THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 198, 19 May 1941, Page 6

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Comments—Reflections Intercession.

Eternal God, through whose mighty power our fathers won their liberties of old, grant, we beseech Thee, that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain those- liberties against all the rage of our enemies. We pray for our lighting forces, for the leaders of the British Empire in Council and on the battle fronts; for all who bear great responsibilities in industry and commerce; for the brave and patient workers pursuing their weary toil through many hardships' and sometimes perilous bombardment; for all mothers and child welfare workers on the battlefields of Britain; for all doctors, nurses, and chaplains who seek to save others in disregard of their own peril. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

“’Tis in ourselves that we are thus, or thus. . . . The power and corrigible authority . . . lies in our wills.”— Othello.

“I have all the prejudices of the pedestrian who has never driven a car, and I sometimes wonder at the mentality of the drivers whom I see who would apparently prefer to be twenty years too soon in the next world to being ten minutes late in this. There is, however, one contribution which all of us might make, both those who drive and those of us who get out of the way if we can, and which might prove to be a real contribution toward a solution of this problem: to regain the sense of the sacredness of individual life, even of our own.’' —Lord Snell.

“Churchill and Roosevelt were perfectly correct to say: ‘Do not bother us with planning. Our plan is to win the war.’ They said to us: ‘You go on and plan.’ Mr. Churchill has given a cue. Let us all go one step at a time, that everyone may have abundance of the right kind of food, and every family a decent house, and every person be able to make a contribution to the common weal, doing away with the misery and frustration of unemployment. People say that we shall not be able to do these things, because we shall be so poor. I do not think that is true. Real wealth consists in men willing to work, and material you can get them to work at.”—Sir John Boyd Orr.

“I have visited during the last 35 years nearly all the important centres on the Continent, from Reykjavik to Budapest, and from Stockholm to Barcelona. During all those and other extensive journeys I do not remember ever encountering a foreigner who had any idea, for example, what Dominion status meant. Those who had heard that the Dominions were ‘self-govern-ing’ just did not believe it. The Idea that the English were a Tlerrenvolk’ to whom the Dominions paid tribute was too deeply engrained. The fact that the Dominion of Eire has been free to remain neutral in a war in which her as well as our future liberty is at stake has uot prevented such otherwise intelligent people as Icelanders, for example, from remaining under the illusion that the status of the Dominions is something verging upon slavery.”—Mr. Stanley Unwin, the well-known London publisher, in the “Tribune.”

"Let no one be anxious about Turkey, because the four men who worked the programme of Turkish regeneration as the Ataturk’s co-operators continue at the helm qf affairs. The first is General Ismet luonu—the present President of the Turkish Republic—who, since the triumphant treaty of Lausanne in 1923, has beeu the potent power. Ismet’s work at Lausanne deserves never to be forgotten for without it modern Turkey could not have come into being. It was the Treaty of Lausanne which helped Turkey to reoccupy Constantinople, make Ankara her capital, proclaim the republic ou October 29, 1923, sign the TurcoRussian Treaty in 1925, agree with the French about the Turco-Syrian boundary, adjust her affairs with the British and the Iraqi Governments regarding Mosul in 1926, sign the Montreux Convention in 1936. A plethora of useful diplomacy for peace was . the direct outcome of that 'Liberation' at Lausanne. And Ismet was the hero of it.”—Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah, in “Great Britain aud the East.”

“Under certain circumstances we are all inclined to be afraid, and wains waged today is terrifying, but, in' face of it, wo know that the best way to net is to carry on as far as we possibly can with our appointed tasks and keep cheerful while doing so; psychologically that combination is the liesl prescript ion. It is not I lie fear ot Hie real and actual which is apl to cause so much damage. The fear which we have lo avoid and side-track is the stale of anxious anticipation- -1 lie imaginative side—the side which has foreboding, and which by our selfabsorption in it destroys our ability to act wilii judgment. IVe can lake heart from what lias been happening in London and elsewhere. Let. us therefore not worry and ponder too much either on tlie past or the future, but let us trust to our morale, our courage, our faith, to enable us (o meet any emergency in accordance with our best instincts. They will not let us down. Remember that if neurotic and psychotic disturbances occur, they occur, for tlie most part, at a fairly superficial level ami are transitory, not permanent."—l’rofcssor D. K. Henderson, Superintendent of the Itoy.-il Edinburgh Hospital for .Mental and Nervous Disorders, in liis annual report.

Steel. Here, in heat and clangour, steel is born. Tills cold relentless steel, this hard salvation, This sword, this wing, this buckler of a nation! Dear God. how have I changed; for I have sworn To lay steel to my soul and. tempo red. I read Till life he won. lest, living. I am dead. - liutli Evans, in the ”tlbservor,” IxMHlon.