THE GARLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3867, 24 April 1928, Page 69

THE GARLAND.

FOR THE QUIET HOUR.

No. 764.

By

Duncan Wright,

Dunidin.

(Fob the Otago Witness.) No life without a pang. It were not Life If ended were the strife— Man were not man, nor God were truly God. Kow tlle l° n S shadows eastward creep. The golden sun is setting; Take, Lord! the worship of our sleep The praise of our forgetting. * * « Thro’ love to light! O, wonderful the way That leads from darkness to the perfect day ! From darkness and the sorrow of the night To morning that comes singing o’er the sea. Through love to light! Thro' light. O God, to Thee Who art the Love of love, the Eternal Light of light. # » > Great God to Whom since time began The world has prayed and striven • Maker of stars, and earth, and man, To Thee our praise is given. Of suns Thou art the sun Eternal! Holy One ; Who us can help save Thou? To Thee alone we bow! Hear us, O God in heaven! * * * . Keep pure thy soul Then shalt thou take the whole Of delight ; then without a pang, Thine shall be all of beauty, whereof the poet sang— The perfume, and the pageant, the mirth Of the golden day and the starry night. Of heaven, and of earth O keep pure, thy soul! —R. Watson Gilder. RELIGIOUS GRUMBLERS. As all the world knows the late Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, had many outstanding gifts. In his well known hook “ John Ploughman’s Talk,” he has a chapter on “ Grumblers ” from which we give the following extracts:—

Everybody thinks himself a judge of a sermon, but nine out or ten might as well pretend to weigh the moon. I believe that at bottom, most people think it an uncommonly easy thing to preach, and that they could do it amazingly well then»*elves. Every-donkey thinks itself worthy to stand with the king’s horses; every girl thinks she could keep house better than her mother; but thoughts are not facts, for the sprat thought itself a herring, but the fisherman knew better. I daresay* those who can whistle, fancy that they can plough; hut there’s more than whistling in a good ploughman, and so let rne tell you there’s more in good preaching than taking a text, and saying, firstly, secondly, and thirdly. I try my hand at preaching myself, and in my poor way I find it not an easy thing to give the people something worth hearing; and if the fine critics, who reckon us up on their thumbs, would but try this own hands at it, they might be a little more quiet. Dogs, however, will always bark, and wnat is worse, some of them will bite too; but let .decent people do all they can, if not to muzzle them, yet to prevent their doing any great mischief.

It is a dreadful thing to see a happy family of Christians broken up by talkative fault-finders, and all about nothing, or less than nothing. Small is the edge of the wedge, but when the devil handles the beetle, churches are soon split to pieces, and men wonder why. The fact is, the worst wheel of the’cart creaks most, and one fool makes many, and thus many a congregation is set at ears with a good and faithful minister, who would have been a lasting blessing to them if they had not chased away their best friend. Those who are at the bottom of the mischief have generally no part or lot in the matter of true godliness, but,, like sparrows, fight over corn which is not their own, and, like jackdaws, pull to pieces what they never helped to build. From mad dogs, and grumbling professors, may we all be delivered, anil may we never take the complaint from either of thi'in.

Behold. God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.—lsa. xil, 2.

Salvation is a very large word. It comprehends forgiveness and deliverance, h.nd peace, and the knowledge that I am justified. What a blessed thing to have Jesus as your Saviour, to belong to Him, to have God’s salvation, and to know itl It was after the Lord saved Israel that they sang; and were they, not entitled to’sing? And what is the burden of their song? “ I will sing unto the Lord, for He hath ■triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and He is become my salvation ’’ (Exod. xv, 1-2). It is all coupled. with a Person, the Person of. the Saviour.—Dr. W. T. P. Wolston.

- THE WAY OF LIFE. MESSAGES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. By Rev. W. Henry Howard, of Sydney, Australia. THE LIGHTHOUSE.

Seated on a veranda at Kiama, I watched the revolving light of the lighthouse as it flashed its rays over the sea and then closed into darkness. It made me think what might happen if any night the machinery, which makes the lantern revolve were to break down. On the coast of Scotland there is a similar lighthouse, where such an accident did happen. The men could not fix up the machine which keeps the lantern going, so they took’ it in turns to keep it moving by hand. All through

the night they toiled, because it would never do for the light to cease to throw its beams over the briny waves. Out on the seas there would be scores of ships’ officers, who would be lookin" out for. that light, by which to guide their ships. For want of it some vessel might be cast on the rocks, and many lives be lost. So you see how important it is that the revolving light should be kept going. Me are all like little lights made by God to shine, and we must never forget that should we fail to shine, somebody may suffer. There is a text in St. Paul’s letter to the .. Christians at Philippi that runs: “ Among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life.” It makes one think of the great statue of Liberty, which stands at the entrance to New York harbour. It is that of a splendid lady, who is holding out a lamp. You will have seen the picture of it. That is just what God expects each one of us to do. Jesus is the Light of the World.” He said so, and He is. We get all our light from Him. When we have His light He expects us to shed its beams forth on everybody. He said: “ Let your light so shine before men.” Can you complete the verse? Think of what it may mean to some soul in* the dark if you know Jesus and you do not try to get others to know Him. Remember, there is danger to some who are without the light. The lighthouse warns of danger on the rocks. Will you be a lighthouse then?

THOU ART COMING. Thou art coming. O my Saviour, Thou art coming, O my King, In Thy beauty all-resplendent, In Thy glory all-transcendent; Well may we rejoice and sing. Coming! in the opening east, Herald brightness slowly swells ; Coming; O my glorious Priest, Hear we not Thy golden bells'? Thou art coming, Thou art coining ; We shall meet Thee on the way, , We shall see Thee, we shall know Thee, We shall bless Thee, we shall show Thee Ail our hearts could never say. What an anthem that will be, Ringing out our love to Thee, Pouring out our rapture sweet At Thine own all-glorious feet! Thou art coming; at Thy table We are witnesses for this, While remembering hearts Thou meetest In communion clearest, sweetest, Earnest of our coming bliss; Showing not Thy death alone And Thy love exceeding great, But Thy coming and Thy throne. All for which we long and wait. O the joy to see Thee reigning. Thee my own beloved Lord ! Every tongue Thy name confessing, Worship, honour, glory, blessing Brought to Thee with glad accord— Thee my Master and my Friend, Vindicated and enthroned. Unto earth’s remotest end Glorified, adored, and owned. —Frances Ridley Havergal, (Presbyterian) Church Hymnary. Revised Edition, 1927