SUNDAY CIRCLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15350, 13 January 1912, Page 7

SUNDAY CIRCLE.

DEVOTIONAL. TIIANKiM-.iriNO. Tho harp at Naturo's advent strung lias never ceasod to play; Tiio song tJio stars of morning sung Has never died away. And prayer is made, and praise is given (i »y "II things near and far; l'ho o'.oau lcoket.ii up to heaven And mirrors evorv star. Tho irreen earlJi send? her incense up Krom many a mountain shrine; t'l-oin folded leaf ami dewy cup She pours her sacred wine. The bliin sky Is the temple's arch; Its transept, earth and air; Ihe music of its starry march. The chorus of ji prayer, So Nature keeps tho rcvoront frame \\ it.li which her years began; And all her signs and voices shame i ho pruycrlcss heart of man. —Whittibh. SI'rrLICATION'. Almighty God, the Fountain of all holitiess, who by Thy Word and Spirit dost conduel, all Thy servants in (l:<e way of peace and righteousness; grant, unto us so diligently to watch overall our actions that we may never willingly transgress Thv lir.lv laws—lhil that it may be the work "of our lives to obey Thee, tiio joy of our souls to please Thee, the fulfilment of our hopes and the satisfaction of ail our desires to dwell with Thee in the holiness of Thine everlasting KingdomMake us perfect in Christ Jesus; out of His mines.! may wo all receive, and rest in Him for evermore May [[is passion and intercession be our deliverance; His wounds our healing: His cross our redemption; and His death our life. Willi His righteousness mav we be clothed; hv His Spirit may we lie sanctified; in His Wood may we bo cleansed; and lo His image may we be conformed. May we abide i n Him as branches in the vine; may He "be in its tho hope of glory, and unto us till in all. As He died, may we dio unlo sin; as lie rose again, may wo rise unto newness of life; suffering with Him here, ma.- we reign with Him hereafter; and bearing now His cross, may wo lioroafler wear His crown, thro' the same Jesus Christ, to whom, with the Father and the Spirit, be all honour and glory, might, majesty, dominion, and praise, now and for evermore. Amen. (From tho Kirk of Scotland's Ilor.k of Common Order). MF.niTATtON. AN OPTIMISTIC ItKI.ir.IOX. The religion of Josiis Christ is unique among the faiths of tho world in being the religion of a pure and reasoned optimism. It stands aliove the sad materialism, the sensuous Mohammedanism, the superstitious Paganism, the hopeless Buddhism, as supremely the religion of purity and reason and hope. You may search all history but you will never find one comparable to iis central figure—Christ. Was ever life so courageous and strong, as well as so gracious and lender? Was thore ever one so fitted 10 win tho lov« and devotion of strong and needy men? Tho manhood of .Jesus has won the admiration of unbelievers alnust ns sinceroly ns thai of lielievcrs. Was it not ■ Thoman Carlyle who said He was "tho Hero of. all heroes rolled into ono"? Nothing ever daunted Jesus; nothing ever seemed to dim the brightness of Ills confidence, as a man, in God. When tho srorm-clouds of opposition and danger gathered thick aliout Him and tho thunders pealed overhead, lie only went right on, and against all odds lie won. Though 1 lis path lay through Gelhsemann's dark agony and betrayal, through dm mockery nnd the travestied judgment of Pilate's court, and through the physical and spiritual horrors of Calvary, He never flinched, never despaired. And why? "For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising tho slmme."—W Ilarvoy-Jellie. Exhortation, the wav to love. Well, how shall we attain lo keep tho Commandments better? How can wo growin love to God? There is only one answer, mid that is -1 iy I lie cotisitliTtiiinn of Giiil's lovo for us. Tlie Jews, !•:■> whom the commandment was first given, were encouraged to lovo Gral by tho rtvolloctinn lli.it it was He who delivered them from slavery. " I am tho Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the li->use of bondage. Thou shalt have none other God but Me, and thou shalt lovo the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and mind, and strength." Does not that appeal to some of us with deeper claim? Creation, redemption, sniiclification—those are tho three great words under which the apostle stuns up the mysterious net ion "f the triune God on our behalf. We believe that it is He who made us, and not. we ourselves. We believe that He has redeemed us from the tyranny of <dn and death. We believe that it is lie that gives us courage and strength to tread tho .sometimes very difficult path or our daily duty. We believe that it i« He who has enriched our life here with the love of parents or wifo or children w frionds, When wn keep those llii'iitr? in mind we hardly need any bidding to lift up our hearts, for our hearts lift thoinselves up to One who has not thought it a waste of His world to call us into being, so that lie could shape us, if it might be, into the likeness of the Beloved Son, and who, through all our blindness—blindness llinl we know—and all our obstinacy and our petty pride, has maintained His purpose, has preserved us till to-day, calling iis by innumerable voiros lo leave our selfishness and our childish vanities and to walk with Him.—Canon H. C. liecching. FROM ALL SOURCES. In that lively leaflet, the Labour Temple Bulletin of New York. "We are very proud of our choir," writes the editor, "' and Mr Sturgeon w boosting it in grecit yhape." On llidlowe'en a party was held ill the Temple. "There were doughnuts hanging on strings, apples in buckets of water, and all the other things that go with Ihllowe'cn-even a ghost." Mi Home said, on returning from America:, "The only place 1 saw that is really getting tinman in the street is the Labour Temple in New York." "Dr Reginald J. Campliell," Hi tho Bulletin calls him, acdrft-scd the members 011 November 5 bust. China .contain* to-day probably one and a hall millions of native Christians, twothirds of whom are itoinan Cu-kolic:, and the lomaiiKL'r are distributed aaioim the various. Proiestant sects. Great Britain and Amvricu divide the labours of tlw Protestant work between tlcni. England specialises on its library awl evaiiiolistic hid-.s, while America leads in cmioatior.-i'l olid imxlical enterprise.-. England has largely given up Oriental educational work." chiefly owing to ihe Iniliuv of her eliotis" in India, which, .-oeiningly, have ended only in spreading t.l.e spirit of revolt among the educated Hindoos. Thcie is Imt one English college in China, as against 14 maintained by America. The Knglish wish 10 save Chinese souls. America Wievcs in applying itself directly to the roov of China's ininiodiato temporal need >i education, which Socuis licst adapted 10 onltghtcn the mind and elevate the character of the population. A chureh for women only is' Iwing planned by the Rev. Ru.*c| "11. Conwell, pastor of 1 lie Bapivst Temple in J'hifcuMphia. Tho church is designed to meet, tho needs i.f the tholKHKh- of young womo.ll ttliD are st>nt to Philadelphia _to tako coupm* at different colleges, schools and universities. [lii-se have no church conrertion -.v: social centre. Service.- will \y. conducted and the whole institution managed solely wiih ihe idea of providing a place of vvorhip for these young women. The churoh will lie kept Ojien day and night. We question whether this is the 1-ost way of interesting these young ladies in tho oliun-h. The division of the church into classes.—whether it he old and young, rich anil pc>'. or male and frimif—is no; wise. We should think it would be brtt-r Unh for those young girls and for the. churches, to get them into some of the r-sgular congrogac'or* of the city, and make them to feel at tame in those churches. Sooner or later it was bound to come—l church for women only. The Philadelphia llaptist Tabernacle, of which Dr Russell H. Conwell is pastor, is likely to tako over the congregation of another Baptist Cimrcli in tlw s.-vnio citv. The building loft vacant bv this consolidation will probably become tiio home of an Institutional Church which Pr Conwell propos-.?. to establish for tho benefit of tho large number of women students who come to Philadelphia from other part* of America. It will not only provide thorn with 8 place- of worship, b'it

RELIGIOUS READING FOR THE HOME

will lio kept open day and night to serve tlie |iur|>os<> of a social centre.

Moro than 150,000 pertnns heard the Gos pol message as proclaimed in the outdoor nuttings <>f tho Natioriiil Bihlo Institul \ Now York, last summer, and about ono person in ovory 40 was sxi impressed as to signify ii d.eire lo load .a Christum lite, or U> ask for spitfial prayer. So unnsmil lias lxvn tho snwsj of tho outdoor evangelistic campaign conduaUil by the National llible Institute that extensive preparations arn b.Miig mudy tooontinuo tho work during the wintor. flans are now being formulate! for a wido extension of llio work, lo include shops an<! factories, iutd unusual centres whom such work has novor been iittoitrptul. SECULAR AND SACKED. SIR OLIVER LODGE TO TEACHERS. Sir Oliver Lodge, addrr«suig a, Sunday School Teachers' forward Movement Confinonco at Birmingham, said;--" What I ficl von- dearly and distinctly is that tho subject 'matter' with which the Sunday school toucher has to deal is the greatest and ma-t magnificent of all, for 1 understand religion to bo not a narrow thing. There is no real distinction between similar and sacred. Cod is not absent from any part of the universe. Mow, 1 take it. wo have to initiate children into a knowledge of iho universe, into some inkling of tho great discoveries which liavo been revealed to iis-disfviveries which have lm?n made in natural knowledge in overy kind of walk. It i« impossible for any ono toaelict to knew much of it. The more .\ou know. I' more yen will lx- surprised at its magnitude and majesty, and the more you will ,;-e why children tarn at this period cf human history should liavo some benefit from the accumulation of learning and wi.v>jm whioh wn have ir.horitod from the oa?t, and which is constantly being increased. It is their right to know something of it, and if you cvin iiPtil soir.o of that into their mii.ds it will enlarge lib (or them, widen thoi r whole horizon—it will he for them an enhancement of tlie value of living lieyond tho value of all pries;. Existence.! It is an extraordinary privilege, an extraordinary rrsponsfbilit-y. They Should realise tho value oj existence, a thine; whioh never coaas, which, ii.iviiig once iVgun, go* on for nil_ ctornKy, a thing of which no one can imagine the outcome-. That is tho subject which is dealt wil.li in various modes and way*. There was a time when a great deal ol this knowliVgo was thought to ta hostile to religion. People did not seem to I? able to unify it. Tim I was taciuis;. things wr.ro becoming to bo known so fast in the ninctoonlh century that we had a lit of indigestion hicnuso wo did not. a-'similate them properly." People. Sir Oliver addd. regarded this fast-accumulating knowledge as though it formed the pieces <■' two distinct puzzle mans. That was not so. Toe pieces formed one map, and now they had nearly all been fitted togillior in thai map. The .map was not quite complete, but tho time was coming wnon d would be, nurl then it would form one -real and harmonious whole, The aim of the teacher was also to mould the rhil dicn's cliaracl.ir, lo give them pood habits. self-respect, citizenship, t.honghtf t;hii t-^ for others, and a great numlwr of little traits, often neglected, yet which had a Brr-.it influence on life and tended to mnko homes happier, citiis moro worthy, at:<l life more valuable in ovory way. THE STI'M-X TRUST AND SUNDAY LAHDUR. When llio Survey made its report on Sunday work (and overwork) in the stnd industry many excellent people (says tho Record of L'hrifitia-n Work) declared it an impossible finding. Men could not work 21 hours on tho stretch! Such treatment of Labour was nothing less than incredible! N'ow comra tho report of th-.« Federal IJiiremi of Labour, wltiolt confirma (and more than confirms) the earlier investigation The Survey ostimatos that ono man in livo at the stoe! indiwlry worked seven days in the week throughout the year. Tlie Bureau of Libour aii'irrus that in the 3M iron ami steel plants of the United States (that is in practically all ol them) one mnn in throe works peven days in the week, and those labour days are. for 25 per cent, of the employees, of 12 hours or more. Commissioner Niel adds: " The hardship of a. 12-hour day and a seven-day week is !ti!l further accentuated by the, fact that overy week or two weeks, as the rase may lw, when tho employees on the day shift ure transferred to the night. »liifl, mid vice versa, they remain on duty without relief either 18 or 24 consecutive hours. "There is," he continues, "practically nothing except the desire to economise in tho expense of production, that prevents Jhs introduction of a system whioh would give each employeo ono day of rest in fvven." For this breaking down of tho Christian Sabbath and merciless exploitation of the stranger within our gates (tho workers are mostly Slavs) ihe members of tho Stcei Trust ought to hoar fome pretty plain speaking from tho Christian Chinch Though they " fear not. God, nor regard man," 1 continual exposure of their heart-les-.new might, weary thorn into better courses.