THE GARLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3833, 30 August 1927, Page 68

THE GARLAND.

FOR THE QUIET HOUR. No. 731. By Duncan Wkight, Dunedin. (For tiif. Otago Witness.) Sow an act, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny. NOT AS MEN SEE. To outward eyes a worshipper devout, Iler church would see her in accustomed place; But selfishness ha<l never been cast cut, And love found in her heart no place; And so methought I heard the Master say: '■ Ye call me Lord, and yet ye do not walk in My way.” With ready hand, brave heart, and willing feet, From morn to eve she led a busy life; Her care to keep her humble dwelling n-eat And home like, loving mother, faithful wife, And so methought I heard the Master say: Tho’ men see not, I know ye own and lova My sway.’’ 'He preached a social gospel that should give An equal chance to every brother man, The curse of sweated toil, the right to live, Giving himself as great enthusiasts can; And so methought I heard the Master say: ' Ye shared My brethren's woes, now share My joy for aye.' —Mary M. Wilshire. * * * Now, the sowing and the weeping, Working hard, and waiting long; Afterwards, the golden reaping, Harvest-home and grateful G ong. Now. the pruning, sharp unsparing Scattered blossom, bleeding shoot; Afterward, the plenteous bearing Of the Master’s pleasant fruit. Now, the training, strange and lowly, Unexplained and tedious now; Afterward, the service holy, And the Master’s " Enter thou! " -J. N. G. Give us a watchword for the hour, A thrilling word, a word of power, A battle cry, a flaming breath, That calls to conquest or to death; A word to rouse the Church from rest, To heed the Master’s high behest. The call is given: ye hosts arise! Our watchword is—Evangelise!” He that good thinketh good may do, And God will help him there unto For never yet was good deed wrought Without beginning of good thought. Life is the mirror of king and slave, ’Tis just what you are and do; Then give to the world the best that you have And the best will come back to you. Oh! might we all our lineage prove Give, and forgive, do good and love, By soft endearments in kind strife Lightening the load of daily life. * * * If I be offered upon tlie sacrifice of your faith, I joy.—Phil, ii, 17.

Tradition tells us that this anticipation of martyrdom was realised, and it is highly probable that tradition in this case speaks the truth. Grim soldiers may have conducted the aged veteran to the place of execution, but if they did the angels of God would be his glorious bodyguard. Death may have rudely stared at him. but he would meet its blanched glance ith a countenance unblanched with fear, and as he waited for the fatal blow it would be with the assurance that in a few brief moirients he would be delivered from the power of the oppressor, and introduced to that world “ where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest." — Henry Thorne. * * * COMPARISONS. As lighthouse flashing in the dark On stoim-toesed sailors far at sea. Guiding eafe into port their barque, So let me shine, O Lord, for Thee! (Matt, v 14; Luke ix, 36; John viii 12; 12, 46; Eph. v, 8.) As fade the stars info the light, When morning breaks on tide and lea, So may I disappear from sight, Content if I but herald Thee! (Mark i, 2,3; Luke vii, 27; John iii, 28-30.) As gleams the moon high in the heaven, When long the sun has run its race, So may there to my life be given To show the beauty of Thy face. (Matt., xvii, 2,3; Acts vi, 15; Rom. viii, 29; 12, 2; 2 Cor. iii, 18; 1 John iii, 2.) As rivers, when their course is run. Rest in the. bosom of the sea; So shall I, Lord, when life is done, Return, from Whom I came, to Thee. (John xiv, 3; Rev. iii, 12; 22, 3-5.) —Allon Poole. * * * THE OLD THEOLO-’Y. A clarion note by Dr M'Cosli when giving the inaugural address at Princeton College:— “ In regard to religious truth there will be no uncertain sound uttered within these walls: what is proclaimed here will be the old truth which has been from the beginning; which was shown in shadow in the Old Testament; which was exhibited fully in the New Testament, as in a glass; which lias been retained by the one Catholic Church in the ' kest ages; which was long buried, but rose again at the Reformation ; which s maintained by the grand old theologians of Germany, Switzerland, England, and Scotland, and is being defended x- ith great logical power in the famous theological seminary with which this college is so closely associated. But over this massive and clearly-defined old form of sound words I would place no theological doctor —not Augustine, not Luther, not Calvin, not Edwards —but another and far fairer

face, lifted up that it may draw all eye.q towards it—‘ Jesus, at once the author and the finisher of our faith.’ ”

“In His love and in Hi ß pity He redeemed them.'—lsaiah Lxiii, 9. For those who have done 'ong to any degree, there is yet a place iu God’s heart. For those who have sought to break away from wrong and met with the poorest success, ther is - 'ace of mercy and pity with God. For those who have tried to reform—not once, but twice, and thrice, and many times, and broken solemn resolutions and obligations —there is Divine leniency. For those who have given God occasion to draw His sword of judgment and smite them asunder, there is hope of salvation if only they are willing to be subdued and led by the infinitude of Divine goodness. If they love sin and mean to sin, there, is no grace for them; but if, sinning, their heart abhors sin, and if, in their better moments, they abjure it, and, like the apostle, they cry out: “ Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” there is grace for them. For all those who will repent, there is room for repentance, and help for repentance, and succour during reformation.