THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17942, 22 May 1920, Page 5

THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

RELIGIOUS READING FOR THE HOME. IF HEARTS ARE DUST. If hearts are dust, hearts' loves remain, And somo\vhero,—far above the piano Of earthly thought, beyond tho sea That bound this life, they will ,mect thoe, And hold thi.o face to face again. And when is done life's restless roigD, If I hereafter but regain Heart's lov?, why phould I troubled be Tf hearts are dust? By lovo's irnlif-olublc chain, I know tho gtavo does r.ot retain Heart's lovo; the very faith in mo Is pledgo of an eternity, Vlicre I shall find heart's lovo again, If hearts are dust, j James Terry Whito. A USEFUL PRAYER. Once mora a new day lies before us, our Father. As we go out amcng men to du our work, touching tho hands and lives of our fellows, make us, we pray Thee, friends of all the. world Save us from blighting tho fresh flower of any by the floro of sudden anger or Secret hate. Help us to cheer the suffering, by our sympathy, to freshen the drooping by our hopefulness, and to strengthen in all tho wholesome u enso of worth and joy of life. Grant that wo may look all men in tho faco with the t-yo of a brother. If any one needs us, nmko us ready to yield our help ungrudgingly,, unless higher duties claim us, and we may rejoioo that we have it in us to bo helpful to our fellow men—Amen. CHRISTIAN GREATNESS. The strength that is in a man can be only learned when he is thrown upon his ( own resources and left alone. What a man can do in conjunction with others does not test the man. Tell us what he can do alone. It is ono thing to defend tho truth when you know that your audience ore already prepossessed, and that every argument will meet a willing response, and it is another thing to hold tho truth when truth must bo supported, if at all, alone— met by cold looks and unsympathisino- suspicion. This is self-reliance*—to repose calmly on the thought which is deepest in our bosoms, and be unmoved if the world will not accept it yet. To live on your ,own convictions against tho world, is to overcome tho world —to believe that what is truest for you is true for all; to abide by that, and not to bo over-anxious to be heard or understood, or sympathised with, pertain that at last all must acknowledge the same, and that while you stand firm tho world will come round to you; that :s independence. It is not difficult to get away into retirement, and (here live upon your own convictions; nor is it difficult to mix with men and follow their convictions; but to enter in the world, and there live but firmly and fearlessly according to your own conscience, that is Christian greatness. —F. W. Robertson. PREACHER AND POLITICIAN. MR MORGAN GIBBONS SPEAKS HIS MIND. . , An unusual incident oocurred at a meeting of tho London City Mission-, at the Mansion House, recently. r lhe chairman (oir Aifred Yeo. M.P., said that what was wanted to-day was no new nostrum, only the old Gospel. The Rev. J. Morgan Gibbon, at the close of an eloquent speech in support of tho London City Mission, said the chairman seemed to be an idolater of the old. For himself, he did not take age into account. Many of the biggest lies and humbugs come from antediluvian ages, and many new things were true. "And," he continued, "while"the j preacher or tho London City Missiondry may do well to narrow his message to one point, ft behoves the House of Commons to come to the rescue of those men who aro seeking to save others spiritually, and' to help in the up-building of their moral and spiritual life. It is not enough to say nice things about us. Let politics • come in and help us. not by saying, You may havo lino houses, and so on, but by doing tho work it is appointed to do—building houses not merely fit for heroes to livo in, but fit for children to grow up in. Everything has gone up except Government houses!" The chairman took exception to these remarks, and called up the next speaker, a missionary, -with the remark, " You will now listen to a man who knows what he is talking about." Mr Morgan Gibbon left the platform. At the close of the meeting Sir Alfred Yeo remarked, " Pray forget the breeze between me and tho speaker who went out. I know what I am talking about. No house will bo any good unless Christ ia in it. It is unfair in a religious meeting to attack the Government, which is struggling against terrible odds and unparalleled_ opposition to do its best. I was glad tho man who followed knew what he was talking about. I believe in Christ and I believe in my politics, and without x-im my politics would not bo worth much. A maft may still bo a Christian, even thougn he is a member of Parliament. Every Tuesday at the Houso a number of \is meet in a room and pray that the country may be guided aright." * MISSIONS AND THE COST OF EXCHANGE. . In a letter to the secretary of the National Laymen's Missionary Movement explanatory of the unprecedented cost of ex?f a " g V n ™$ e Eaat ' the R 'S h t Hon. Heginald M Kenna, •'formerly Chancellor cf tho Exchequer, says;— Let mo first take the case of missionary, work in India. The expenditure of tho missionary societies in India is made in Indian currency, the basis of which is the silver rupee. 4 Suppose now £100 is subscribed in England to an Indian missionary society. Before that £100 can be spent in India rupees must bo bought, and it will depend upon the exchange of tho day how many rupees can be obtained for £100. Not long ago you could buy 1500 'rupees for his sum; to-day you oannot buy moro than 800. In other words, whereas formerly a subscription of £100 in England enabled a society to spend 1500 rupees in India, to-day it will only enable them to spend 800. Similarly, but to a still more drastic degree, the cxchango in China is against us. The British pound sterling to-dav buys considerably less than a half of the Chinese taels or Mexican dollars that it could purchase in 1914. Now, when we have to meet our expenditure in China we have to pay in Chinese taels or Mexican dollars, and the consequence is that moro than £2 must be subscribed at home to maintain tho same organisation as in 1914 cost £1. "I fear that there is only one or two courses open to tho missionary societies. Either ihey must succeed in considerably increasing their income, probably to doublo tho amount, for the support of their Eastern missions, or thoy must cut their work down very likely toone-half. Tho latter alternative is one in which I do not believe •British feeling will acquiesce." NEWS ITEMS. Presbyterians ,in Forsyth, Montana, are rising superior to a series of hardship.?. That section lias had three crop failures in succession followed by a damaging flood, and on top of this a disastrous lire swept through the church. Everything was destroyed, including tho beautiful windows o.rxl tho pastor's library. Tho pastor, the Rev. H.. H. Klcmm<J, feels particularly crippled by tho loss of his library, and it is proposed by leaders, of tho New Era Movement who .knew of his splendid work, that his brother ministers throughout the ooun,try each contribute ono serviceable book as tho foundation for a new library. Dr Kelman, posto-: of tho Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York City, and Dr Jowett's successor, has been elected to tho directorate .of Union Theological Semiftary, and has the same. The gulf between Union Seminar)' and the Fifth Avenuo Church lias been supposed to bo fixed and impassable. Dr Kelman is the first pastor of this church since tho days of Union's first defection from the Presbyterian Church to be a member of the seminary's board. Tho recent appointment of this relation lias caused some public comment in the public prints and in private conversation, even in tho circles of his own church. A very remarkable -Indian evangelist, Sadhu Sundar Singh, loft Bombay in tho middlo of January for England, to begin an ' evangolistic campaign which will cover many other lands besides England. Sadhu Sundar Singh's mission in Trevandrum ill February, 191 S. lingers in the memory of Christians of all denominations in that .province. Ho is a typical Sikh of the finest type, 29 years of age, and dressing in a long, flowing; saffron robo with senrf and turban to match, is described an grave, with a captivating smile, and unembarrassed inunner. "and giving tho impression thn-t.lie .might havo stood for tho figure of Christ in tho famous picture ' The Hope of the World.' " Wondering crowds followed him everywhere, and at one largo open-air meeting some men appeared carrying a sick man on a bed, and placed it so that tho sufferer could seo tho faoo and hoar the words of Sadbu.