THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20586, 8 December 1928, Page 5

THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

RELIGIOUS READING FOR THE ■HOME. AWAY FROM MYSELF. By the breath of the blue that shines in ■the silence o’er'me. By the length of the mountain lines that stretch before roe,, By the height of the clouds that sail with rest in motion, Over the plains and vales to the measureless ocean, - (Oh, how the .sight of larger-things enlarges the eyes). Draw me away from myself to the pease : of the hills and the skies. - —Henry Van Dyke.

’ ' - TWO PRAYERS. • Last night my little boy confessed to me

some childish wrong : .And, kneeling at my knee, ho prayed with tears: Bear God, make me a man like daddy—i wise'and strong. Then while he slept I knelt beside his

bed, . * Confessed my sins, and prayed, with lowbowed heads 0 ; God make me a child like my child , .here, : , —Andrew Gillies, in My Magazine. MOTTO FOE EVERY DAY IN THE - WEEK. PRAYER ANSWERED. SUNDAY. '“The Lord is nigh.unto all them that call upon Him, to all. that call upon Him in truth. He will fulfil the. desire of them, that fear Him, He also will hear their cry, and will save them.”—Psalm 146, 18-10.

MONDAY. Therefore u'ill the Lord -wait, that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He ■ be exalted. He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry when He shall hear it, He will answer thee."—lsaiah 30, 18ID. TUESDAY. , - “Then shall thou call, and the Lord shall answer, thou shall cry, and He shall say. Here I - am. , And the Lord shall guide thee continually .... and thou shall be like a watered garden and like,a spring of water, whoso waters fail not.”—lsaiah 58, 0-11. WEDNESDAY. . “And it shall come to pass that before they call, I wijl answer, and, while they are yet speaking I will hear.”—lsaiah 65, 24. “Pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you.”—Jeremiah, -29,' 12. THURSDAY. “ Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.”—Jeremiah 33, 3. '“Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of . . to do it for them.” —Ezek. 36, 37. FRIDAY. “ And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall' he delivered;”—Joel ,2, 32. “ Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity. He retaincth not His anger for ever, because He. delighteth in mercy.”—Micah.7,B. .

SATURDAY. ’“I will refine them as silver is'refined, and will- try them as gold is tried, they shall call on My name and 1 tfill hear them: I will say,' It is my people, and they shall say, the Lord is my God.” —Zech. 13, 9. - DEATH'OF DR G. H. MORRISON, OF ■ GLASGOW. . The news of the death of the distinguished Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Dr G. H. Morrison, of Wellington U.F. Church, Glasgow, has been received throughout Scotland with very deep regrot. - Rather , more than., a week, ago he took ill while conducting a marriage ceremony. It was found when medicallyexamined that he was suffering from a gastric ulcer. Ho seemed to he making good progress towards recovery, but a recurrence of the hemorrhage set" in and he died peacefully ‘on Sunday morning, October 14.

Dr Morrison ■was born in Glasgow in 1866. He haa been, minister of Wellington Church since 1003. He was. moderator of the church in 1926, the year of.the National crisis. He was a most attractive preacher, earnest in manner, and always sympathetic in perception of the common man's difficulties in daily life. He was one of the preachers in Glasgow to-day at the portals [of whose churches queues would collect at the Sunday evening services. He claimed that the Scot loved the expository type of sermon on Sabbath 'morning, and-refused to surrender the ideal to the talk of a new demand. ■• ' He read his sermons from manuscript distrusting the cxtemnore method, and his outstanding and effective forerunners in this respect: were Chalmers, Candlish and Lindsay Alexander. He was loved by the children and his sermonettes to them fascinated even the 1 adults. He was an incorrigible penman who thought that a week was ill-spent which did not produce a few manuscripts. Among the papers left. by Dr Morrison is a typical document which makes provision for his funeral. He states where he wished to be buried, and the clerical friends who should conduct the services. His final injunction was:— "I shall welcome gifts of flowers. ■ ■ • • I am particularly anxious that only bright and cheerful praise should be chosen for the church service, and this ought to be intimated to the gathering." It is a remarkable coincidence that a biography of Dr Morrison was published on Friday, and was seen, by the subject for the first time the day'before he died. The author of the biography is the wellknown ecclesiastical journalist, Mr Alexander Gammie. CHINA NEEDS CHRIST AND CHRIST NEEDS CHINA. Christ needs China and China needs Christ, China needs a Christ who is simple and not hopelessly entangled in creeds and dogmas; China needs a Christ who is natural and not foreign; China needs a Christ who is united and not divided; China needs a Christ who is constructive and not destructive; China needs a Christ who saves and will be h-=-r friend unto the end. Such a Christ has never been rejected in the past and will, not be rejected in the days to come. The cry of the Greeks who came to Jerusalem, "We want to see Jesus," is the voice of many thoughtful Chinese today. Christian missionaries and Chinese church workers who can introduce men and women to the real Jesus are needed in China now more than ever before Our people are rubbing their eyes, they arc standing on tiptoe. and with out-

stretched hands are crying, “We want to soo Jesus!”—C. Y. Chena. general secretary. National Christian Council of China.

THE DOOM OF SLAVERY. .Speaking at the Congo Jubilee .Exhibition in the Central Hall, Westminster, Mr J. Ramsay MacDonald declared: “ As soon as the niissionary appears slavery js doomed. Ido not say that it is doomed in 24 hours,” he ; explained, “ but I do say the presence of the missionary has this effect, • explain it as you may—that from the moment he becomes a part of, the atmosphere of a race, slavery dwindles and'education begins. Men whose lives have been long lived in the, atmosphere of ignorant , superstition and mortal terror,,’are enabled to lift up their heads and to discover that there is something giving them power, enabling them to walk about with heads uplifted, obedient to the law, but not victims of the law, enabling them not only to look, out on the world but within themselves. There begins responsible care, which at last emerges into a conception of the responsibilities of usefulness, lending them the idea of responsibility to the universe. I think the missionary requires no further justification. We wlio have been called upon to attend to the secular affairs of life rather than the spiritual, will never fail to be grateful, I hope, to the missionaries who have carried into effect the gospel of human justice as well as of spiritual power. Do not forget that the fabric of social organisation—justice, order, law, rectitude, and uprightness cannot be defended unless we keep before our . minds that mere material interests and powers must not govern this country or the world, but that the great eternal impulses of spirituality must guide and guard us.”

CHURCH CO-OPERATION. At the Dutch Reformed Mission Synod in South Africa the moderator introduced the subject ■of co-operation between the Dutch Reformed Mission Church and the other churches that were doing work among non-Europeans in the Union. The proposal to hold a conference at which matters of mutual interest would be discussed was heartily supported by various speakers. The Rev. Mr Botha referred to, the necessity of creating a better mutual understanding among all the Christian denominations. The Rev. Mr Joubert said,* in support, that he perattended a conference at Lovcdalc some time ago for natives in the eastern parts of the Cape Province. Such a com ference spoke with one voice on matters affectmg their welfare, and they could get things accomplished by the Government authorities. Another advantage of the proposed conference would be that overlapping in the work and mistrust among people doing" work of the same nature among, the same people would be avoided, ihey would show a united front against the common enemy of social evils and work unitedly for the improvement of conditions. The trend of further discussion indicated that riot only was the synod in agreement with the proposal, but aiso that the denominations with whom it was proposed to hold the, conference wore agreeable to it. They were the Wesieyan the Presbyterian, the Congregational, the Independent, the Rhenish, the Lutheran, and other churches. It was resolyed that the moderator be instructed to. convene.a conference, ns soon as possible • after the synod, with the various other church and mission denominations that are doing work among the coloured people of the Union and the South-West Africa in order to discuss matters concerning their mutual itnerests. NEWS ITEMS. After preaching in Tokio, Miss Eoydens plans Ayere to go to Shanghai, Pe- “ d r ,T I -tSl D’c .aDd t,leu to Hongkong and Canton. She expected to be in ° P V€ “ bor - 21. She then proCalouffo 4 P “ d A'u°- W ' days in Madras, Calcutta, Agra, Delhi, and Bombay, and thne al Eneland . about Christmas , At Singapore, where she addressed International Fellowship, her chairhlnWeSC sentleman) told her that e con Y«-t fo Christianity °^L h,S A r asked hitn “ whether he belonged to the sect which did not eat SSiTfHpi ■\ I ' Sa Eo , yden is eagW to know Christians these are, bo that kTip who ah ac t k?t t e em in . her mind with those who abstain from cigarettes—also as a matter of Christian principle.