CHALLENGE TO YOUNG CITIZENS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 36, 13 February 1939, Page 3

CHALLENGE TO YOUNG CITIZENS

“Have We the Moral Reserves to Face a Great Crisis?”

“The great and urgent question for our young citizens of to-day—-and upon them must rest the future well-being of our Empire—is ‘Have we the moral reserves to face a great crisis if, in the future, this is in store for us?' Personally. I have no doubt that this challenge must be faced by us all sooner or later.” rpHIS is the belief expressed by Dr. Angus Watson, J.P., in an at resting address delivered in the Church of Divine Unity, Newcastle-on-Tyne and reported in the “Christian World Pulpit.” “Two mutually conflicting ideals have taken possession of world civilisation,” said Mr. Watson. “The first is that of ‘power politics,’ or government by coercion; the other is government by righteousness, with the recognition that the Creator demands implicit obedience to His laws, as an alt drnative to personal and national destruction. There is no room n this world of ours, because of new methods o’ transport as with, flying, and new methods of propaganda as with wireless, for both of these ideals to live side by side. One or other of them must be overthrown. “When considering this problem, as we must do, wc are called upon to decide (as history has had tn do right through the ages) as to whether we are living in a world of caprice and accident, or in a God-governed universe. What is your own answer tn tins searching question? “Do you see in the life around you progress that is merely accidental? a constant struggle between selfish interests that have no moral purpose in them? a meaningless world, without sense, and without security? Or a world in which through conflict and discipline humanity is slowly fighting its way through the slime and the tragedy of life to a richer heritage? “The answer to those questions will be the interpretation of your own life, and the meaning of the purpose of it. Be honest with yourself. What is the final goal that you are trying to reach as an individual citizen? “What is the contribution that you yourself are trying to make to the coming in of the Kingdom of God? Are you prepared to see all that civilisation has won so painfully through the ages destroyed and overthrown? Will you stand idly by while might seeks to overthrow right? and the kingdom of force slowly replaces the kingdom of righteousness? These are not optional questions; they are imperative and urgent, for again we must find the answer to Jeremiah’s old question: “If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?

One of the Perils. “One of the perils of life is the unconscious loss of our spiritual reserves. There is a danger with all of us that we may so encourage our interests in the minor activities of life to so absorb us that we allow our ’foundations to be gradually sapped without knowing that we have lost hold of the eternal verities. “Life is so fascinating that we often allow ourselves to be carried along on its swift current without realising that we are no longer strong enough to face a crisis if this sudden comes upon us. Our moral muscles have become atrophied, and when at last the clear call comes to us to enlist in a spiritual warfare we find ourselves unable to rise to its final challenge, and have no reserves that we can call to our aid. “The Campanile of St. Mark’s, Venice, was built in the year 902. For a thousand years it stood dominating the great square of which it was the centre, and to none of the citizens who proudly looked up at the great pile did it ever occur that it should ever be shaken. But Nature was busy with her subtle processes of disintegration. In July cf 1902 it suddenly crashed to the ground, for its foundations had crumbled to decay, and what had for a thousand years been a monument of strength and beauty remained but a heap of unshapely ruins. “That is the experience of many of us, and the peril of us all. We have forgotten that we can only continue to hold what we are worthy to possess, for ‘constant vigilance must always be the price of liberty.’ “To some there may have gradually crept into their lives a sense of hopelessness and futility. The ta-K** to which we are called are so large as to be apparently beyond our strer.yL In the great conflict of life betweei ; ood and evil, our personal resources are so pitifully small, and the contribution that we appear to be able to make is so meagre. We estimate falsely v. hen we so measure our opportunities Alone we can do little, but our gifts—limited as these may be —delicated to high ideals, and inspired by the strength of a heavenly partnership, are beyond measure. "If Hitler, a semi-illiterate house painter, inspired only by love of his country, has been able to change its history in the short space of ten years, what can we, with the love of God in our hearts, achieve if wc but see the I Heavenly Vision? “To-day, as always, the clear call comes to each one of us. That is God’s way. Cromwell, Wesley, Bunyan. Grenfell and Somervell are among our spiritual ancestors, and if we are faithful to the highest that we know, we can work for the coming of the Kingdom in the sure confidence that at long last ‘we ’ shall reap if we faint not.’ ”