CHRISTIAN COURTESY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2785, 31 July 1907, Page 83

CHRISTIAN COURTESY.

By Zephtk.

Form demands its «how of attention as well as substance ill the life of a true Christian. There wa'3 an immenee difference between the earth without form and roid and the earth in the order and beauty developed

from it by the brooding of the Heavenly Dove.- Only the latter— the substance with the appropriate form — could God pronounce "very good.' It may be a defect of our excellence, an ungainly evidence of stress we lay upon reality, sincerity, straightforwardness, but our notorious un'mannerliness as a nation is not on "that account to be defended. This ought we to have done, md not leave the other undone. "Virtue itself offends when coupled with forbidding manners." Manners are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify,' exalt or debase, barbarise or refine us," by a> constant steady, uniform, insensible operation, like that of the air we breathe in. They give their whole form , and colour to our lives. What is most disconcerting is that some of the worst offenders in respect of manners should be found among prominent Christians. It does not tend to induce or strengthen faith to note that many men of the world are more pleasant companions by reason of their :ourtesy and affability than many members of_ the Church. A little thought will, of course, show that Aich cases are exceptional, but, nevertheless, they are painfully frequent. Too many Christians are evidently careiess of the form which should grace the substance if their religion. Too many seem unaware of -the truth that, as Ooleridge say?, "You may depend upon it, religion is, in, its essence, the most gentlemanly thing in the world 1 . It will alone gentilise, if unmixed with cant; and I know nothing else that will alone. Certainly not the army, which is thought to be the grand embellisher of manners." In upholding Christian courtesy our manner should be brightly polished. Not every substance admits of being polished. The attempt to polish 'crumbling sandstone only destroys, and the same must happen with soft wood. Cement or varnish may be serviceable in such cases. But look at the precious stone that has just been dug out of the earth: it can be polished beautifully eftei passing through the hands of the lapidary. Its true character has then come to light. Polish brings to light the inherent character. But for pofieh a sound heart is needed, and the stauncher and fairer the heart the better the polish and the more worth while. Who, then, is the man of moral quality most capable of polish? Who but the Christian? And what is the Christian's inherent character? It is Christ in him, "the hope of glory." Christ, "the first true gentleman that ever breathed." At the root of his soiled and twisted human nature lies his divine nature, which constitutes all his 1 real worth, all the stamina that is within him; and he is polished that this may ever show more clearly, that his true dignity may be revealed, that through the nibbing off of self there may shine through the surface the lustre and lineaments of Jesus. The Divine command, "Be courteous," therefore, means, "Let Christ appear." Every handclasp given in this spirit leaves Christ's pressure warm in the palm, and all social intercourse is a-glow with the beauty of God manifest in the flesh, and sweet with aroma of "the Oriental fragrancy, my | Master."