THE QUIET HOUR

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 81, 17 November 1928, Page 3

THE QUIET HOUR

SOME SUNDAY READING. REALITY IN RELIGION. (By Rev. John McGregor). There is a timidity of tKuislation in the rendering; of the Apostles words “so fight I as not beating the air I .’’ The metaphor is that of a boxer raining blows on a study opponent. Those were the day's of a, clean healthy pugilism and' it is suggested that tho translation covered up the metlrphor because the pugilism of their ady had degenerated. Moffitt translates thus: “I do not plant my blows on empty air”, and

Weymouth: “I am a boxer who does not inflict blows on empty air.” The ward “So” in Greek at the beginning of ai sentence has a significance. We must visualise Pan? walking up and down as lie dictates to a mnnnensis- and adanting the attitude of a boxer, and saving: “Thus box T, not Its beating He ah-” He thus affairs that the Christian life 1S DA soft-, ioh hut chmands eon raw. na«sion and resource, as a’ comnot.iter is the frames. 1 It is n**. a Ham fi rf bt about which he ea,-| he careless, nor a, TU’a.etieel ivhei'e he ’dta eut at. n U imarrjn i,iT erv-r.-ient. He is nil .aaramst, real nnresi+ian a Ufl ta n-a,l*te his ee_ e aririq .T-a,.1hl h-% feohsp favl fatal. T-Tai'e, in .a, mm.T v-arr he. olinn’ l ’ t—e vinmreiis active, omest side of the ehricfia.rt life.

■RELIGION- TO) ■’vm-QT- TITAN A i SANCTUARY | I A. false ©mplialsis is often TUid on certain aspects of Christianity which tends to make it unattractive and re ' pugnant to youth. It is presented as a. sanctuary for a bird with a broken wing. It is that indeed but a. lot more. Young lives throbbing with vitality find 'vigour, eager to test their powers avoid sanctuary. The impression is given that religion is a crutch for the lame and not .a weapon for the strong. The glory of our religion is not that it offers ai life beyond to make up for the drudgery of this one but that it transfigures dm- ■ cjgery of this one, but that it transfigures; drudgery with a. splendour. It is viewed on >a “shelter in the .time of storm” rather than a power to drive the boat through it. It is not a Peter Pan religion. Yo u will remember that on the day on which Peter Pan was born ho hears his parents discussing That he is going to be, and he i.s so appalled at the prospect in front of him that he flies olf to Never Never Land to escape from it. Ho '■wants .no responsibility. He wants Wendy to be bis mother, ho is not. willing to be her husband. Ho wants some one to cure for him and to protect him, not someone whom he will care for and protect. A lot of people look on religion as a. Never Never Land, a means of escape from the cares and anxieties of life and fail to realise its mission to give them the strength' to meet it. Others look to religion to cover their sins and forget that it is the power by which they can get clour of them. Religion which calls for no hard fighting and has no heroic repels the young.

LEST I BE DISQUALIFIED This is which he means by “lest i shall became a. castaway.” [Ho is thinking of a competition in the games, losing his lunch and becoming unlit, therefore ho keep himsielf in training. We ising “Safe in the Arms of Jesus, Safe .on his Gentle Breafst,” and it is a comfort, to broken humanity. But it is not the centipl fact of the gospel. Our Lord does not call the young men of His clay to lean on His gentle breast, but “If any man will conn 8 after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow) me.” Religion Is not a mere haven to shelter in but a fight to engage in. It fs high thinking great living challenging us to indicate our lives for something worth while. safety first. 1' Thaft is the motto of th & redd today, and it is a good one for traffic, but if is not a worthy ideal far life. ; Christ didn’t put safety first when he alarmed his disciples by setting his

I face towards. Jerusalem!!. When they wanted him to put “safety first.” lie said “get thou behind me Satan.” Paul didn’t put safety first, neither did the thrly disciples try to, merely salve 'their skins. The call of il ip gospel is a call to a grim struggle with all the enemies of th e Kingdom of God. The symbol of the gospel is a cross. The shedding of blood is on its banner. It is a religion not. foil cowards but for heroes. Paul uses the figure of the Roman soldier, the Greek athlete, ami hero of the boxer to illustrate his idea what the‘gospel is. The sphere in which lie exercises this pugilism i R not cu the bodies of other men but his own. He hits hi* body to keep it hard, to train (add discipline it. To make it the islalve of his higher self and not the master. Self discipline comes first and social reform always must begin with ourselves. The pugnacious instinct i R good p r °- vided it consecrated to food and this is the right idea of the gospel. PRAYER.

Oh Lord, help u,s to eikjure hardness a's good soldiers of Jesus Christ, that wo might tight the good fight with all. our .might, than wo might (always be enemies to all that i s opposed to the Kingdom of Truth, that we mightvbe saving salt in the community.—Amen.