TODAY READING.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 144131, 28 June 1913, Page 6

TODAY READING.

Notes -of a sermon, jjmeacbcd by the Ro’ J. W, BURTON in the Whitele Mpurttiwaj nkramh. VOICES IN THE SILENCE. Text: ■“There was silence, .and heard a voice, saving . .”—Joi iv,, 16. This hook is mot only one of the n ancient in the Old Testament, but it one of the most interesting. It has place-all its own. It reaches high levo ,of literary excellence, and it deals wit subjects which have attracted tl human mind in all .ages. It is one < the oldest attempts we have to “jnstii the ways of God to mm.” One of tli speakers, in this .mighty drama tolls x how the thoughts to which he gives o: press! on came into his mind. It wt in the silence of tho sleepless nigl that the voice spake to him. It is stillso. In the quiet and silcnci of life wo hear the voices of the spiri Tho experionce of hui.Vanity has a Jarg place for silence. .Moses was forty year in the deserts of Alidian watebin sheep, and in the quiet of the bar hills the voice of God came to him, an ho conceived the magnificent idea c rescuing the children of Israel from th thrall of Egypt. Through long nighi the influence of the silent stars ha been poured over his soul, and strong! of purpose had - come in tho lonel hours. It'was .in the solemn silence c. the temple that the voice of God cam to tho child SamucL David, raindiu the sheep in the solitary fields, wa drawing from the vast silence a roan him those kingly qualities which mad him monarch among men. John th Baptist caught the spirit of the desert and carno forth tho fearless reprove of his generation. Jesus spent man; quiet years in the secluded village o Nazareth, and the thoughts of God the great Father, stole into his soul Paul found it necessary, after his con version, to retire to distant Arabia tha he might think out his new positions and that he might eaten tho wider mes sage of God for his day. John saw tin New Jerusalem with its gleaming spirci when an exile in the island of Patinos Tho psychologists, if wo heeded them would tel! us that these hours of silenci are the training of the subliminal self, and that tho subsequent activity was the uprush of pent forces. The spirit always broods over the dark waters ol the soul before tho voico says, Let there bo Light. All great movements have their secret in silence. The burst of spring flowers which will soon gladden our wintry world—whence comes it? Nature in her quiet laboratory beneath the ground has been carrying on mysterious and silent chemical changes, and the spring glory is the result of winter’s unseen work. The mighty cataract of Niagara roars thunderously, but whence is its stupendous power? Wo have to go back to the gentle sunny days when the clouds rose from the face of tho earth; these fell back in soft showers upon many a distant hill, until, at length, they formed the myriad streams that emptied into the river; and then, Niagara! The great law of life is this; that SILENCE IS THE SECRET OF PRODUCTIVITY and of strength. Have you not noticed that the people who chatter much have nothing to say ? Tho brook makes a noise, but it bears no ships on its bosom. We might find many illustrations of this law; but let us take one or two from literature. Scott's novels were written hurriedly, and one would bo inclined to say that hero was a case in which work was done in bustle and confusion. Remember, though, that Scott did not write until ho was a middle-aged man, and that his life had been steeped for a quarter of a century in tho romance of the Border. Little wonder that he had reservoirs of plot and character. The silence had stored his mind. Hawthorne, the American novelist, is chiefly known by one or two of his books, and when “Tho Scarlet Letter” was published, men asked, How came he to write thus? He tells us that a wise _old undo of his insisted that he should write down every night, “in the best English at his command,” the events of tho day. This he did for many years, and out of that long silence the stylo and power of Nathanael Hawthorne wore born. The danger of OUR BUSY AGE is just here. Wc have not sufficient time for retirement and receptivity. Matthew Arnold sneered at us and told us that we had not time to possess our souls before we die. We live in a swirl and bustle of activity. We delight in vain show and pompous display. We strut and fume before tho petty limelight of the hmlr, and fprgct the white light of tho eternal in which alone action may be truly judged. How many business men are losing their souls in the feverish rush of competitive lifo? Too often they make only pretence of living, and each day is swept into the awful vortex of nothingness. Daudet, the French novelist, had a story of a hoy who was born with a brain of gold, and he soon found that it was an easy matter to filch its metal to purchase the trinkets ho desired. He married a wife as frivolous as himself, and she wanted much. Ho was gradually usingup his golden brain. One day she asked for soraq gaudy jewellery, and he took the last scrap, of gold from his brain in order to buy it—and perished. A foolish story, you su; ! Aes; but grimly true to life. It is feared that ministerial efficiency is not so great as it used to be. We are sometimes asked ironically, Where are the compelling preachers of today? It is not, I imagine, that the average j/owere of the occupants of the pulpits have declined, still less that they have not a gospel to preach; but their strength is frittered away on so many details of church life that they cannot put their beat into their most important work. Committees, meetings, societies, guilds and what not eat up the time the minister ought to give to thought and reflection. No man can preach effectively unless he have many fallow hours in which mind and soul may come into deeper accord. We must have silence if we are to catch the voice of God amidst all the crosslights of life. May I suggest a few simple and commonplace ways in which we can. even in this rushing age, secure silence for our spirit. READING of great books that have in them the note of the eternal, is a way for many of us. A man may have his business in Devon Street, but lie need not spend his life there. Truly great books can bear him away over the wide continent® of human thought and bring him back with healthy wonder in his eyes. We should not suffer great loss if wo did not road the sixpenny magazines for a year, or even, for the, matter of that, our daily papers. A man who reads the whole newspaper is like a gourmand who devours every dish on the menu. We can drop with advantage

many of the religious papers, and read instead something inspired. No man can lead quietly and thoughtfully the “Imitation of Christ” without becoming bigger and nobler. Our Bible, too, might be studied with advantage. It is much to be feared that it is mainly a fetish. We will fight for it to bo in our schools—and never trouble to road it except in tho most perfunctory manner. NATURE has a soothing power for ns all. A quiet walk may bring ns into a silence which hallows the ground whereon we tread. Men want a rest from business anxiety, and they rush off to Auckland or Sydney, when a quiet fortnight at our Mountain House yonder would work a miracle of healing. The gospel according to William "Wordsworth is a gospel of salvation for many a nerveracked sufferer. A RESTFUL HOME LIFE is perhaps the hardest thing of all to cultivate, and yet it can be secured. Frobel advised us to live with our children. How many of us do it? To learn to laugh with them in their childlike mirth is to find somo of the highest and worthiest knowledge that lifo can give. Many a man would be. better and happier if, instead of rushing off to some so-called important meet ing, he stayed at home, heard the children their prayers at tho fireside, tucked them into bed, and kissed them goodnight. Ho might catch something of tho child-spirit which Jesus said was so necessary to live a heavenly life. We must CONTRIVE TO BE ALONE. Many people are afraid to be alone. They must have company. There is no richer company, at times, than a. man’s own self. Jesus told us to seek tho inner chamber, to fasten securely the door, and then to pour out our soul to tho Great Father. Dr. Hislop, the celebrated alienist, or specialist in mental diseases, said that ho knew of no surer method of keeping tho mind sane than that of tho habit of simple prayer. Tho man who truly prays has disciplined himself in an unique school of sincerity, and lie looks upon life with cloajeyes. A gracious calm pervades his most active hours, for ho has caught tho voice in the silence. To cultivate this spirit of quiet content and of loyal faith is to take possession of all that tho world can give us. Channing left us some noble words with which wo may fitly close: “To lire content with small means, to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not ricli; to listen to stare and birds, babes and sagos, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let tho spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common—this is my symphony.”