THE SUNDAY CIRCLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22260, 12 May 1934, Page 21

THE SUNDAY CIRCLE

RELIGIOUS READING FOR THE HOME NOW GLAD OF HEART. Now clad of heart be every one! The fight is fought,, the day is won, The Christ is set upon His throne. Who on the road was crucified, Who roee again, as at this tide. In glory to His Father's side. Who baffled death and harrowed hell And led the souls that loved him well All in the light of lights to dwell; To Him we lift our heart and voice And in His Paradise rejoice With harp and pipe and happy noise. Then rise, all Christian folk, with me And carol forth the One in Three That was, and is, and is to be, By faith, the shield of heart and mind. Through love, which suffers and is kind, In hope, that rides upon the wind. —'[German sixteenth century carol for Ascension from the Oxford Book of Carols.) PRAYER For Ascension-tide: —0 Almighty God, Who hast given unto Thy Son, Jesus Christ, a Kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him, make us loyal subjects of our Heavenly King that we may always hear His Word, obey His commands, and live in His Spirit. Hasten, we pray Thee, the day when every knee shall bow to Him and every tongue confess that He is Lord; through the same Christ Jesus, our Saviour, Who liveth and reigneth. . . . Amen. _ ... . For the Nations: —0 Sovereign Master of the World, Who above the strivings ot the nations dost ever work Thy purposes of good: have mercy upon the peoples of the earth and so break down the barriers of selfish greed and haunting tears, that they may beat their swords into ploughshares and learn war no more. Grant this for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, the Prince of Peace.— Amen. A TEXT FOR EACH DAY'S MEDITATION. “ Gleams of Light." Sunday—“ Lord, lift Thou up the Light of Thy countenance upon us.”—Psalm iv, 0. “ The Lord is my Light and my salvation, whom shall J fear? ’’—Psalm xxva, 1- “ For with Thee is the fountain ; ot life, jn Thy Light shall we see light. Psalm xsxvi, 9. , . . . Monday,—" Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.”—Psalm xcvii, |l. “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a Light unto my path."—Psalm cxix, 105, “ The people that walked in darkness have seen a great Light."—lsaiah is, 3. Tuesday.—" Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify vour Father which is in Heaven.”—Matthew v, 16. “The light of the body is .the eye; therefore, when thy eye is single,, thy whole body is full of light. —Luke xi, 14. Wednesday.—“ That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” —John i, 9. “And this is the condemnation that Light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.’.— John ui, Thursday—“ Jesus said, I am the Light of the World: he .that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” —John .8, 12, , “ I am come a Light into the world, that whosoever believetb on Me should not abide in darkness. —John 12, 46, Friday.—“ God is,Light and m Hun is no darkness at all.—l John 1, 5. “If we walk in the Light as He is in the Light wo have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus .Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. —1 John 1, 7. “Our Heavenly Home.’’ Saturday.—“ The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lanio is the Light thereof* Revelation 21, 23. ■ I have a Saviour Who brightens my days: ’Tis Jesus, “The. Light of the World.”—H. R. Higgeus, in A.C.W.

THOUGHTS TO PONDER. Imitatio Christi.—' There; is no worse enemy, nor one more troublesome to the soul, tban thou art unto thyself, if thou be not well in harmony with the Spirit. 0 how humbly and meanly ought I to think of myself! how ought I to esteem jt as nothing, if I should seem to have any good quality! All vain-glorying is swallowed up m the deep of Thy judgments over roe. * » V S. Catherine of Siena—The true and most perfect light of God . • • isthe light which makes the soul faithful, which cuts it off from the life of its own sensuality, which makes the heart mature and the tongue discreet. It is no longer time to sleep, but to wake up from our carelessoees, to rlec out of our blind ignorance, to proclaim the truth and prepare to die for it. * * * Canon Lutyens, in “The Will to Love." —lt is well to remember .at all times the love that has drawn us to Him from the beginning. Let the simple motive ot a child be our first guide, for it desires to do what its father wills and loves to do it. To such simple faith the answer to prayer will come in the deepening of the understanding of the love wherewith He has.loved, and with the understanding will grow the confidence which the experience of life cannot break, but only heighten in the full assurance of son--Bhi- * * * s. Francis de Sales.—We are sometimes so occupied with being good angels that we neglect to be good men and women. THE TRANSFORMATION OF THIRTY , YEARS. A singular demonstration of the transforming power of Christianity was given during the months of December and the first week of January in some of the cities of North India by the visit to these places of a choir composed entirely of Lushai young men and women. The Lushais are a primitive tribe living in the interior mountainous regions of Assam. The nearest railway station from their abode can be reached only after a journey of seven days through forests infested with wild animals. Thirty years ago they were head hunters. Now most of these people have become Christians, and the changes which Christianity has wrought among them are marvellous. _ The Student Christian movement of India arranged that this choir should visit some of the cities of north India. Their superb music made a deep impression in all the places they visited. Besides singing their own Lushai songs, they rendered selections from classical music, such as the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s “Messiah,” and brought fresh spiritual uplift and encouragement to many who heard them sing.—(The Christian. Ceutnry.) THE BEAUTIFUL ANGLICAN SERVICE. The other day I went into the porch of Chelsea Old Church and there was a nice notice in the porch, just asking you not to make a noise, as service was going on; so we felt welcome and went in, and stood at the back; a sensible, pleasant-voiced parson was saying the week-day evensong with a quiet little congregation, and there was nothing to spoil the beautiful Anglican service—no bad music or silly ceremonial, and no sermon at all. “ It was all so beautiful and impressive, in this, one of the few churches that have escaped restoration; the atmosphere was so free from contention and so full of prayer- And I thought then how small a thing can bring men in, and what small things keep them out—only there has been such an accumulation of small tilings —and I thought that if the churches ceased to give offence, men might come together again. . . .’’—(Percy Dearmer, “The Church at Prayer.”) A RABBI AMONGST MINISTERS. Rabbi Dr I. I. Mattuck was the speaker at the March luncheon of the London Free Church Ministers’ Club, and he gave a most interesting account of the modern movement in the Jewish religion. He regarded revelation as progressive, and the ancient customs and practices as not binding to-day—they should be interpreted in the light of the present and in relation to human life. He said that

the uniqueness of the Jewish race lay in the fact that it was an experiment in existence for the sake of their religion, inasmuch as they were in a small minority in every country in the world, and only numbered in all 16,000,000. The kernel of their religion was; (1) Belief in one God; (2) belief in human personality and immortality; and (3) belief in Israel. Referring to the position in Germany, he said that whilst the professional Jew had been persecuted, the bankers had been allowed to remain. Dr Mattuck is Rabbi at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, and is very popular amongst his people in London. BIBLE WITH ZIPP FASTENER. The Zipp fastener, that useful feature of everyday life, to be found on boots, bags and “ baccy " pouches, has now been applied to the Bible! Ever since 1629 the Cambridge University Press have been noted for the accuracy, neatness and durability of their Bibles and Prayer Books. They have now distinguished themselves by applying for a patent, and by the fact that Cambridge Bibles will be the only books available with this type of fastener. What a triumph of ingenuity! And what a blessing to those who carry their Bibles about with them—particularly open-air speakers with loose-leaf notes. In future there need be_ no fear of bending the covers, or creasing or soiling th*> pages, or losing the notes. The covers are securely closed and cannot be bent or torn, whilst the edges of the leaves are completely covered and protected from damage.