WHERE DO YOU LIVE?

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25552, 3 June 1944, Page 4

WHERE DO YOU LIVE?

Written for the Otago Daily Times By the Rev. Gardner Miller.

There are two verses in the first chapter of the Gospel of John which I never read without sitting back in my chair and allowing my imagination to paint pictures. They are verses 38 and 39. Look them up and you will see at once how beckoning they are. Jesus was asked where He lived, and He replied by inviting his questioners to come home with Him and have a talk. I love to picture the little house where He lodged—He never had a home of His own—and I love to eavesdrop upon Him and these two eager young fellows who simply could not keep away from Him. What did they talk about? I often guess, but I would not divulge what my guess is. I wonder if they talked until the stars retired and dawn rushed over the hill-top! When you are young and adventurous and the world calls you; when you have an enthusiasm to put things right and people seem worth helping, then bed has no pull and the next day comes too soon. My most cherished memories gather round the brimming talks, when the older folk were abed and asleep, with kindred spirits in a little room with a gas-fire and books piled up almost to the ceiling. If anybody had asked me in those days where I lived and I thought that the questioner would understand me, I would have replied that I lived in the future. And though many years have come and gone since, I am happy to think that my address is still somewhere else than the place that houses my body. Our Three-storeyed House

It’s a very important question, where do you live? Your answer will indicate the springs from which you drink and the kind of people who share your thoughts. It is true, of course, that we all live in streets and places, and these homes of ours are very, very precious, but they do not house our spirits, and it is where our spirit dwells that matters so very much. I think it would be true to say that we each live in a three-storeyed house. On the first floor we satisfy the needs of our physical nature, the place where we eat and drink. But what a tragedy if we never climb the stairs to the floors above! There are men and women who have no soul above stoking themselves—l sometimes think their soul has almost given up the struggle to emerge from overlays of grossness. There is no outlook on the first floor; the tenants are solely concerned with themselves. The second storey has an outlook. It has more light and air. It is the place where mose people live. It is where the intellect has control, where feelings and tastes are cultivated and where we stretch out our hands in friendship to kindred spirits. But it has certain drawbacks that must be carefully watched if we are not to become slaves in our own house. 1 Let me explain. Here Is a woman whose life is rather restricted. She tries to escape from her circumstances by excursions into the land of makebelieve and phantasy. She is continually at the “ pictures ” and soon gets an altogether wrong idea of life’s values because she compares her own restricted life with the glamorous lives of screen artists. I believe there is a place in the scheme of things for the •“ pictures ”; as an antidote and stimulus they are admirable, but as an “ escape ” from burdens and defeat they are dangerous. The escapee becomes a slave to reality. But there are others who live in another world, the world of their children. Their lives arewrapped up in their doings and in their possible futures. This is a splendid outlook, but it can become a danger that shuts out the needs of others. I have known many mothers and fathers who lavished everything on their children, thoroughly spoiled them, in fact, and who in later life had their hearts nearly broken by the callousness of those to whom they gave everything. Keep a balanced view where your family is concerned. Love your bairns, follow their careers sympathetically, but do not make the mistake of sheltering, them to the extent that they have no minds of their own. Don’t blanket them. Let them find their feet themselves and you will not have a sore heart. By all means dwell long in this second storey of your houuse of life, it is so much cleaner and arier than the .first floor. Look out of the windows often and enjoy the view, but please do notthink there is no other view. There is another view. It is from The Top Storey. Here the outlook is indeed wide, for it is the outlook of the spiritual. On this storey your spiritual nature has its dwelling place. Not that you should neglect the other two storeys, but surely you will be found often looking out of an eastern window on the third storey towards the City of God! Here you learn to pray for the survival, not of the body, but of yourself as a man, as a woman. Here you will browse among the great and rich promises of God. “ Where do you live?” the two eager young men asked Jesus. He took them where He lived and I am positive He took them up to the top storey and showed them the view of God and humanity which is ever there for those who have eyes to see. Best of all, let there be many doors and windows in your house of life—doors for the needy to walk in, windows to refresh your spirit. And keep the front door on the latch so that the Saviour can come in without knocking.