THE POWER OF LOVE.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19719, 9 September 1929, Page 11

THE POWER OF LOVE.

SOLVING THE PROBLEMS OF TO DAY. BISHOP WEST-WATSON'S SERMON. Describing love as the dominant spirit of the Christian Church, Bishop WestWatson made an earnest appeal, in the course of his sermon in the Cathedral last night, for a universal application of the Christian spirit in an endeavour to solve the manifold problems of the day. The Church, he said, -vvas sent into the world to be the great uniting and reconciling force. There was a uniting force in Christ 's day, and that was the Roman Empire, but the Empire fell, and when it fell the Church still stood, and in spite of its own divisions and conflicts it did a wonderful work. With growing power she came, perhaps, to depend too much on that power, and like the Soman Empire, her power broke down, and there came disunion. Happily to-day there was a great longing for brotherly union and concord, of which the great conferences of Lausanne and Jerusalem, and in a smaller way their religious conference last week, were indications. The horror of the late war, the speaker continued,, had been brought home to many, and there was the fear of a much more terrible war. There was a fear not only of the horror of suffering, but of that slavery forced on men's minds at times of national crisis—the fear to express their thoughts lest they be considered unpatriotic. There was the tragedy which faced the world as new conditions of industry arose and more and more men and women seemed likely to be thrown out of work. There was disorganisation. They had to meet the problem of the breaking up of the home life. How were they to face these problems? What attitude could they take up? These were days of great problems—days which called for devotion and: a deeper and deeper trust in God. "We have staked all on the truth of the words of Jesus Christ that God is love, whatever the appearance is to the contrary," the Bishop added. He recommended to those who were feeling the difficulties of the time and the problems they had to face, the book by Dr. Henry Hodgkins, till lately a missionary in China, called ''Personality and Progress." "It does as much as any book I have seen lately," he said, "to give uplift to any mind at a time like this, and I am greatly indebted to it." "I don't think we- Church folk are really competent to pronounce on many points involved in industrial problems," he continued. "It needs a trained and scientific mind. It is easy to talk nonsense under the guise of religion, but you know what in life the impact of a loving, simple-hearted person is. The power of love suggests to us the atmosphere in which we can- find the solution to many of our difficulties. Love does not seek personal- security. It is willing to take risks. 'He that saveth his life shall lose it, and he. that loaeth his life shall save it.' The spirit of love tries to put itself in other people's positions, and it wonders how they feel and think. It is the duty of Christian Irfve to enter into the feelings of different people, and into international matters. Many of the leading people of oar greatchurches are trying to get together and know and understand one another better. Previously it had been ignorance and fear that kept them apart."" Love, Bishop West-Watson s&id, must sometimes be prepared to be thought unpatriotic—even disloyal. Love must be in love with facts, for the facts were the things that mattered. If love was to be this reconciling-force it .must be unselfish, and able to go • forth, with hands untied, and draw -the interests of men together. He asked what was being done in this City, and went on to refer to the work of the Rev. P. Bevell, the City evangelist. There was a great deal that could be done to assist his work in the community. Their difficulty had been due to a good deal of overlapping, and a feeling of impotence through not knowing how to deal with a case, and whether it was genuine or not. Mr Re veil was anxious to have a centre for their social work in the City to which people could come if they were in a difficulty as to how to deal with a case. Only £4O a year was spent here in such work, while in Auckland £6OOO was spent, and in Wellington £4OOO. He did not think that it was because people were unwilling to contribute, but besanse they had not been asked. It would not, he •thought, require a very large income to run such a centre. Bernard Shaw had spoken of principles without a programme. They had had too much in the way of principles, and now they were trying to map out a programme, j They were going to make an appeal. The need was a tremendous one. "May God help us all together," he concluded, "to put our principles into practice."