THE SUNDAY CIRCLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22326, 28 July 1934, Page 16

THE SUNDAY CIRCLE

RELIGIOUS READING FOR THE > -.HOME" BE BORN ANEW, DEAR LORD. Be born anew, dear Lord, be born again. Unto the hunger of the sons of men! Whose famine is too bitter to be fed By any lower food than sacred bread. ’ We thirst for hope, and, tasting, drink it not. • ■ • ' ■ , We choke for joy denied a barren lot. We starve for 'love and, starving, throw the dice . . That may, or may not, pay love a precious Our trembling hands, infirm, have lost the ■ . .wit T ... To grasp Thy holy cup. Lord, give u 8 it! Fill it with strength despaired of by the Fill it with brimming rest The wear j- seek. Out of the chalice let the lonely drink. Unto white’hearts give purity anew; And to the false the power to.be true. Give to the friendless, shrinking and The -happy throbbing of the Christmas • heart! —Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. :■ -■ •a! PRAYER. , Lord,, in . these days of trial - and continuing change, teach all the peoples, and especially the leaders of the peoples, to seek peace. Turn away their hearts from all ambitions, hatreds, and contentious that may lead toward war. Let tne witness of Thy Church for brotherhood increase and gather power over the thoughts of men. And in Thy oyerrulhng of conditions, we beseech Thee, bring to our hearts new thoughts of brotherhood, overcoming wrath' with charity, and evil with good. We pray for the rising generation, that it . may learn . Justice,, righteousness, charity, and concord. Turn .aside, in ihy good favour, the conspiracies of evilhearted men; and let the story of wars sufferings, cruelties, and, losses in the past sink deep into the memories of men. bo prepare ou r hearts to welcome Thee, apd turn the thoughts of the. whole world toward bonds of harmony and love, bo hasten the coming of Tliy kingdom under the banners of the Prince of Peace. In His name! Amen.—lsaac Ogden Rankin, \ TEXT FOR EACH DAY’S . . MEDITATION. EVERLASTING COVENANT. Sunday. —“ Know, therefore, that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, Which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations.” —Deuteronomy 7: 9. Monday.—“He is the Lord our God, His judgments are in all the earth. “ Be ye mindful always of His covenant, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations. “And hath confirmed,the same .. . tor an everlasting covenant.”—l Chronicles 16: 14, 15, 17. , • " , . Tuesday.— 1 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and He will show them His covenant.”—Psalm 35: 14. “My mercy will I keep for Him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with Him.”—Psalm 80: 28. Wednesday.—“ For the mountains shall depart, ond the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee; neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.”-—lsaiah 54: 10. Thursday.—“l will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not'depart from me.”—Jeremiah 32; 40. Friday—“l will he merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. “ in that He saith a new covenant He hath made the first old.”—Hebrews 8: 12-13. “ Jesus the mediator of the new covcnhnt.”—Hebrews 12; 24. Saturday.—“ Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus; that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant. Make you perfect in every good work to do His will.”—Hebrews 13: 20-21. —H. R. Higgens. in A.C.W.

FRIENDS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER

The yearly meeting of the Society of Friends has issued a statement to express itg common mind. Its title is ' Friends and.lhe Social Order." Those who read it must remember that it does not represent a series of resolutions presented by a committee and formally, adopted. It is rather the result of frank and-prolonged discussions ■ by friends of ' eyery shade ot thought found in this society; it is a document hammered but in the meeting by those who believe and have good reason to believe in the inner light and in the power of the Holy. Spirit to lead those who walk in love and seek for its leading. It is a document which is worthy of careful study There is in it a concern tor a'more righteous way of life. This society, which has done under the- present order so much for the unemployed, is driven to examine the very foundations of that order. It is not a document which can be considered a final statement; those who say, such things must * go on to tak© ths next step; and to that also they will be led. •• A PENETRATING QUESTION. Over the wireless, says the editor of the- Christian World, I heard a question put by Mr Michael Roberts, who was speaking on “Whither,Britain,” which I have been trying to answer honestly for myself ever since. I am not using Mr Michael Robert’s exact words, but the purport of the question was: “If we knew that at death we were to be born again, at random, not knowing in-what social stratum we. should be, what changes should we try to get made in the prebent social and economic order ? ” How many of us would favour a continuation of the class system? The question, and probing my mind for an answer, have set me treading very revolutionary,- paths of thought. , HORRIFIED! ... Dr J. H. Rushbrodke told the Baptist of Haves (England) on a recent occasion that he had preached there only once before;’ It; was before his college Aayfc; he was then a lay preacher and Jiving m North-West London. The Sunday of . his visit to Hayes fell in the midst of a severe winter. The Grand Junction Canal was frozen, and so he simply skated along it to -take the appointment. , He recalled that his good hostess was horrified at hie behaviour. She took the'skates from him, hid them carefully away,, and begged thu, he would let no one know how he hud come to Hayes on that .Sunday morning. Apparently; it would have been all right to come by train or- bus, but to come on one’s own feet by attaching metal blades to one’s boots was shocking! had never forgotten the incident. Dr Rushbrodke added; “ It suggests many things, if this were the time to dwell on them. NEVER NEEDED MORE.THAN NOW. Speaking at a function at the City Temple, London, Mrs Stanley Baldwin said, “Never has the work ot the churches been needed more than at the present time. The youth of the whole world is crying out for it. It is up to all of us who have found an anchorage to show that anchorage to the young. v\ e shall not do that beat by sermons, but by clubs and institutions pervaded by a Christian spirit." CHURCH SERVICES OF THE FUTURE. “ Our conception of churches as primarily preaching centres will probably have to be abandoned,” said Mr A. W. Wills in an address from the chair of Wilts and East Somerset Congregational Union. “How can you expect people to be prepared to come regularly and listen for half an hour to a well-intentioned, good man of ordinary intelligence, when the world’s best can be heard in their own homes? The character of - the musical portion of our services will probably have to be changed. No longer will the efforts of ‘ our choir’ he considered the finest possible. The 8.8. C. is dispelling that illusion, however regrettable it may be considered. Sunday services will probably develop into worship services in which si aging will be much less formal than to-day.’ THE MODERN NOVEL. Apart from any very definite association with the Christian Churches, says the Spectator, most sensible people will agree with what Dr Alington, Dean of Durham, said some time ago (according to The Times Weekly Edition) in his criticism of the modern novel: “We do_ not the modern novelist,” he said, " to be respectful to official religion, though lie need not load the dice against it; but we do deplore those continual pictures of

supposedly ordinary people • who appear never to have heard of several-of the leu Commandments, and assume’ that there is no such thing as the Divine law of conduct. They have driven some of _ the most respectable of us ■ to detective stories Where, if one is not on the side of the angels, one is at least on the side of the police." • '' ' IN SEARCH OF PALESTINE. The Daily Herald, says Edward SbillUo, has engaged ’Mr H, V. Morton to write upon Palestine. He (Mr Morton) announces ‘that' he will show those out-of-date young people who believe the Old Testament to be a collection of fables and the. New not sft. historical as it might be that they are wrong. “ The Bible,” he declares,' “ has emerged like a’ rock from the critical fogs of the last decade.” It will be interesting to see how he will show this by a journey through Palestine, adds Mr Shillito.