go a-Maying; or we remember Hous* man’s verse: — Since, .to look at things in bloom, Fifty Springs are little room, About the woodlands I will go To see the cherry hung with snow. But the drone of the bombing aeroplane is in our ears and the wireless never ceases to tell us of lighting by air and land and sea. So God’s beauty poignantly challenges man’s folly. As the challenge grows sharper, those who revere Christ will remember His saying that wisdom is justified of her children. Nations are trying to tear one another to pieces. The end will be weariness and a wondering disgust. But then, year by year, springtime will come again with its moving and cleansing beauty, and men Will learn anew that behind misery and suffering lies the undying love of God.”