SEEING LIFE

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 April 1929, Page 6

SEEING LIFE

PARSON AS TAXI-MAN.

The Rev. Thomas H. Whelpley, the Minister of the Chelsea Presbyterian Church, New York, recently decided to see life as a taxi-driver on the streets. He sums up his experiences jn “Scribner’s Magazine”:— “ ‘What did you get out of it?’ lam frequently asked. And am frequently tempted to reply—publicity, publicity, publicity. Almost as soon as I applied for my license the thing was out. An enterprising young reporter made much of it, and 12 hours on the road brought forth frontpage head-lines ‘Sky-Pilot Taxies,’ ‘Preacher is TaxiDriver at Night,’ ‘Pastor Taxi-driver Composes Sermons into Dictaphone as he Cruises for Fares.’ “I was praised and blamed. I was photographed and caricatured, and radioed and interviewed. Newspapermen and cameramen . camped on my doorstep. I was thrust into fame, whether or no. Driving a taxicab magically invested me with authority. I ’ was .consulted on international, affairs, civic problems, prohibition, divorce, virtue and vice. “Letters poured in from. all over the country and even from abroad. Flappers wanted tp marry me. Down-and-outs wanted to adyise with me, 1

publishers wanted books, clubs wanted speeches. But through it all I held fast to my purpose—to know people

so that I could help them. As the Reverend Thomas H. Whelpley, pastor, I had not been succeeding. As plain ‘Tom’ Whelpley, cabby, the doors to opportunity swupg wide. ’“ln tli,e ministry, as in all life, a sense of humour is a valuable asset. I had been rapidly losing mine. But a few weeks as a cab-driver completely restored it. The cabbies are a cheerful crowd- In the small hours of the morning they swap funny storje3 about ‘fares,’ diseqss religion and politics and women, and laugh a lot. It’s all in a lifetime, buddy,’ they would consple me about a flat tyre on a rainy niglit. “What did I get out of it?

“Well —I learned much about the business of preaching, about people and things and the why of things, about th© tangled web of six million jjves which is New York. On every hand I saw men trapped —by their desires, tfieir ambitions, their prejudices, their fears, their faith, and their lack pf faith. I saw frantic men striving to fight free. I saw beaten men sitting quiet, making no moye. I saw the fury of those who could understand, and the misery of those who .could not. I saw meanness of spirit and nobility, determination to win and the tragedy of having failed. “And I realised suddenly the tremendous gap between the Way of Life as we preach it and the way. of life as we live it. Life —lipsticked, 'rouged, and clothed in silk. Life — ugly, blackened, broken on the wheel. Life —seeking, calling, reaching for God.

,f I found men and women not less religious tp-dpy than yesterday/ not less religious in New York than in New Brunswick. But because the church has failed them they do not go to 'church- The reason it has failed them is because its ministers live in a world apart, having no real understanding of the needs of those they profess to serve. For the church is the shadow of a- man. And is sadly lacking in man-power. “It has been said ( by a well-known psychologist that there is no place in tho ministry to-day for best minds, for creative thought and intellectual effort, It seems to me that- there is not only place for best minds, but a tremendous, a supreme, need for men of high.resolve, With breadth of vision, Wide sympathies, and understanding hearts and minds. “4s a preacher I had been much concerned about where I was going. As a cabby my concern was altogether about where other people were going and why. To my surprise I discovered they were going to no place in particular, did not know where they were gQipg, and did not care.

“For the most part they were trying simply tp get away from themselves, to Jose themselves in the bright copfpsipn of New York at night. They were greedy for gold, eager for power, and given over to material conquest. Slaves they are to their passions, their hopes, them fears.

“Blinded by the glare of a million lights, deafened by the rush and roar, fevered by the sickening speed at which they work and play, all sense of proportion, all sense of’ values, is lost to them. Hysterical, devil-may-care, they are selling themselves, betraying themselves, destroying themselves, bodies apd souls, while the church stands idly by apd wonders what it’s all about. Your neighbours and mine. Average men apfi women. “Men are -not fools. Discouraged and disgusted with religious bigotry, inter-denominational strife, and stupid permopisipg, they have gone their way. And have lost their way. They hpve gone so far afield that we who are supposed to be their shepherds can no longer even hear their cries.

“It was not until I abandoned the quiet pulpit, the stained-glass windows •and glittering brasses, to follow my people where they have gone, that I learned the truth about them. It was difficult, disillusioning,', anfl perhaps iipprthqdox, hut it W.as worth It.”