THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18541, 29 April 1922, Page 5

THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

V, RELIGIOUS READING FOR THE HOME. FAITH. God sends us down into this world, And then for years and years, He is the comrade of our souls in greatest joys'tond fears. We walk along the path of life with Satan at our sine, \et our inner souls know that God Will ever be our guide. o}b Lite, it's sweet to live and know there is a God to trust, And although wicked seed we sow Our own great God is just! —Vela Bortyl Edwards. PRAYER. O Lord, we thank Thee for every good gift, we bless Thee that we can cast all our weakness upon Thyself, and we pray for help to do so, more trustfully, bravely, patiently, and habitually amidst all the changes, and perchance trials, to which v e are exposed. We thank Thee that Thou dost not leave us alone, and that we may never make ourselves alone by rejecting that_sweet sacred presence which Thou art waiting to give ns. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. OUR GROWING SLACKNESS. DEAN INGE’S PLEA FOD SELFCONTROL. “W e see everywhere a growing contempt for all rule and tradition,” said Dean Inge in a Lenten address at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Smithfield. Ohurch-going, ho continued, was passing more and more out of fashion; Good Friday .had been turned into a bank holiday, and Sunday was sharing the same fate. Family prayer and Bible reading were much less general than they used to bo. ‘‘This does not necessarily mean,” said the Dean, “that Christianity is decaying, end I do not think it is. It would be possible to find respectable reasons for the growing neglect of the observances of religion. But surely if we are honest we must admit that one reason for the change i| that the fibre of the national character is becoming softer, that we are becoming a self-indulgent, self-loving people, impatient of all restraint, averse from nil discipline, and, above, all things, are enjoying life by refusing - restrictions and multiplying amusements and excitement.” This greediness for pleasure, Dr Inge continued, was a real danger, and one of the best ways of recovering from it was to revive respect for religious ovbservances, chiefly as a means of discipline. Daily exercises in self-control and self-denial were as necessary for the formation of a strong character as daily gymnastics or games were for the formation of a strong body. “Let me bear of you,” he concluded, ‘‘as it is my privilege to do at this season of Lent, to make a resolute effort to struggle against the moral and spiritual flabbiness which overtakes all of us at times, especially those who are too much at ease in Zion.” A GOOD-WILL COUNCIL. Denver’s good will council is the latest development of Christian dynamic in the industrial field (says the Continent). And it is in every regal'd a development of happy and sanguine promise.' The prayers of the church.‘everywhere ought to be warm for its success; if this effort at mutual understanding in Denver makes good on the basis on which it starts out, it will bo a tremendous vindication for social efficacy of the principles of Jesus. With the Denver experiment successful, other cities will no doubt find some similar way to realise an aspiration nearly universal to-day among both employers and employees. Men everywhere feel that Christ’s good will should settle the conflicts of self-interest which now rouse contending classes to bitterness. And Denver presents what looks altogether , like an honest effort to see if it will—when given the chance. The original shaft of light pointing to this hopeful prospect shone out of a resolution adopted by the Denver Trades and Labour Assembly. It was prefaced by three fundamental “whereases” — that “capital and labour are drifting toward a condition of industrial welfare”; that ‘‘it is the duty of men to reason together rathejr than blindly seek selfish advantage” ; and that “labour is willing to rest its case on the application of the golden rule and the teachings of the Carpenter of Nazareth.” On this basis the labour union men invited Denver employers in the building trades to appoint six men from their pumber to meet six from the unions under chairmanship of some impartial citizen chosen by mutual agree’ment, and thus to constitute the “gopd-will council,” ready to discuss any question of industrial strain, that might be submitted to it. The Ministerial Union of the city urged the employers to accept 1 and they have consented. It is to be hoped that the citizen chairman will be Rev. G. S. Lackland, a Methodist pastor in the city, whose plain preaching on the message of Jesus " seems to have been the main influence prompting the working men to shy they were willing to rest their case with “the Carpenter of Nazareth.” HOW TO END WAR. Speaking as the official representative of the World Alliance for Promoting International Friendship through the churches, at a meeting in Union Church, Shanghai, Mr Fred B. Smith, tho well-known American Y.M.O.A. worker, said: “I make three suggestions which should be put into effect if it be felt that another war is necessary. First, the question of war or peace in the future should be put before the people in the form of a referendum; secondly, only mothers should vote; and, thirdly, only men from 35 to 60 should be allowed to fight the country’s battles. This would save the cream of the nations, the young men, eleven millions of whom were assassinated in the late war.” AMERICAN NEWS ITEMS. The Rev. A- S. Nickless, pastor of Albany Park Church, New York, preached through the radiophone at ’ the invitation of the Westinghouse Company. The congregation of Aurora Church (Rev. W. B. Hindman, pastor) assembled in the church to hear the sermon. Mr Nickless has received letters testifying to the clarity of the ibessage. Every student of the University of Tennessee who was away from home received an invitation to attend hospitality day services on a recent Sunday at one of the Knoxville churches. After the service each student was the guest at dinner of a member of one of the congregations. The suggestion originated with Dr 11. A. Morgan, president of the university. That thousands of church members, most of them arrivals from the east during the past year or more, are living in Los Angeles but attend no church regularly, was disclosed by the recent inter-denominational home visitation canvass conducted under direction of J. S. Durham, of the International Sunday School Association. Pastors report a marked increase in church attendance since the campaign. Vigorous followup work is being carried on by most of the churches. A cablegram teceived from Korea by the American Board of Foreign Missions announced that the Korean Government has granted permission for religious liberty in Chosen Christian College at Seoul. Ever since the college was founded the Government has refused to permit compulsory teaching of the Bible within its authorised ciirriculubi, and this recent action is a further step towards religious freedom in Korea. Many churches in New York City have considered tho unemployment situation. Ministers of all Protestant churches had been asked by Dr Charles Stelzle, chairman of the Unemployment Committee of the New York Federation of Churches, to make an appeal to their people to give a helping hand to needy families in the>f neighbourhood, and to join in a city-wiae movement to give a day’s work to every man they knew of who was qut of work. Cards were distribute! suggesting various kinds of employment. Brooklyn ministers participated also in the movement, having decided a few weeks ago that it was easier to cooperate with this unemployment committee than for individual ministers to try to find • work for needy applicants. Several churches have formed committees within their own congregations to bring together employers and unemployed with very satisfactory results. More than 8500 delegates from every State and nroviuce of the United States and Canada are expected to attend the international Sunday School Convention at Kansas City, Mo.. June 21-27. Professor H. Augustine Smith, of Boston University, who is to have charge of the music, pageantry, and art has announced his intention of substituting for the “hip, hip, hurrah” type of convention music “fine arts in the service of religion.” with the first 45 minutes of each evening programme given to music, pageantry, and art. which will be correlated witn the themes of the evening so as to give the intellectual stimulus and emotional setting for the addresses that follow. The programme of the convention is so planned that while each department and division will meet for separate working conferences, the work and plans of each will be presented to the entire convention at some time during week,