WAR AND CHRISTIANITY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 157, 3 July 1916, Page 9

WAR AND CHRISTIANITY.

TWENHETH CENTURY GOOD SAMABITAN. "mi, AXD HTT HARD." There was a large muster of members of the St. John Ambulance Society at St. Matt [lew's Church oa Sunday morning, the ladies in their neat uniforms forming 3 large part of the congregation. The Rev. W. Gillam, who conducted the servce. based his remarks on the parable of the Good Samaritan. He remarkec. first, that the wood "good" was not in the wording of the Gospel, but tbp world knew him as the "sood" Samaritan. The good Samaritan unI doubtedl;r raved the life of the unfortunate trai eller, who had been set upon by robbers :ind left wounded by thp wayside. Bu: up was not content with that, "fake oa - e of him." said the Samaritan, "and wh; uoever thou spendest I will repar." Tie twentieth century picture of thp G.OOO Samaritan needed to be carried out to the full. Would they hive been good Samaritans if they had not organised a band to pursue the robbers" The wise physician studied the cause oi illnes;. aid sought to remove the cause. ''Take care of him" might mean pouring into the robbers a good round of buckshot —a hard, stiff right against urongdoing. lod pity us if we failed to stretch ojt a helping hand. or. if occasion arosi!. a hand doubled up into a fist to strike full between the eyei to stop these depredations. "'God fity us if we became soft and > easy-goin;." continued tie prca.-her. " Hurry up your hospital ships, and your hospital work, and your r> inforccmcntvS. hut strike 11 hard. If a nation of Huns, mighty. I i warlike, jarbarie. threatens our houses and homos. Go.i pity us if wo ,-.; v not prepared to defend what should v-" , nearest and rparest to our hearts. Let us seek peace and pursue it by a'\ mcani, let us tn to obey the command to 'love our enerries': but if a nation or H:ins is determined, to drop bom us on our wives Ind children. God pity us if kp are too weak or too easy-going to strike a blow for freedom. Now that this war has commenced, vith all its hoTrors. ihe turntieth cen nry good Samaritan may say 'Fight it to a finish: let's Have Jc ne once for ill with these horrors.' '' ASSOCIATION'S ORIGIN AXD WORK. Mr. Gi lam gave an inter-s:.ng account of the origin and work of the J Order of £:. John of Jernaaica. and welcomed the member? of the .\urkiniid branch. The story of the St. Join Am-1 bulance Association, he said, ras onp'of! the most thrilling and romantic - n his- J tory. Lr.st year he was frequently n * Malta, thi birthplace and home- of the I association. Its members were rne 5 Good Samaritans of the earlier Clit-is- J tian centuries, though they ii; 1 cany I j trusty swords to smite down m< , (.'or- | sairsand pirates of the j jj po-wer in :he Mediterranean. 1' •» c!sy | came when the knights or Malta h:n! no j | longer to ight. A hundred years ago | they «r!ad v welcomed the British. iin"i their island home became par; of the British Ecipire. Bα: taough work of the Orler, in its military for.n, was finished, the work of tending the sick and wounded, the poor and helpless, rii&t««; not cease. a Toe work of the Red Cross owed i:s initiation in all countries to the -'n:ghts ; of St. John, continued the preicjer. The humane proposals of The Hagu,? Comerence ematiwd mainly iro-m the crcr.irisations st rted by the St. John Anhu-1 lance Ass ciation. The Oier «.- established in a practical way ;n England SO years ago. It had since always had the Sovereign a" its hc.il. Ever since it 3 formation it had undertaken the honourable task of toiling io ameliorate the miseries of the sick an 1 li.-fdy. In that excellent book of t l- . . Order. "Chivalry and the Woun 1-jd.'' it was pointed out tha: the wg.-Sc of the association had so quietly and modestly carried 011 in times of poaco t.iat. on I the outbreak of the war, 'he rr> rr.bcra £ were able to set out ; n thoavufts v.ben the sraunms came. The Ro/a! Army 1 Medical C)rps and the e t. Jehn Arjbu- 8 lance Assrciation wctp now working as I one organisation under the R*d Cross. • \foney hat flown in:o its treasury without stint, because the Empire knew now the debt t owed to the patient, unobtrusive help of the association. It was well that the Order should be in evidence at church service from time to time, and that i>be public should have the opportunity of expressing gratitude for its noble servjicps. The church parade of the Auckland branch of' the association was under | 1 Assistant-Commissioner C. J. Tanks. A total of Iβ officers and 100 members of the rank ; and file of the organisation paraded aji the Drill Hall at 10.30 a.m. The majojrity were in uniform. The men's division consisted of Superintendent A. Gt. Piikington and 23 non-com- . missioned 'officers and men. The follow- ] ing was tie parade state of the various nursing divisions under Mrs. Smith, lady corps superintendent:—Central, two ofS-cers an|i 3.5 in the ranks; Ep3om,two; ' officers and 18 in thp ranks: Henderson.! one officefl and 10 in the ranks: Devonport, one .officer and two in the ranks: National 1 Reserve, two officers and 20 In the ranks; and Graf ton. one officer, and onp ir, the ranks.