The Sabbath

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 19887, 16 May 1936, Page 20 (Supplement)

The Sabbath

MAY LOVE SPEAK. Age long in war men have uttered fear and hate, Strongly, though they were weak; Now, at the last, even though the hour be late, May Love speak. Make audible all delicate sympathies Of man with fellow men, Winged messengers sent forth, and, given release, Flying home, then. With a word that sets vibrating mind and heart To strange sweet harmonies Where clash of race and colour and class find part, God speaking through these. —E. Lindsay, in the British Weekly. THE DAILY TEXT. Sunday.—The Prayer of One in Doubt: Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, 0 God of my salvation. —Psalms 27:9. | Monday.—God’s Readiness: For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. Tuesday.—The Glorious Announcement: And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ. —Revelation 12:10. Wednesday.—Guard Well Your Lips: For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile.—l Peter 3:10. Thursday.—God Hath Made Me: The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.—Job 33:4. Friday. —The Road That is Open to All: In the way of righteousness is life and in the pathway thereof there is no death. —Proverbs 12:28. Saturday.—The Peacemakers: Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.— Matthew 5:9.

REVERENCE. “The quality of reverence can mean more to us in our relationship of man with man, man to himself, and man to the world, than a great many other things of which we often think more. “If a man really has reverence for the things that have given England liberty, justice, and law, things that many other European nations have not got, he will have reverence also for the people who want to maintain these things for England and will take great care that England shall never lose them. “If we can have something of the spirit or reverence for other people we shall reverence their point of view, we shall be generous and tolei-ant. And if we can have reverence for beauty in all its forms, character, music, art, and Nature, it will reflect itself in every part of life. “If you have reverence for beauty in music and art you will try your best to prevent the public taste from being debased, as it constantly is, by bad music and bad art. “If you have reverence for beauty in Nature you will not allow the countryside to be spoiled by big advertisements reminding other people that they have livers and lungs, and you will not allow paper bags to be left about after you have picnicked.” —Viscount Halifax.

DON’T AND DO. Christianity has far too long and far too generally submitted to be presented as a system of prohibitions. We have treated it as if its consistent message was “Don’t,” and we cannot wonder if a man is reacting against such an entanglement of restrictions. The Christian motto has too often seemed to be “Safety First”; a good deal of quite sincere piety has suffered itself to wear a blighted aspect—it has been frost-bitten goodness, good (as somebody has said) in the worse sense of the word. We shall have to learn, and so learn thoroughly, that Christianity is essentially a system of grace and power, that its watchword is a consistent “Do,” that it is nothing if it is not a tremendous emancipation from the bonds of our little self, that it comes to us as a great breath of clean fresh air let in upon life—or, to change the metaphor, that it opens the door for us into a wider world—the world of spiritual truth and beauty and power; that it sets our feet in a large room, and bids us range bravely and freely in a sphere of unlimited outlook.—A. W. F. Blunt. THE CLOSED MIND. The peril and the sin of the closed mind should never be ignored. It is one of the deadliest of all the dangers that beset humanity, and nowhere is it more deadly than in the sphere of faith and morals. When laziness stops people from thinking, and fear prevents them from facing new aspects of the truth, they are well on the way to the museum. They may have attained a sort of contentment, but it is the contentment of the fossil. George Herbert spoke of dissatisfaction as the pulley of God by which man is drawn toward the infinite. He was doubtless thinking of the noble discontent that has marked all the grandest souls in history. Perhaps, after all, this world is run by dissatisfield people.