PRAYER FOR PEACE

Evening Star, Issue 23354, 25 August 1939, Page 14

PRAYER FOR PEACE

THE QUENCHLESS FLAME OF HOPE A NATION'S GREATEST NEED ADDRESS BY REV. W. A. STEVELY A prayer for peace and that another world war might be averted was made last night by the Rev. W. Allen Stevely at the largely-attended annual congregational meeting of First Church. His address to the meeting dealt largely with international affairs. They must seek the quenchless flame of hope, despite the gathering clouds of foreboding. “Can we see the Star-of Hope at the present time?” Mr Stevely asked. “ Let it be admitted that the night is dark, but on that very account that star should shine more brightly. In his book ‘ The Abbot ’ Sir Walter Scott describes how Mary Queen of Scots, imprisoned in Lochleven Castle, kept her hope alive by gazing from her window across the waters to the village of Lochleven, where there gleamed a light which told her that her friends were planning her escape. ‘ltis no brighter at this distance than the torch of the poor glow-worm,’ exclaimed the Queen, ’and yet that light is more dear to Mjary Stuart that every star that twinkles in. the vault of heaven.’ It was her star, though lighted by human hands, and it kept her hope alive until the day of liberty dawned. LIGHT OF THE WORLD. “ Wo must seek the quenchless flame of hope in international affairs,” Mr Stevely said. “ The clouds of foreboding and peril have returned, and the international horizon is dark. Yet hope abides.” . There was a famous stone that rested in the British Museum, he continued. Its value resided in the fact that it shed light and hope on a dark problem. It furnished a key to the hieroglyphics or ancient picture-writing of the Egyptians. For centuries the cleverest scholars could not understand this writing. One day about 137 years ago French engineers were digging round an old fort near Rosetta, in Egypt, and they came upon a_ curious stone on which there was written a decree. It was written in three kinds of script— Greek, ordinary Egyptian, and hieroglyphics. Scholars knowing what the Greek meant were thus able to read the picture-writing for the first time. The Rosetta Stone where the same thing was written in three scripts provided the clue. “ Jesus Christ is the Rosetta Stone of world problems,” Mr Stevely said. “ He alone is the Light of the world. He is the Way to a Letter world, the guarantee of a united and peaceful world. He has given the vision of the Kingdom of God, and inspired men to believe and hope and pray that the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ. Only the redeeming power of His Cross is great enough to draw all peoples into the spirit of fellowship and service. In Him all nations shall be blessed, and with Him abides the Star of Hope.” HOPE ESSENTIAL. That was the greatest need of any nation —the guiding Star of Hope. A nation might weather many a storm and survive without many things, but not without hope. History revealed that there had been dark periods in the experience of the British nation, when every star in the national sky seemed to have vanished. Such a period was the eighteenth century. Ideals were debased and national life corrupt. Then a wonderful transformation took place. A people that walked,in darkness saw the light of the Star of Hope. A period of phenomenal progress dawned that had been described by one historian as “ a century of hope.” A new, spirit swept through the land, and expressed itself in every department of thought and action. So great, indeed, was the change that it was claimed that the following 100 years witnessed more progress than had taken place during the previous 1,000 years. It was a spiritual change effected by Him Who was the inspiration of the highest hope. He saved the nation in the eighteenth century, and He would save it in the twentieth if with all their hearts His people truly sought Him. “ To see the Star of Hope is the springtime tonic for each individual,” Mr Stevely continued. “We are saved by hope. Napoleon’s uncle tried once to - dissuade him (rom a campaign. Napoleon .opened the window of the room in/which they stood, and said, ‘Do you see that star?’ ‘ No,’ came the reply. ‘ I see no star.’ Napoleon just turned his back and said, ‘But I see it.’ To see the star, whether others see it or not—and to follow the gleam —is the secret of the noblest life.

“ It was a lamp lighted by human hands that sustained the heart of Mary Stuart. The Star of Christian hope is lighted by greater than human hands. It is not at the mercy of circumstances. It is by Him Who sees wondrous possibilities in every human life, and Who by the miracle of His grace gives a hope as radiant as the morn. Lift up your hearts and let our expectation be in Him!’'