THINGS THOUGHTFUL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17181, 26 October 1923, Page 11

THINGS THOUGHTFUL.

FAITH- AND FELLOWSHIP. The j£aith by which ye see Him. Tbo Hope, in which ye yearn, The Love that through ail troubles To Him alone wilt turn. What are they, but vaunt-courtiers To lead you to His Sight? What are they, save the efiueneo Of Uncreated Light? —Joseph of the S-tudium. OTHER MOTHER. I She always leaned to watch for us Anxious if we were late, In winter by the window, In summer by the gate. And though we mocked her tenderly Who took such foolish care, The long road home would seem more Because she waited thereHer thoughts were all so full of us. She never could forget, And so I think that where she is S.he must b© watching yet. Watching till we come home to her, Anxious if we are late, Watching from Heaven’s window, Leaning from Heaven’s gate. - -Margaret Widdomer. OLD AGE AND RETIREMENT. It used to be regarded as appropriate for a successful man to retire from active life soon after he had passed the age of sixty. Retirement was m fact the goal to which a man looked forward : yet often it meant abandoning the interests of liis life and vegetating in dull indolence. Elderly men with nothing to do not only were not liappv in their leisure but usually did not live long to chafe under it. There was no general acceptance of what seems to be the fact—that the human organism, like a machine, rusts out when it is condemned to disuse. Nowadays, although a great many men have the purpose to retire from active business when they have accumulated a sufficient fortune, it is seldom with the old-fashioned desire to give up work. It is nearly always to work of another kind. Iu may be literary work, it may bo charitable work, it may bo scientific research: men don’t look forward'now to an old ago of sitting about the house and being luxuriously coddled. Even an old ago devoted mainly to travel, which represented the ideal of our more enterprising forefathers, does not satisfy the energetic, elderly of the present time. They like travel as a recreation, but as an occupation it satisfies old age no more than it satisfies youth. to l>e in some way allied. The man who keeps mentally alert is likely to outlive the man who grown mentally sluggish, A person who after passing middle age does not fight hard against the tendency to " die at the top ” has no very strong grip on life.- -Isabel Powell "Walsh. It is possible to bn below flattery, as well as above it-.—Macaulay. VALUE OF IDE ADS. Ideals are the ends of roads, and the roads perfectly passable. To walk to gether to the kirk With a goodly company. —Coleridge. A CALI. TO GOD. Not only olden ages felt The presence of the Lord : Not only with the fathers dwelt Thy Spirit and Thy Word. Come. Holy Ghost 1 In us arise; Be this Thy mighty hour! And make Thy willing people wise To know Thv day of power ! —T. H. Gill. NATURE’S BEAUTIES. O woods and hills where beauty reigns supreme, Far from the city with its rude How pleasant ’mid your solitudes to dream. And bathe the spirit in celestial calms. How oft we languish for the gift of wings, To fly to you when vexing cares oppress ; And find oblivion of all meaner things, In contemplation of your loveliness. —R. V Downes.