SUNDAY CIRCLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21627, 23 April 1932, Page 3

SUNDAY CIRCLE

RELIGIOUS READING FOR THE HOME A PRAYER IX VERSE. DARKNESS AND GOD. Darkness is but Thy shadow and the day | Where Thou art never dies, but sends its ray Through the wide universe with resistless might. 0 Lord of Light, steep Thou our souls in Thee! That when the daylight trembles into shade, And falls the silence of mortality, And all is done —we shall not be afraid. But pass from light to light; from what doth seem Into the very heart and heaven of our dream. A REAVER. May we lift our hearts to Thee this day in great thankfulness, humbly acknowledging Thy mercy and Thy truth, Thy large and tender providence. Thy nearness to us at all times, Thy Spirit ot Wisdom, and Might, and Peace, the works and the joys and the discipline of earth, which Thou dost appoint, the promises that lay hold of things to come. 0 Spirit of all grace and benediction, Father ot our dear Lord and Saviour, coming to us in Him, and in His, Creator of these dying bodies, Life and Light of these undying souls, Thy gifts are new upon us every morning. May Thy great love redeem ns; and from the light of a true life below', may wo pass at length into that Presence, where there is fullness ot joy and abundance of peace forever. Amen. ■V. TEXT FOR EACH DAY S MEDITATION'. “The Will of God.” Sunday.—“ Whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister and mother.” —Mark 3: 35. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on Llis name,’’—-John 1: 12. Monday.—“ Be not conformed to tins world: but bd ye translonned by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is. that good and acceptable, ami perfect will of God.”—Romans 12: 2. Tuesday.—“ Walk as children of light. Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. Redeeming the time because the days are evil. Wherefore be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Submitting yourselves one to another in tile fear of God.” —Ephesians 5: 8, 10, 10. 17. 21. Wednesday—“ Not with eyeaemcc, as men pleascrs; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the, heart. With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men. Finally, my brethren, bo strong in the Lord, and in the power of Ills might.' - —Ephesians 6: 6. 7, 10. , Thursday.—“ For this is the will of God. even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication. That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification, and honour. For ye yourselves are taught of God to lover one another.” —1 These. 4: 3,4, !). Friday.—“ Ye have need of patience, that after ye have done tho will of God, ye might receive the promise: For yet a little while, and He that shall come, will come, and will not tarry. The just shall live by faith.”—Hebrews 10: 3(1 to 38. Saturday.—“lf any man suffer as a Christian lot him not bo ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf. Wherefore lot them that suffer according to the will of Cod. commit the keeping of their souls (o Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.- —-1 Peter 4: 1G and 19. —IT. R. Iliggcns, in A.C.W. STOOP LOW. And the Chiropodist lifted up her voice and wept, and explained unto Shnkmn that her clients were few. Then did Shakuni inquire as to where she dwelt, and Jo, she dwelt upon the top of an Enormous Hill. So Shakum explained how it was impossible for liio footsore to mount ilimalayas'likc gazelles, and told her how all great chiropodists bad their dwellings on the street level, so that the weary could walk right in. And whilst lie gave good advice unto the Chiropodist of the flesh, ho also thought the same advice might not be bad for the chiropodists of the spirit.— M„ in C.W. THE BLIGHT OF SHALLOWNESS. “ Modern thought,” writes Dr Joseph Fort Newton, in an article in the Churchman (New York) on “ Is the World Growing Better?” “is tolerant, but it lacks thoroughness and depth. This is true in theology. “Perhaps the old theologians had a narrow outlook, but they dropped their plummets fathoms deeper than we do. No one need be told that in politics the ebb and How of tides obey a fitful and inconstant moon. Surely this blight of shallowness will not continue, and the race will seek a profonndcr and more satisfying moaning of life.”

TALKING RELIGION TO DEATH. “ Of nil the devices which ingenuity hits ever fabricated to stir the spiritual life.” writes Dr Willard L. Sperry, in an article quoted in the Christian Evangelist, “ the religious discussion group is plainly the worst. . ~ . Wo have been trying to save religion by talking about it, one of the most desperate expedients to which organised Christianity has ever been reduced.'’ YE DID IT NOT. Life's omissions must bo taken into account; not merely what we do, but what we neglect or avoid doing, reveals character. Nor are we always conscious of the opportunities missed. Perhaps we have not deliberately “ passed by on the other side ” —quite as often we have stepped over, without seeing and without knowing, the duty that lies in our path. Our Lord has much to say about sins of omission. The buried treasure that remained uninvested, the slighted invitation, the neglected beggar, the foolish virgins without oil, the barren lig tree—each of these tells the story of what was not done, but ought to have been done. The only safe rule is to travel the second I mile, when one mile only is the standard requirement. “ What do ye more than others? ” My soul, bo on thy guard lest it be said of thee, “Ye did it not!” BELIEF IN GOD. Dr W. R. Inge, in the first of a series of addresses which he is delivering tS young people at St. Paul's Cathedral, dealt with the subject “ Why Wo Believe in God.” Rejecting the idea that Christianity is in danger, Dr Inge said it was a very young religion, not yet 2000 years old, and it had never yet been properly tried. Humanity had hundreds of thousands of years still before it; we were in the stage of the rattle and the feeding bottle. But our country was very much on its trial and in considerable danger. It depended on the young to save it. “Wo old fellows,” continued Dr Inge, “ shall bo in our graves in a few years. Wo have made a hash of things, I know, and I am glad we shall not have (o deal with the new problems. You will have to deal with (hem, and 1 am absolutely convinced that the old religion, which makes all things new, points to the way out,” What really divided people, said the dean, was not the rival claims of this; church and that church, or belief in miracles or sacraments or inspiration. The question was: “Do you believe that (here is a God or do you believe that there is none? ” THE PROBLEM OF EVIL. | Speaking in St. Paul’s, London, Dean | luge said "that in his opinion the main I obstacle to belief in God with many people, I next to sheer frivolity and want of attention. was the terrible amount of evil in the world. Christianity had not entirely solved the problem of evil: he made that confession quite frankly. This was a world for brave men. not for those who were afraid of pain. Why it was so he did not know, but we must accept it. Wo were little bits of a large scheme which we could not expect to understand. There was no justice for individuals till wc had ceased to make any claims for ourselves. It was not our troubles, which we could understand and overcome, but the troubles of others, which we did not understand, that seemed to us intolerable

THE CLAIMS OF FAITH. Hr Inge, speaking of faith, said that if we were too stupid to ask for any meaning in our experience, too frivolous to care for what could only be cared for seriously, (oo self-absorbed to bo interested in anything that did not concern our petty affairs, too depressed-to hope, or 100 wilful (o learn, wo were labouring under fatal disqualifications for the life of faith. Atheism was absurd, because it reduced I the world to a chaos, a malignant trick, or j a sorry joke. Wo could not get on in any science or any art or any serious pursuit without assuming that the world _ was i none of these things. The man of science had faith that the, real was rational and sat down like a little child to find out all that that meant. The religions man had faith that the real was spiritual, and sat down like a little child to find out all that that meant. CHINA INLAND MISSION. Only in three years since the China Inland Mission was founded (11)10, 11)24, and 1030) has the income in Great Britain exceeded the sum received last year (£03,133). The actual number of gifts lias never been so large, and they include nearly 750 gifts from new donors. “We thank God,” writes the editor of China’s Millions, “that we have lacked nothing. Both in China and at home, every member of (he mission Ims received a normal allowance for the whole year. Day by day (he manna has fallen.'" CHURCH UNION. Progress is reported in the movement for the union of the Free Church of Scotland, the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and (he Synod of Original Sccedors. Tim Reformed Presbyterians have 10 churches in Scotland and the Original Seceders 20. A conference held last month is fo he followed by another in March, when a statement will be drawn ni> for submission to the supreme courts of the respective churches. Should this be approved, union will probably come into elfcct in 1933. CIRCULATION OF SCRIPTURE. During 1931 a record number of 275,050 copies of the Scriptures were circulated in Spain by the British and Foreign Bible Society. In China the circulation totalled 4.500,415. comprising 30.002 Bibles, 39,859 Testaments, and 4,429.954 Scripture portions —a decreased total- -but an increase of 8085 Bibles and of 8000 Testaments.