THESE DAYS

Otago Witness, Issue 4042, 1 September 1931, Page 69

THESE DAYS

By the Rev. D. Gardner Miller. Within the memory of living man there has been no period of such determined onslaught upoh every department of public and private life as we are experiencing these days. It would almost seem as it the deeps of life had been stirred by forces, beyond human control. The waves caused by this upsurging have smashed way through every continent. thrones and Powers are tottering and some have fallen. Cherished beliefs have been uprooted and old standards that have maintained civilisation for centuries have been shaken to their foundations. The old, easy philosophy of “God’s in His Heaven, all s well with the world,” is discounted.

Our daily food is seasoned with talk of depression, slump, seduction, and—most ominous of all—hunger - and want. Unfortunately, careless thinkers are talkin'’ about moral and spiritual bankruptcy. Jiven the most optimistic of us hesitate to S f a 18 we H the higher realms °‘ “ e ’ to speak of bankruptcy is to utter a lie. These days may reveal bankruptcy in methods of government but they certainly do not reveal powerlessness of lecovery or cracked moral and spiritual foundations. The cisterns may be low but they are not empty. I have every confidence that the painful period we are passing through will eventuate in a cleaner world, a more spiritual conception of life, and an exalted, if chastened, people. God is not dead. ¥ -Y- Sf. Our own beloved New Zealand is at the crossroads. But she will not take the wrong turning. Her inherited traditions and the high-mindedness of her people will save her from disaster. The shrieks of the alarmists and the insidious propaganda of a foreign-controlled and blatant materialism cannot even shake the pillars of our common sense, far less pull down the fabric of our constitution. Writing as one who is proud of his adopted country, and with a fairly long experience of public life in a capacity that gives opportunity for a wide and deep survey of tlic ebb and flow of tendencies and principles, I make bold to put my finger on the weak spot in the present situation, which, in my judgment, needs not only exposing but healing. That weak spot is the obvious (1 will not say “ studied ”) neglect of the great moral and spiritual forces which alone, if applied, can stabilise economics as well as people. We have committees and commissions, taxation direct and indirect, calls and pleas to do ths, that, and the other, but no responsible leader has arisen to declare that, unless the great sanctities of life are enthroned in the heart of the people there can be no real and stable reconstruction of society. New Zealand is greatly in need of a reformer to call the people back to the verities, not a referee to adjudicate between policies. If I may put it this way, there is a clamant need for the great ideas to become incarnate. The times are ripe for a new birth of religious and spiritual life which alone can remould society. I hope I am censorious, but I do bewail the fact that hitherto the churches of our land have not got together and sounded the note of warning and reminded the nation that it forgets God at its peril.

There is time to do it yet. When the Church does not lead, then is the nation impoverished. This is not the time to emphasise party differences within the churches—Lord, how I hate parties!— nor is it the time for theologians to score off one another; but it is the time for declaring the essentials that underlie all forms of religion and churchmanship. Politicians in their deeper moments tell us that the basis of all renewal in social and international life is a change of heart in the peoples of the world. Now it is the neglect of urging that —and the blame rests upon us all, politician and churchman alike —to me, is the weak spot in the present situation. It may be urged here and there—l have no doubt it is—but in the larger arena of the Dominion’s life it is not mentioned, far less urged.

But something more must be said. It is not enough to indicate a weakness; there must be an attempt to heal it. At the risk of being misunderstood, I deliberately state that the situation of these days demands a new Puritanism. The misunderstanding can only arise if those who take the trouble to read thus far, skip the word “ new,” and then snort at the word “Puritanism.” I have no wish to see society revert to many of the incidences of the older Puritanism. Its revolt against art and music, recreation and sport, whilst necessary in a -measure, can never be resurrected. But the older Puritanism w - as something more than a revolt; it was a deliberate attempt to live and regulate life in the light of the face of God. Those who gird against Puritanism forget that it brought England up with a round, even if a two sharp, turn, and saved the country from serious disaster. That element—namely, living life in light of the face of God, is what I honestly think is necessary to-day in New Zealand. God is largely forgotten in this bountiful land. We have tosseed aside many of the simple ways and thrifty habits of the pioneers who laid the foundations of our state. Pleasure and sport, carelessness about the future, having a good time without counting the cost, are incidences of our Dominion life that cannot but cause great alarm to those who take the long view of our destiny as a country. To live simply because the State cuts off our supplies is no remedy, nor is it welcome, but to live simply because it is healthier, physically and morally, so to do is to rebuild society on a firm foundation. Not because I am a minister, but because I know the value of a spiritual basis of life, do I urge people to simple ways of life and to a confident faith in God. New Zealand will not stagger down the wrong road; she will straighten herself, and walk along the flintv way towards her high destiny, when her people trust in God and do the right. He that believeth shall not become panicky.