THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19529, 11 July 1925, Page 5

THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

RELIGIOUS READING FOR THE HOME. WHO SHALL SEPARATE US . > * DEATH? . . . LIFE? O what were death without Thee, Redeemer of mankind? Then darkness were about me. No dayspring in the mind Tb bless tile Light of ages Until my latest breath, While conscious that the wages And doom of sin are death. Thou Star of morning, flaming Upon the brow of night, Qur fear and thraldom shaming With Thy prevailing might; The ransomed sea Thy token Outshining from on high. And light by death unbroken Is immortality. O what were life without Thee, Who are the Life indeed? No love were then about me To hear my sigh of need That love, to whom all beauty And victory belong, Might dwell in me, and duty - From sighing change to song. Son of the Father, living To bring His love to view! Fully to mankind giving The Father’s love anew; Together we adore Thee— Oar Leader in the strife— And ever bow before Thee, The Way, the Truth, the Life. —Hugh Falconer. PRAYER. O Thou who art the same yesterday, today, and for ever, be with us through the strife and through all experience which might sunder our souls from Thee. If Thou keep us we shall be safe, and if Thou help uS we shall be strong, until we meet Thee in the joy of the morning after the night is past. Amen. LENINISM v. CHRISTIANITY. Mr Stephen Graham addressed at the Memorial Hall, London, a crowded gathering of ministers and delegates on “Leninism versus Christianity.” The keenest of interest which attracted so, large an audience on an extremely hot afternoon was in itself a striking demonstration of the new brood o* issues which have been begotten of the Russian Revolution. Mr Graham manifestly stirred the feelings of the audience in his opening words as he proceeded to say that the Russian Communists have, on their own admission, found it impossible to realise the Marxian ideals without removing the teachings and sanctions of ■ the Christian religion. For that reason they have conceived the necessity for. establishing a now religion in a cult of Leninism. According to Mr Graham, the Communist leaders in Russia are sparing no effort to remove the ikon—tha symbol of -religion in Russian homes—from the houses of the workers, and are establishing Holy Corners in the name of Lenin in the various workshops and factories. In words that wore vibrant with emotion, he deplored, the sinister cult of Leninism as that of the canonisation of one who was an avowed athiest. In the most emphatic of tones he declared that the Russian Communists were working for the general overthrow of modern civilisation, and a resonant cheer endorsed his further declaration that it was a great mistake for a political party in this country to tie itself to so treacherous an 1 organisation, Mr Graham’s address, with its unquestionable intimacy with the situation in Russia, begotten of a ’ong residence in that country and, of a close intercourse with the Russian people, made a profound impression upon the minds of the assembled delegates. At the c’oso of bis remarks there were addrossed to him » number of questions all of which he was able to answer from the fulness of his first-hand knowledge. IS QUAKERISM DIMINISHING? THE FRIENDS’ YEARLY MEETING. The Society of Friends mot this year in the large Spa Buildings amid the lovely gardens by the soa at Scarborough. bo Swarthmore lecture was this vear delivered by Professor John W. Graham, for many years principal of Dalton Hall, Manchester. It treated me live —indeed, the rather uneasy subject of the Quaker ministry, beginning with a defence of the amateur, unpaid ministry, and then contributing a long history of how it had fared m the society from the earliest days till now. The practical advice on the subject to speakers who are and speakers who should bo was the result of long and earnest experience, and the considerable passages on this unique art and very special call will provoke much thought. There is not a sufficient supply of voung ministers with “concern” and consecrated ability coming forward. This and the diminution in the number of Friends who do the devoted work their elders did in the adult schools has caused a great deal of thought of recent months. Some articles in the Friends’ Quarterly Examiner on “Are We Drifting?” have caused a flutter of correspondence, and may easily give the cue to the yearly meeting. Officially, it, has been decided to try to concentrate this year on plans for the future rather than on reports of the work of the past, and this falls in very well with a heart-search ing inquiry as to the devotion and strength of our .spirit and the fitness of our equip ment to meet the great calls that are made upon our little 'band. Numerically wo Friends show a slight in crease, chiefly on the Continent. We stand at about 20,000 members in Great Britain. Take away old people, invalids, children. Friends residing abroad, and Friends who can do little society service, either from the strain of business or domestic toil, or from indifference, and it may be doubted it there are 2000 people left to bear the Quaker message to a world at a low ebb morally. All our active doings are practical deductions from our faith, in the indwelling of God in man leading to the sacredness of humanity and maintaining the bond of sympathv and goodwill which should pervade_ all nations, of whatever colour their skin may be, and all competing classes in business. Tie same idea makes us smile at theological differences .and all clerical claims. The presence of the Holy Spirit makes a quick end of these. But we have not enough jfien and women to write the books and pamphlets, to address the meetings and organise them, to collect and give money, to travel to the ends of the earth where neglected suffering exists, to watch Parliament, to work in settlements and prisons, to contest elections and sit-in the House, to take seats on the bench and in local government, and to earn a living at the same time. If it were not for the work of our women we should be weak indeed. NEWS ITEMS. For all his scholarly efficiency and intimate association with Greek and Hebrew, Dr James Moffatt has shown during his visit to America that ho thoroughly enjoys the game of baseball. While in Boston he attended his second game with Professor A. 0. Randson and Professor Karl Manlatt. The Scotch in him, wo are told in Zion’s Herald, twinkled in his blue eyes in recalling the game. “I enjoyed it very much,” he said afterwards, “especially watching the people.” Dr Mqffatt’s own consuming passion—after Biblical scholarship—is fly fishing alone in a Scottish bum. Dr R. J. Campbell’s emotions when preaching from the City Temple pulpit—his first appearance in his old pulpit since ho entered the Church of England nine years ago—must have been poignant with mingled memories of triumph and pain. But Dr Campbell was, as usual, master of himself and the situation. Ho knew exactly ,tho tone of voice needed to be well heard in the City Temple, and his sermon was followed with eager interest. As someone remarked afterwards, Dr Campbell looked just a little older but a very great deal stronger than in his City Temple days. Major-general O’Ryan, of the American Army, contributes some war reminiscences of Dr Parkes Cadman, of Brooklyn, to the Boston Sunday Post. He has a particularly vivid memory of a sermon on swearing which Dr Cadman preached as an army chaplain to an audience largely composed of “hard-boiled” mule-drivers. Dr Cadman’s opening remarks “failed to register.” Before he sat clown, however, he had “demonstrated to the satisfaction even of the mule skinners that cursing and swearing were evidences of futility—that when a man, whether he was a general or a muledriver, met; difficulty in overcoming an obstacle and resorted to language of the character mentioned, he was, in effect, announcing to the world that ho was beaten.” The General adds -. “While speaking Dr Ca'drnan represented a _ picture of robust energy, which unconsciously appealed to the soldier auditors. Ho was of stocky build, his face tanned, his nose and jaw pugnacious, his voice strong and incisive. Ho didn’t plead with those soldiers. Ho told them things.”