DAY BY DAY.

Waikato Times, Volume 92, Issue 14258, 8 January 1920, Page 4

DAY BY DAY.

There is naturally a disinclination to quote the ex-Kaiser The' Cross as an authority upon and matters pertaining The Crescent, to morals or the ethics of Christianity; but none the less his impressions gleaned on his memorable visit to the Holy Land, as set forth in his letter to the late Czar of Russia, are certainly interesting, and at the same time indicate that the writer possesses the faculty of observation. It is not an edifying picture he draws of the practices of the Christian Church in the land in which it was first established, but he is not by .any means the first 10 pass such judgment. It is not surprising that the message of Christianity failed to appeal to the people when presented in such an environment, and considerable sympathy will be felt for the ex-Kaiser in the shame he felt before the Moslems because of coreligionists. Christian practicesgsuffered in comparison with those of Islam, and as it is a question of “knowing them by their fruits,” the Cross at Jerusalem did not overshadow the Crescent. Christians were at variance where the Moslems were united. Dickering, strife and intrigue were apparent, where according to precept there should have been love, tolerance and sympathy.

The stale of things depicted by the ex-Kaiser is not The Cause confined to the Holy of Land. We can find The Failure. evidence of similar

conditions in what are regarded as more enlightened countries, and even, as the recent election showed, New Zealand is not exempt. The Christian Chut’Oh.is certainly not the power it should he, and no one will admit this more readily than the ecclesiastics themselves. The why and the wherefore have caused much heartsearching and inquiry amongst those who are anxious to find out the cause of the comparative failure with the hope of removing it. Some earnest’ souls suggest one thing and some another, but may it not be the absence of the spirit of the Founder? Is it not possible that in the observance of the rite and the ceremony the living principles arc ignored? That in the litliiag of the anise, the mint and the cummin, peace and goodwill are withheld. The outward and visible sign may he good, but when the inward and spiritual grace is absent the observance of the form is neither cd.tying nor profitable. No, the antagonism and competition between the different sections of the Christian Church are not confined to Palestine, and until (lie spirit of suspicion and enmity, now too commonly apparent between those who claim to be humble followers of Him who so fervently prayed that his disciples “may all be one,” is exorcised, the church cannot come fully into her own. He Would be a bold man who affirmed Unit the church had altogether failed in her mission. She has not done so, but i slie has failed in degree, in that she has not accomplished all that she might,- Vain drabbling and contentions with enmity, strife and clamour between' the adherents of th'e several sections, have largely dissipated her powers and contracted her spheres of usefu'lhtsK. 1