GLOW-WORMS

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 29, 4 February 1939, Page 13 (Supplement)

GLOW-WORMS

By--Ret). C. If. Chandler

On Religion

THIS article is not concerned with anything quite so scientific as Lampyris Noctiluca, but just about those luminous beetles which help to provide the Tourist Department with some source of revenue from the thousands who annually go to the Waitomo Caves. Of course, none of us supposo that nil the in New Zealand reside within six or seven miles of Otorolianga. Far from it. They can bo seen on moonlct?« nights amidst native scrub in many places. They don't liko noise. They simply refuse to glow in the midst of commotion.

Qur Elen, a London comedian, used to sing a song about the many advantages which members of the lower orders of creation poetess above those which wo humans possess. He referred to the camel's capacity for drinking copious draughts, to the usefulness of a giraffe's l neck when the Lord Mayor's Show was passing, to the added advantage of having a hide like a rhinoceros when someone hurled .a brick. As a man who had been sat upon by his wife, he envied the "fretful porcupine," and thought, moreover, that a turkey stuffed with sausages had a life more full of joys than he, poor man, could possibly have when stuffed only with saveloys. And so he went on, turning over the pages of a child's animal book: until he came to the glow-worm. In a voice filled with stilled sobs, ho pointed to tho advantage of being able to get out of bed and glow, when the six-montlis-old began to exercise his lungs ill the middle of the night. Although not altogether in die manner referred to in this last connection, it iB quite possible for us all to emulate the glow-worm. There is a hymn which continues to find a place in the "Hymns, Ancient and Modern," with every new edition which is published. Being a very humble little hymn it must just manage to squeeze through among a crowd of Others, and so escape the editorial eye, where' such a martial gentleman as "Onward Christian Soldiers" simply has to be noticed.

Have mercy on us, Lord most High, Who lift our hearts to Tlicc; Have morcy on us wowus of earth, Most Holy Trinity.

That is how one of the verses runs. Most of us draw the line at being called Worms, it spends too much time on its stomach. When anybody else but this pious hymnologist has occasion to call anybody a worm, it carries with it a strong suggestion of cringing humility which is positively abhorrent. To be called a toad or a pig is bad enough, but to be called a •worm tests one's endurance to the uttermost. Omitting the "Worms" ■ Doubtless an occasional dose of real humiliation is good for lis all. At the shine time it is doubtful whether this hymn is much used these days, and when it is, the sonorous voice of tho announcer can be heard saying "Hymn number IG2, omitting the first verse." Then the congregation, wondering why this verse has been omitted, starts intelligently, to read the Verse in question—a thing which under normal conditions it seldom does.'

If then we must be called worms, let us be glow-Worms. Dr. James Moffatt's rendering of the familiar line from Komans XII., "not slothful in business; fervent in spirit J serving the Lord," is most pleasing. It goes like this* "JsTeVer let your zeal flag; maintain the spiritual glow; serve the Lord."

As glow-worms, let us maintain our spiritual glow. All aglow with enthusiasm. All aglow with love. Going one better than the glow-worm, we should be able to gldw aiid be radiant, not oiil|jj in. moments of quiet exhilaration, but also right in the midst of life, when umbrellas are being poked in oUr ribs, and when somebody is treading on our heels in a crowd. Inward serenity, yes, for that is the hidden source of all outward radiancy. •

"Did not our hearts burn within us?" said Cleopas to his friend, when speaking of their Sabbath afternoon stroll

from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Such inward glowing—such spiritual fire is the very essence of true religion. When your zeal begins to flag, you can l)egin to count yourself out in the battle of life. No sadder words can be heard | from those of advancing years than, "Oh, I was like that once. What -would I not give to be able to recapture some of the fire and zeal of youthV' William Booth* whou he chosc "Blood and Fire" as the motto, or rather battle slogan of lus Salvation Army, must have had his life touched with a live coal from off the altar of God. Nor is tho humblest soldier in the smallest Army Corp unmindful, in some inexpressible way, of the fact that religion without fire is of little worth. God, whom the prophet Xsaiali assures | us, "Will not quench the smoking flax," is tho Great Kncouragcr, and those whose, zeal has flagged would do well to encourage enthusiasm wherever they find it, and pray the more earnestly that they may recapture the spiritual glow. ( » A Christian with a long drawn fac3 is a libel on our faith. He makes us think of "worms and epitaphs." We can j hear the wind howling through the tombstones when he prays. He has such a morbid sense of the sinfulness of man, and sucli terror-laden notions of the wratlifulness of God. Helen Keller on Hands Helen Keller (blind, deaf and dumb) has something to say about these coldly sanctimonious folk. She says, "The hands of those I meet arc dumbly eloquent to me. The touch of some hands is an impertinence. I have met people so empty of joy, that when I clasped their frosty finger-tips, it seemed as if T Were shaking hands with a north-east storm." She then proceeds to tell of others she has met "whose hands have sunbeams in tliem, so that their grasp warms my heart." She also tells of people "whose handshake is full of unspoken sympathy, and whose sweet, | rich natures impart to our eager, im-; patient spirits a wonderful restfiiJliess ! which, in its essence is divine." Of Dr. Henry Drummond, she says "his warm handclasp is like a benediction." Helen Keller, being blind, was able to | pick her glow-worms ill the dark* ' And j so can Ave, but better still in the ?iglit. Broadly speaking, and from a Christian rathdr than from a naturalist's point of viewj there are only two kinds of worms, enrtli-worms and glow-worms. Those that shine and those that don't. Those j that can shine in the dark When adversity has overtaken them, aiid sorrow laboureth the heart, and those who are as lustreless as lamp-black, and who, likely as not, have become life members of the "Ancient and Venerable Order of Discouragers/' one of whose earliest members was Eliab> the brother of David, who, when David essayed to go to slaj' Goliath, put every obstacle in his way.

"Let your light 60 shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father Which is in Heaveil/ , Th.it is the Divine exhortation that bids us be aglow with a radiancy that the world so sadly needs.

Books could surely be written entitled "Incandcscense and Evangelism," or "How Doth the Glow-worm Glow." Inspite of varied titles the message would be tho v same. It would be of vital sparks and glowing embers, for the luminosity of age, whilst it may burn with a mellower light, and belong to tho chimney-corner, betrays a calm assurance Which the brilliancy and white heat of youth can never possess.

And so, whether we be worms in knickerbockers, or in pantaloons, with smooth or bearded chins, let us be glowworms. Then, when we sing "Have mercy on us worms of earth" we can still.retain our self-respect, and entertain far kindlier feelings towards F. W. Faber who, bi sides being the author of this hymn, was also the author df "Hark! hark, my soul/' and "My God, How Wonderful Thou Art."