ON THE THRESHOLD OF SUNDAY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19828, 30 April 1927, Page 16 (Supplement)

ON THE THRESHOLD OF SUNDAY

ShIIIMMUUIIBK (Contributed by the Wanganui Ministers’ Association.) “PRAYER.” I could not do without Theo; No other friend can read The. spirit’s strange deep longings, Interpreting its need! No human heart could enter Each dim recess of mine. And soothe, and hush, and calm it. O bleseu Lord, but Thine. ’ T.ord, Who in the beginning didst {make the world, have regard to the i prayer of Thy unworthy servant. Open I mine eyes that I may see how near .Thou arl to me. It it a mystery, deep ■and wide, that Thou shouldst deign to {enter my heart, and be my gu« 4 st. Be also my Host; let me live in Theo, and do Thou live in me more and more. Let no folly or sin of mine make Thy presence impossible; save me from banishing Thee from my heart. Make Thy presence, Lord, an increasing power in my life; let it become the supreme fact and factor of my daily existence. Let all my decisions, small and great, be made* in Thy light. Let mo know Thee, not only in the pages of Thy but as a dear and blessed Presence. Teach mo all the tender and infinite meanings that are in the words, “He loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Break down my coldness of heart, and fill me with thoughts of Thy love. Kindle within me an undying zeal for all that is noble and pure. A.n!eu. HOW TO LOVE. ; “Mother/’ said little Johnnie one night, “the boys warned me to play truant to-day. but I could not.” “Why not’’ asked his mother “Because/’ said Johnnie, throwing both arms around his mother’s neck. “I knew it would make you sorry, and that is why 1 couldn’t.” Johnnie loved his mother so much ho coudn’t make her sorry. That is the way God wants us to love Him. HOME. ■ Homo is everywhere to Thee Who can'st thine own dwelling he. Yea. tho’ ruthless death assail Thee. Still Thy lodging will not fail Thee; Still thy soul's thine own: and she To an house removed shall bo, An eternal house above, Walled and roofed and paved with love. “THE MUSIC OF HIS WILL.” Do you think that life is over royal to the pleasure seeker? Do you think that our smart society is really to be envied? The commonest day has something to reveal which it never shows save to the dutiful. “I am come to do Thy will. O God” said Christ, and that was the secret of His amazing vision.- - G. H. Morrison. “AN ACTIVE FAITH.” Thy faith hath made thee whole. — Mark x. 46-52. Jesus used that word again and again, but only when Faith had found its anchorage in Himself. That is the great dividing line between the faith of which He) speaks aud that which is claimed by many a cult of to-day. Here is a quotation from a very modern pamphlet: “Tho faith you require for this purpose—e.g.. that of ‘drawing vitality from an invisible source by actively desiring it’—is a belief concerning the nature of the invisible source. It is sufficient to believe ‘hat by the action of a natural law you actually have the power to draw strength into yourself from somewhere, by an effort of emotional thought or active desire or will.” I am glad Jesus did not send Bartimaeus back to his corner lo draw from somewhere sight for his blind eyes. I am glad He does not call me to eelfish and morbid introspection, nor the practice of autosuggestion by long imagining. The faith that healed and cleansed in Galilee was always faith that turned wholly from self and counted wholly on Jesus. Not the inner view, but the outer view, saves and cleanses the soul. 1 looked to Jesus and 1 found In Him my star, my sun, And in that light of life I ’ll walk Till travelling days are done. —Emily Huntley. SONG. BY THOMAS CFKTIS CLARK. All the world is lovely iLife is sweet and fair; They are blind who find it Desolate and bare. Smiles and birds and roses throng Every heart that thrills with song If one has the eyes to see. Beauty bides eternally. For the heart that’s loving, Love is everywhere. The corroding care that is in many | Christian hearts is more dishonouring j to the Lord than almost anything in , the hearts of His own; it is rank un-• belief. Give yourselves entirely to i Him that He may do what seemeth good ■ to Him. Nothing but your present and I eternal good is in His heart. Yield { yourselves entirely to Him, that He may mould you that He may fashion j you according to His will. Do not be { anxious .whilst He, who is your father, sitteth upon the throne of Heaven, not only for to-morrow, but eternally. —Dr. Neatby.

OUR BABIES —■ i 5 I (By Hygela.j Published under the auspices of . the Boyal New Zealand Society for | the Health of Women and Children i (Plunkct Society). “It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at tne bottom. ’ ’ AFTER BABY COMES. SAFEGUARDING THE MOTHER. We have dwelt at some length in two previous articles on the subject of antenatal care, the need for it, astd its advantages to mother and baby. Now Jet us consider how best to continue the good work—how to ensure phe. best possible start for the new born t ! baby just beginning his independan; p ; career, and for the mother the quickest 1 n ; and most complete return to normal r i health and strength. i j’, ■ Safeguarding the Baby. ■; j in the pamphlet called “The Expectant Mother and Baby’s First Month/’ ' which is published by the Health D ■- purlment, .Sir Truby King writes as l ’ i follows: ‘ “Suckling by the mother is safest ! and best fur the baby, and best for the ? mother’s health also. Praclieaily I ! every mother can suckle her baby if I : she wants to. and if she is properly s I looked alter an.l goes about matters in 'l ; the right way. The best bottle-feeding ! I | is inferior feeding. i “The child is made or marred in the r j first 12 months of life, and steady C i uninterrupted progress in the fir-1 * month largely determines what follow*. J rr “Nearly (‘very baby is born healthy yet few are as strong and well as they | should be at the end of a month ui I two. ‘‘ I his falling off can easily he pro* vented. Babies don’t make themsclve, j delicate anl sickly; they become so ' e! through faulty treatment—mainly F | through bottle-feeding. a nd through I I over-feeding and irregular feeding, I whether suckled or bottle fed. J! “lhe parents and the nurse are • j almost entirely responsible. Th ■ q baby’s fate is in their hands. Thrv can make the child cither a success or a 1 I failure. What must they do and what 13 must they not do? “Failure of the mother's hoalth and | strength tends to failure of the baby. { so our first care must he io safeguard I the niother. How can this be done? Safeguarding the Mother. , “After childbirth the best wav to ' fit the mother for the perfect and <oin- ! plete nursing uf her baby and to pre . pare her for resuming the ordinary I cares’of family life is to make sure she i I has freedom from worries and u j sufficient period of peaceful, content- ; ed rest—reclining or sitting in the open lair as soon as she is fit, and then stage by stage proceeding to tone up the whole system by suitable bracing and exercise. “There are few husbands in the Doc minion who would not manage to ensure their wives full time and opportunity for proper recuperation if they only realised the enornius difference •: would make to the future of both moth er and child. “From a monetary standpoint, am {expenditure incurred would prove . { great economy in the long run. beuau•nothing is so wasteful and ruinously I expensive in the home as allowing ih< { mother to just drag herself along an l (Struggle against chronic weakness ano ■ ill-health. I ’’ lU(‘ prevailing custom ainong-t ‘{civilised peoples has been tu keep th. ■ . mother cuddled in bed tuu long aftci I the birth of her child. This is iiidiilita’1 { ing. not beneficial, unless there is some " j special reason for invalidism. The la.\ • that the mother tends to set to work , directly she is allowed up is not suffir cient ground fur keeping her invalided. ; Lying passively in bed for two wcck> does not fortify the system for tie t battle oi lite. ’lhe aim should be ■.■ promote the tone and fitness of th: ( whole body, so that good digestion an i r :u*ti\e circulation may lay the founu ations of a normal healthy milk supply, . and favour the proper bracing up ar’l I contraction of the womb and other <t. , larged and congested internal organ- »■ “Of course, there may be grounds . j (such as high temperature, etc.) know i |i to the doctor ur nurse which woui < . render the course reeommended inad- . : visable; but, generally speaking, coni i sponging (beginning ui h the limbs an i ; (breasts), followed by active rubbing i | with a rough towel, may be commence. t 'towards the end of the week, and ai. hour or two may In l spent uoniforr.thly reclining in the upeii wir a few d:r’> i after the child is born. | “The outing and stimulation shm. ■; ibe increased .lay by day. and uh ui baby is three weeks old the average j mother, besides being braced by daiiv I cool sponging of the entire body. i’o;i i owed by brisk friction and exer/ u. I should be spending almost all day in the open air, tand should be taki: , and enjoying, say, a mile of fairly active walking— not mere sauntering. “From this time onwards the mi n essentials for lhe health and strong..'i of the mother are the same as dunn, pregnancy—namely: Fresh air (-la? and night), (htily outdoor exercise, <lik i rest and sleep, suitable diet. I “For the first month the mothei | should be careful not to lift hea\ | weights or strain herself in anv way: and, if possible, she should be*sparH j not only the work, but the worries and | responsibilities, of the household, j “The special and distressing ‘displacements’ which afflict married uo I men, and often cause lifelong weakne.— [and misery, have been largely indu-•« 1 ] by the habit of wearing corsets, bv not ; having enough daily outing and active exercise during pregnancy, and bv future to suckle the baby,* coupled with j failure to promote proper muscular lon.jin a gradual systematic way during the I first few weeks following childbirth If husbands only knew the truth th-'} would safeguard their wives at anv ’O.-4 —they would not let them sacrifi-. themselves, and. indeed, the whole family. by sotting to work too soon. ‘lf a month of proper attention an-’ consideration could bo ensured for al; mothers, there would bo a far higher i standard of hoalth and happiness in i our homes. Unfortunately, many mothers are forced to set to work j within the first fortnight, often with (deplorable consequences to thomselv'? { and their offspring. This cannot be too J strongly condemned. If tho nurse cannot be' retained, there should always jbe some responsible person to do a | portion of the domestic work until the I end of the first month—preferably, of | course', longer.” i Let us all do our part in assisting to I safeguard mothers.