THE SUNDAY CIRCLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22024, 5 August 1933, Page 2

THE SUNDAY CIRCLE

RELIGIOUS READING FOR THE WEEK ■ THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD. The Lord is my good Shepherd, For me He doth provide; He leads me in green pastures The quiet streams beside; Where all my cares and strivings cease, He makes me to lie down in peace. From waywardness and sorrow My soul He doth restore; 'And where new danger lurketh. He kindly goce before; If, foolishly, I go astray. He brings me back into the way. Yea, though I walk the valley Of death's appalling shade, With Thee, 0 Lord, beside me, I shall not be afraid: For I am closer then to Thee, ‘ Thy rod and staff they comfort m*. Thy goodness and Thy mercy Have followed all my ways, And, surely, they shall keep me The remnant of my days: And I shall dwell, when life is oer. Within Thy house for evermore. —I. Lewis Milligan in the British Weekly. PRAYER. Almighty God our Father in heaven, in Whom we shelter ourselves and keep our courage face to face with this immense would; in Whom likewise we shelter ourselves and recover our peace amidst the accusations of our spirit and from our own contempt; help us, we ask of Thee again and shall always ask of Thee, to accept the guidance of our perpetual necessity, and, needing such sheltering as we do need it, help us for ever to rejoice that in Thee indeed is. this blessed resource, this sure and only way of victory over life’s threaten ings and insinuations. Thou Who hast made the ear, wilt Thou not hear. Thou Who hast made us so that we must breathe or die, has given us the living air which Thou on our behalf dost cleanse with rain and dost temper with the sun! So everywhere our necessity is met by Thy Grace and Understanding, and there is nothing to prevent us from opening our Solitude to Thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. A TEXT FOR EACH DAY’S MEDITATION. Sunday. —“ The joy of the Lord is your strength.” —Nehemiah 8:10. “ The Lord will give strength unto His people, the Lord will bless His people with peace.”—Psalm 29:11. Monday.—“ Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Psalm 30:5. . “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is m the Lord his God. Which keepeth truth for ever.”—Psalm 146:5 and 6. Tuesday.—“ The Lord raiseth them that are bowed down; the Lord loveth the righteous. The Lord shall reign for ever, even thy God, 0 Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord.” —Psalm 146: 8 and 10. „ , ... Wednesday.— And it shall be said in that day. Lo this is our Lord: we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is the Lord, we have waited for Him, ■we will be glad to rejoice in His salvation.” —Isaiah 25:9. ... Thursday.—“ I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, rny soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness. Isaiah 61:10. . , Friday.—“ Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord will do great j things.”—Joel 2:21. . “ I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength. —Habakkuk 3:18 and 19. . Saturday.—“ The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Let us, therefore, follow after things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another—“ Romans 14:17 to 19. , , / —i,,. —H. R. Higgens, in A.C.W. STOOP LOW. And Shakum the Preacher, having read three books of theology and one on astronomy, felt the kingdom of heaven to be harder to get at than Timbuetoo. And, as he sat in bewilderment and gene-, ral exasperation, there came unto his desk his small daughter telling of a new school to which she had just gone. And she told of how it was full of .the largest doors opening into the loveliest rooms. And when Shakum inquired as to how, being so small, she was able to open these vast doors, she explained to him that the door knobs were all very low down. And Shakum had a general feeling that he and others were feeling too high, and that they might enter into the kingdom much more- quickly if they became more humble. —M., in C.W.

SCIENCE AND MTSTEEY. “ The most beautiful thing we can experience,” gays Professor Albert Einstein, “is the sense of the mysterious. That Sense is the source of all true art and all true science, and the scientist or artist to whom it is alien, who can no longer contemplate in awe, who has. lost the capacity to pause in wonder, is all but dead.” “ * But the selfsame sense of the mysterious, even if coupled with fear, is also the source of religion! ’ In fact, says he again: ‘I am of the opinion that all the finer speculations in the realm of science spring from a deep religious feeling and that without such feeling they would be utterly barren.’ ” Q.E.D. "The late Jesse Lynch Williams,” says the Christian Register (Boston), “once sat &t dinner beside the wife of a wellknown politician, who informed him that Socialism ‘ strikes at the very roots of Christianity.’ To his request for further enlightenment, she replied that Socialism seeks to eliminate both the rich and the poor. But without the poor, said she, you cannot have charity, and charity is ‘at the very heart of Christianity.’ Q. E. D.” “ Such a naive conception of charity, if. not of Christianity, is perhaps more widespread than we should like to confess.” PIANISSIMO. The Sunday school class was singing “I Want to be an Angel.” “ Why don’t, you sing louder, Bobby? ” asked the teacher. “ I’m singing as loud as I feel,” explained Bobby, PASSING OP EDWARD UNWIN. Edward Unwin, one of the fine old guard of Congregationalism, died, last week. He was old. enough to have been a friend of Livingstone, and a guardian of the children of Robert Moffat. Himself a master printer, till hia death he remained head of an important city firm of printers and stationers. The list of the services which he pave cheerfully and effectively to his church would take pages to recount. Edward Unwin was one of a family well known in the world Of books. George Unwin was his brother, and Stanley Unwin, of Messrs Allen and Unwin, is his son. Happy is the church which can claim the loyalty and love of men like Edward Unwin! — Christian Century. ONE CHURCH EXPANDS DURING THE DEPRESSION. First Methodist Church of Los Angeles has the distinction of having carried out a significant expansion of programme during the depression period, by taking over the church property until recently occupied by the First Congregational Church, and converting it into a Sunday school building. In spite of generous provision for Sunday school work in the magnificent million and a-half-dollar structure completed under the pastorate of Dr Elmer Ellsworth Helms, the growing needs of the Methodist school made additional room necessary.. The Congregational property occupies a site less than 200 feet away, ■with the result that arrangements were made between the two churches for the occupation of the property. Dr W. S. Cherrington, superintendent of the Methodist school, reports that the attendance in the adult department has almost doubled since the new arrangement has been made. Expansion during depression has had a tremendous inspirational effect on the people, says the Christian Century. A WEST POINT FOR PEACE WORKERS. The All-World Gandhi fellowship is (says the Christian Century) sponsoring a significant project at Mount Kisco, New York. A school is being formed for the purpose of training peace workers and other battlers for a bettor world in the best methods for waging that battle. It is expected that there will be a staff of eight pioneer educators who are specialists in various fields dedicated to the service of a new social order. This “Fellowship centre,” as it is called, is located within an hour’s railroad travel of New York, and is located in the midst of beautiful natural scenery. Cottages and tillable land are available so that a real cooperative community life will be possible. The promoters also hope that this may become a conference centre for organisations seeking to build a better world.