THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20906, 21 December 1929, Page 5

THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

RELIGIOUS READING FOR THE HOME-

A CHRISTMAS. NOCTURNE. A ,world dieordered. deafened with the jar Of plangent jealousies; ambition keen As pitiless—o God, the daily scene On which the glare of noonday falls afar! But the night cornea, when discords silent

■ are : And faith revives, and love and beauty

mean All that they ever meant in the serene Breaking of night and beuison of a star. 0 wise old shepherds! Wiser, he who clings To their example and their recompense! At night seeks Bethlehem, to gather thence Deliverance from vain imaginings, Vision, a love of tender little things, Noble desires, and, happy confidence! Anthony C. Deane.

PRAYER

.0 Lord, bowing before Thee we confess our evil. Thinking of Thy great merry we feel it the more because Thou/art pacified towards us for all that we have done. v\ e recognise the,greatness of our infirmities and our .evils, and pray not only for the pardon which we know that we have, but for the power to discern, and discernihg to- war against, and warring against to overcome, all in ourselves that is contrary . to' Thy holy and perfect will. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A CHRISTMAS WISH.

Christmas is not solely the celebration of .an historic event, though that of itself would be sublime enough; it is a pervading spirit. .

'! Unto us a child is born ” does not .tell all the story. Into the world an influence came. A radiance has circled humanity a head, a warmth has entered its heart since the Christ Child came. Ours is the privilege of Universal Love and Universal Peace since God so loved the. world that He sent His only begotten Son into the world. .

80 .kest I could wish you this ■Christmas is that the Spirit of Christmas .be in your heart suffuse your life, flood your soul, that all joy and peace niav be yours. J

THE INCARNATION.

He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.”

Bone of my bone, he goes hia course to

J run; ■" No more at beck and bid no more a child, He treads the No-man’s-land of youth the wild ' Free land where.none may fight for him and none , \ . ' May shield; and all that’s lost and all . that’s won Is his, Think you he read me as I smiled? . “Our honour, lad, is'yours. Debased or undented;. The world shall judgc fW father-in the eon.” Good God, ani I not like to Thee in this? Thou, too, didst send a Son forth among

men To meet their plaudit,or to hear their - hiss;. Thy heart was set upon a man-to-be; Thine were the words I-echo now again; “In Thee, My Son, the world shall ■ judge of.Me.” " - <

A CHRISTMAS MEDITATION-

_May the guiding light of a.- star of divine , love and care shine upon us all to-day and'lead, us to our Lord .in whom we ..find all that fills life with light, hope, purpose, and love. . ’ May we worship, and then throughout our lifetime serve. Him who was born in the little land of Palestine so long ago. • Unto us' He was born. For us He lived. . The glory bf the Lord was manifest not so much in beckoning stars and celestial portents, not so much in. heralds, ..angels and glorifying multitudes who hastened to'find but what had happened at that time so long ago, as'in the lives of those, who, finding a great spiritual guide, '.farthwitk.sefe but in newness of-life .to spread abroad •: the spirit that-jvas in Him. '-' ; He it is who saves and cares. . Because of His life and mesßage''-we • have'pro••gi'essbd and prospered. Because of His ’spirit-armour-clad -Mars is beiug-bauished from the society of men. Because Ho lived men seek to live nobly and serve well. ? -.-. .. , ' , '' When His' spinfc lives in us who seek to follow Him and bring Him to _ others, every holiday tree decked with tinsel is clothed with His love and every lighted candle seems‘to radiate His loving Kindness.' In Him we find a great spiritual leader born, and because .of this, something is born within us that knows no defeat, no sullying, no end,, and all is hope and love and .God. ...... ..

THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS

The joy of Christmas began with the' angel song, “ Glory to God in the highest, and-on earth peace, goodwill .to men.” Every joyous arid beautiful life* evary gracious and kindly deed, -every radiant und spiritualised face, every gift of love and remembrance add to the sum total of the Christmas spirit.

BROADCAST MORNING PRAYER. The New South Wales Council of Churches have undertaken the 15 minutes morning devotional services < broadcasted from 2FC. They ‘arc especially-accept-able to the inmates of hospitals, but there is evidence that they arc welcomed by a circle outside these institutions.

THE INEVITABLE CONQUEST

In the long run there are only-two alternatives —Christianity or ,an agnostic rationalism. And need the race be so long? Tn matters spiritual there is no uniform time-rate. The . pace at which the world is Christianised depends on our readiness to co-operate with the Spirit of God Who (so we must judge) has entered on one of His great creative periods. “Behold I make all.things new. Thatvoice from the throne is sounding insistently to-day.—V. F. Storr.

MY FELLOW WORKERS

The new Bishop of Chelmsford, m a message to bis diocese, stated: “Though my primary duty will be the supervision of- the work, of the Church of England. I want to feel and know that the people of Esscjl do not regard me as entirely limited to that great duty. A great religious work ia carried on by other communions .than the Church of England, and I trust that the. brethren of the-Free Churches will look upon me as one who .regards them in a real sense .as fellow workers with me in extending the Kingdom of our commonn Lord and Saviour.”