RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Evening Star, Issue 19841, 14 April 1928, Page 15

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

[By Forward.]

“Our aim: Every person a Christian,. every Christian a worker, every worker trained.” BACK TO THE CHILD. To the child we must all of us come hack out of the complexities and artificialities of our lives, from our disappointing quests for pleasure, and from the feverish pursuits of our ambitions.' To the child wo must come back ; to be told the way and the secret of happiness. More than this, Christ leads us back to the little child for our spiritual testing, for the measuring of the_value of our character, for The correction of our spiritual knowledge and vision. We are told that artists sometimes become confused concerning color, and find it necessary to subject their eyes to what they call “color-washing,” which consists in holding the sight for a good while upon a perfectly _ white surface until the power of vision is entirely corrected of its uncertainties and contusions. So God brings us hack to the soul of a child for the washing of our spiritual vision. T. have looked down into the limpid waters of a still mountain lake. I could not seo bottom; the waters were crystal clear, but they were exceeding deep. Such is the soul of a child. They are dear, the eyes of a child, Clear as the blue of the sky; No murks of a spirit assoiled Tn their limpid, azure he. They are deep, the eyes of a child, Deep as the deeps of the sea; Under their lifted fringes soft Lies a soul of mystery. They are keen, the eyes of a child, Keen as the lances of light; The pure in heart alone can stand Unashamed in their searching light. They are strong, the eyes of a child, Strong ns tho strength of a god; They rule the world with gentle sway, For love is their sceptre rod. “ Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” inquired tho disciples of the Master, “ And Jesus called a littlo child unto Him, and sot him in the midst of them, and said: > Except ,ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into tho Kingdom of Heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this littlo child, tho samo is greatest in tho Kingdom of Heaven.’ ” To this standard we must come with all our pomp and pride and dignities.—J. T. M'Farland, D.D.

JESUS CHRIST THE STORYTELLER. By common consent Christ is acknowledged to bo the master storyteller of all literature. This unchallenged position is even more completely recognised in the field of religious _ education. “Never man spake like this man,” is th unanimous verdict of all who aro competent to judge, and also of those who, lacking professional training, feel the matchless attraction of a mind whoso qualities they have not the capacity to analyse. What are the qualities that give to His illustrative short stories their imperishable character? They are as difficult to analyse as the swiftness of a bird’s wing or tho glory of a mountain sunset. Their artistic merit is felt rather than perceived. Their obvious .spiritual purpose, like human flesh, conceals more than it reveals of their inner_ framework. Their most striking quality is their pictorial interest simply as good stories. Without reference to their intended lessons they are complete tales of common life, full of human interest and alive with pathos, comedy, and passion. In everyone can bo felt tho Master’s profound sympathy with the weaknesses and needs of human nature, as well as His keen sense of the larger aspects of God’s purposes for the world. They arc marked also by a simple dignity that never .permits them to be mistaken for mere They use the simple elements of life’s environmentrr trees, birds, seeds, weddings, feasts, buying and selling, wealth and poverty, familiar industries, vineyards, sheepcotes, journeys, far countries, and homecomings. But dignity is never sacrificed to vividness or popularity. This quality was secured by His profound seriousness and passoniale sense of the urgency of His mission. Another quality is a combination of depth and With few exceptions their meaning is perfectly clear at first reading. A few require local color knowledge. One does not have to analyse tho parables of the sower and the seed, tho lost sheep, the prodigal son, or the good Samaritan in order to sense their claims on life. Their depth is evidenced by the fact that the best scholarship of civilisation, as well as the patient study of preachers and teachers, have been applied to their interpretation and application, and still they yield spiritual wealth to those who will mine for their exhaustless meanings. Christ was above the earth and close to God, yet He blessed the lives of men with whom He daily walked with the richest truths they were capable of receiving. ... Still another quality in His stories that deserves emphasis is their universality. Christ never went far afield for His stories. He got them from the lives of those to whom He spoke. But the point made is in every case common to human nature anywhere. No analysis of the stories Jesus used would be complete without full emphasis upon their vitality. This means more than mere liveliness of spirit. It concerns the fact that most of them illustrate spiritual life by some other form of life. His insight into spiritual truth and how to apply it to human life was true to all that has been learned to date in the field of pedagogy. His teaching methods have never_ been approached for fidelity to the principles of development. These qualities in the illustrative teaching of Jesus are, of course, available for anyone. How the average /teacher may attain them in a fair measure is primarilv a matter of studying Christ and His teaching, not merely for the spiritual material, but for the pedagogical method He employed in presenting it. It would have been a perfectly true and proper thing for Jesus to have. said to His audience: “It is much wiser for a young man to remain at home and behave himself than to spend his money in riotous living; or for a soul to live close to God than to try to enjoy life without Him.” The audience would all have agreed and forgotten it. But the parable of the prodigal son without a word of moralising is still the greatest story ever told and the best sermon ever preached. _ If the teacher or preacher would be like Jiis Master he must constantly use his imagination in the search for familiar things that conceal a picture of truth. He must apply good taste, a sense of humor, knowledge of human nature and need, and insight into the ways of God. He must never forget that whether old or young his hearers are for the most part child-minded in relation to tho things he seeks to impart. fShey need the truth he has for them; tut their unvoiced appeal is still the child’s appeal: “Tell us a story.”