THE SUNDAY CIRCLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18754, 6 January 1923, Page 5

THE SUNDAY CIRCLE

RELIGIOUS .READING FOR THE HOME. I CAN HEAR 'THEM SWEET AND LOW. The bells of God are ringing Through llio gla<le s of evening light, W hile about, the world of worry Kails the maul In of the night,; The zephyrs hind am bringing Every clear and earnest, tone — Oh, the bells of God are ringing, And my heart, is not alone ! In the sacred hush and beauty, Ilmv I listen! how 1 pray! How the faithful toil and duty Yield the comfort of the day! How my trustful heart is singing Through its wonderment and woe, — Oh, the liells of God are ringing,— I can hear them sweet and low! And from out their hallowed music Gomes the language of the years, I can rend (ho deeper meaning Of life’s hot and teeming tears, — How with faith my life is clinging To the joy that is to come! Oh, the holts of God are ringing In the city that is Homo! Thomas T. Johnston. PRAYER. 0 Lord, help us, day hy day, to bring into onr own hearts and minds more ot that vision of Thy will concerning us. May we be ready to yield ourselves to Thee, and so to find ourselves made nobler and bolter, and delivered from infirmities and imperfections and sins. May wo lose ourselves in Jesus Christ, ami find ourselves there sanctified. May it lie onr life to die, to the to evil, to sin, to self; to live unto God, and more fully in all the little things of daily life, in our enjoyments and passing duties, in all onr relations in life, in all our business and profession may wo carry Jesus Christ in onr hearts. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. RELIGION IN INDIA. some: census results. The results of the last census of religions in India are now available. They will be studied with interest by all who are seeking to understand the spiritual life of India. If the results of the three years—l9ol, 1911, and 1921 —are compared there are some startlin'* 1 facts from ■which it is impossible to escape. The total population was:— In 1901 294,361,056 In 1911 313,547,840 In 1921 316,128,721 That is, there was only a small increase in the last decade—l.2'per cent, ns against 6.4 per cent, for the previous decade. In any attempt to explain this falling-off the terrible influenza epidemic of 1918T919must not bo overlooked; but India is always liable to suffer from plague and pestilence, and the havoc wrought by the influenza is not .so unprecedented in India as in Western lands The Hindus and Jains show a decline; Hindus, for example, in 1911, 217.686,892; in 1921, 216.734,580. But (ho Sikhs and Parsis have increased; Sikhs were, in 1911, 3,014,466 ; in 1921, 3,238,803. Tlfc Mussulmans, too, have increased, from 56,647,299 to 68.735,233. It is in the light of these fads that the figures for the Christian community are to be read. They were: — In 1901 2,604,313 In 1911 3,574,770 In 1921 4,751,079 That is, in (ho last decade the Christians increased 25 per cent., and in the previous decade 35 per cent.; though this shows a smaller rate of increase. Yet, when it is set against the increase of the population, the figures mean, as the Mission Field says, that the Christians have increased twentyone times as fast os the whole population. When the increase, in India is compared with that of China, it seems very small; hut no one who knows the conditions in the two countries will be surprised or discouraged. Besides, there is much more Christianity in India than can bo tabulated in o, census. The influence it has had upon the Hindu society must he loken into account, and during the last decade this has been far-reaching. THE SKY-SCRAPER CATHEDRAL. A WONDER OF CHICAGO. The corner-stone has been laid in Chicago of a building described as tlio world's first sky-scraper cathedral. It is to be a structure of twenty-one stories. The first throe ot these will be devoted to the usual purposes of d church. The remainder will lie given over to offices for various religious bodies and business enterprises. 'The Methodist Episcopal Church is responsible for the scheme, but it is hoped to make the building representative of the Protestant Churches in general by providing them with a suitable centre for their various i divides. The site chosen is in the heart of one of the busiest commercial districts of the city. This ambitious project has not escaped criticism in the American Press. The Baltimore Evening Sun declares that it is impossible to read of it without a sinking of the spirit . It sees in this enterprise another evidence of the passing away of the old idea of religion—the religion that was a spiritual communion between man and his Maker, the religion which was humble and poor, and whose finest flower was the parish parson who trudged the roads in good weather anfl foul, ministering to the needy souls of his flock. That religion, connnenls the Sun, is fast making way for the religion that is organised like a. great trust and keeps hooks like a bank. For such a conception of religion a skyscraper is a fitting home. But in reading of the sky-scraping church, with, its hundreds of “offices,” the ironic observer—so the writer suggests—will have to close his mind if there is not to enter it a recollection of a passage in a famous hook, which runs; —“And they said, Go to, let ns build ns a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make ns a name, lest wo be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” SUNDAY AND SOCIAL IDEALS. A useful National Free Church Council leaflet just issued is “Is Sunday Observance Worth While?” by the Rev. Thomas Nightingale. Mr Nightingale stresses the value of Sunday to the nation, and the disastrous damage to all the ideals nf social and moral betterment if the dnv which, more than anything else, has exalted and inspired such ideals should he robbed of its value for rest and worship by inroads upon it, for pleasure and business. “If England loses its Sunday. John Bull will put up a hoard, ‘This house to let,’ No nation can lose its Sunday and keep its soul.’.’ NEWS ITEMS. Genera! Bramwcll Booth visited Bucking ham Palace recently and had a long talk with the King on the work of the Salvation Army. His Majesty was specially interested in the General’s forthcoming visit to India, ami gave him a message for Indian Salvationists. General Booth was impressed by the King’s sympathy and “understanding mind” towards (he Annv. Probably the highest fee ever paid to a church singer is 'n be received by Mr Joseph Rosenblatt, a, Jewish cantor, who has signed a three-year contract at, £SOOO a year with a Philadelphia synagogue to sing on the Day of Atonement and on two days during the Jewish New iear celebration. This means that he will lie paid £IOOO each time he sings. The contract, will not, prevent, him from accepting concert engagements or from singing at other limes in other synagogues. This rale of payment is said to ef|nalTlic highest known in the case of (he most popular operatic performers. Something of a stir has been caused in the American Protestant Episcopal Church through the publication by Dr Samuel I). M‘Connell of a book entitled “Confessions nf an Old Priest.” 'Die author Ims completed 50 years in the ministry of that Church, ami has held some of iia most, influential charges, including the rectorship nf All Souls. New York. His sermons have been published and wide!* l read, and ids “History of the American Church” has hid a large circulation. In this new volume Dr M‘Gonnell -expresses radical views on many subjects. He is convinced, for instance, that miracles do not happen, never have happened, nnrl ought, not to happen, and he holds that the belief in them Inis been “ethically debauching.” As to Jesus Christ, Dr M'Connell says thataccenting (tie record ns it stands, purged only of its prodigies- there can be no (piestion of His goodness, hut this is only on (he condition that He lived in illusion. Ho goes so far as to say that the genera! adoption of His teaching could not but, dissolve human society. The Church, as it now is, is dominated hv tlm teaching and ethics of St. Paul, who “inflicted upon Christianity (Init, i"ward contradiction between what is ostensibly the ideal of moral conduct ami the overvday necessities of living.” T>r M'Connell says that he feels no difficulty with his conscience in remaining in the Protestant Episcopal ministry, and he is now awaiting the judgment of Ijje Church in the matter,.