THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 299, 15 September 1941, Page 6

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Comments —Reflections Intercession.

Merciful God, shed Thy -.light into hearts darkened by anxiety or sorrow. Comfort all who mourn, and sustain the oppressed in conquered lands with hope through faith in Thine ultimate righting of wrongs. Grant recovery unto the wounded and sick, and have mercy upon the dying. Relieve all in necessity and raise up helpers. May Thy righteous rule speedily be vindicated among the nations; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Experience . .- . a jewel that I have purchased at an infinite rate.— Shakespeare, “The Merry Wives of Windsor.”

“Loss of life in bombed. England actually is less than iu peace-time, according to James B. Forgan, of the American Red Cross. By taking automobiles off the highways, by exercising caution in the home and in industry, by improving diet, by safeguarding self and community from the threats of epidemics through sanitation, vaccination and immunization, the English are saving more lives than their enemies are able to take.” —“Reader’s Digest.” U.S.A.

Recently our leading psychologists have been drawn to study scientifically the problem of fatigue in industry, and have already brought some interesting facts to light. The most important fact is this: that the worker’s mind is fatigued long before the muscles he is using in his work acre in any way tired out. It is said it is almost impossible to tire out a muscle. So long as the mind is fresh, or, rather, so long as the mind can be refreshed by a new stimulus, the muscles will respond to the new stimulus not once or twice but many times, and great things ean be attempted and done.” —The Rev. Dr. E. Griffith Jones in the “Western Mail.”

“If we are going to get the problem of sin into anything like right perspective we need an enlightened and. educated conscience, as well as a sensitive one. Some people hastily assume that conscience is an infallible guide to what we ought to do and an unerring judge of what we have done. It is neither the one nor the other. It is certainly not an infallible guide, as the story of religious persecution shows; persecutors have always believed they were doing God service. And it is not an unerring judge, as witness the agony of poor John Bunyan, who was convinced that he had committed the unpardonable sin because he had played tip-cat on the village green on Sundays.”—From “Facing Life with Confidence,” by the Rev. Leslie J. Tizard, 8.A., 8.D., B.Lltt.

“When Hitler promised at Munich to use ‘the method of consultation’ in all questions concerning Great Britain and Germany, he defined no term for the contract; he actually kept it—after a fashion—for 11 months, When he told the Reichstag on the day after he had torn up that pact that his latest agreement would rule out the use of violence between Germany and Soviet Russia, the term was declared to be ‘for ever,' or, as Ribbentrop later paraphrased it, ‘for all eternity’; it was accordingly expected that this pledge would last longer. And so it did l —just twice as long. Once again Hitler demonstrated 'the strength of the one principle in which his consistency is absolute —that his signature to a treaty is to be used solely as a bait to lure a victim into a trap, and that his word is to be broken the moment any advantage can be gained by the betrayal.”—London “Times.”

“The crux of the next great step in the organization of our world will be the attitude of the United States of America. I wish to speak quite plainly on this point. I feel convinced that the United States of America, in abandoning the League of Nations* to its fate, after taking the leading part in its formation, helped to pave the way for the world war which is now devastating Europe, and into which she will herself Inevitably be drawn. Great is thus her responsibility for the world situation of today, although, of course, I do not deny the greater responsibility of others. She has had her share of responsibility for the future. Her unique position in the world, her vital stake in the issues in dispute, the dangers which face her also iu a world in chaos —all these considerations place a heavy duty on her in this matter of world-organization. Isolationism is as dead as the absolute sovereignty of the national state. Security, reform, better ordering of our world community--all call for an effective common authority. Thus only can our world be made reasonably safe for peace and liberty —the twin ideals of democracy. In that common world authority America must play a leading part.”—Field-Mar-shal Smuts.

“We have all read pretty often in the last few weeks and in the last few months of British troops and Allied troops being overwhelmed by superior weight of metal and machines. We do not need to be convinced any more that the bravest men cannot resist a combined onslaught from machines in the air and machines on the ground; and we do not need to be convinced that if the Greeks, and the Yugoslavs, and the French, and the British, could be armed equally with the Germans, the Allies would be on top. What is it that is going to determine which side has the most guns and tanks and aeroplanes when the really decisive campaigns of this war come to be fought? It is, in the last resort, the Battle of Broduction, which in this modern war is going on all the time, by day and night, behind the Battles of France, and Birtaiu, and Greece, and Irak, which flare up periodically and then subside. Many of these latter battles have been won before they started, because one side or the other had already won the Battle of Production. And that battle, remember, is being fought not only in the aircraft and shell factories, but in the quarries, docks and railway sidings; by those digging allotments and collecting salvage materials just as much as by those driving rivets in the shipyards." —Mr. Douglas Jay in a recent address.

* * * True Wealth. Poor and content is rich, and rich enough. But riches flneless is as poor as wintei To him that ever fears he shall be poor. Shakespeare, “Othello.”