The Sabbath

Waikato Times, Volume 102, Issue 17220, 1 October 1927, Page 18 (Supplement)

The Sabbath

A GRADELY PRAYER. “Give us, Lord, a bit o’ sun, A bit o’ work and a bit o’ fun; Give us aw in th’ struggle and splutter Eaur daily bread and a bit o’ butter; Give us health, eaur keep to make An’ a bit to spare for poor folks’ sake; Give us sense, for we’re some of us duffers, An’ a heart to feel for aw that suffers; Give us, too, a bit of a song, An’ a tale, and a book to help us along; An’ give us our share o’ sorrow’s lesson, That we may prove heaw grief’s a blessin’. Give us, Lord, a chance to he Eaur gradely best, brave, wise and free, Eaur gradely best for eaursels and others Till aw men larn to live as brothers.” —From the St. Martin’s Review.

ture as Is now to be had for a pound or two a year, and his Sunday hours wholly at his own thoughtful disposing, and I will undertake that that man may have a life of pure enjoyment and real happiness which kings might envy. But there must be sacrifice to attain these things.

Solitary on the Bridge. “Woe to that voyage where the captain is never found standing solitary on the bridge. Surrounded by shoals and quicksands, dreadful is the fate of the captain who spends his time jazzing in the saloon. When the time has come for taking his bearings from the heavenly bodies, the prudent captain will sternly refuse to have his seclusion intruded on by one living soul. Similarly the prudent man with the helm of his life in his hands shall say of those Sunday hours which arc his after a week of distracting toil, when it is put before him to rest his mind by running up and down Scotland on a motor car, will say, ‘No, I would love the change of air and scene, but I have on these glorious quiet and restful Sundays which I look forward to all the week, things to think about which are essential to my happiness, which fill my soul with satisfaction, and enable me to plan my kindly actions for the coming week.’

“There is nothing more important than that the lost art of meditation should be recovered. Also that! the first fruit of thoughtful meditation should'be to ascertain the best way in which not only Sunday but all leisure should be spent. Most men have more leisure than their fathers had, and this question has now become one of urgency. Out of correct views of leisure and meditation there will grow perennial fruits which will have lasting effects on a man himself and on all who come in contact with him.

“Out of properly directed leisure and meditation without interruption will spring such fruits as the mastery of one’s fate, as the development of personality in ways as yet undreamt of by us, increased vitality or what we know as joie de vivre, and, best of ail. there will also ednit; communion with

the unseen world to those who lay themselves open for this. “It is true in regard to this that we never know what opportunity is awaiting us round the corner, and the beneficial effects easily brought about by a simple word, fitly spoken, or a short letter, simply written, come into our mind like flakes of snow from very Heaven. But this can only come to the waiting soul whose horizon is clear and with nothing to interrupt, which comes to most only in the quietude of the Lord’s Day. And, to put it another way, the soul needs the same attention and care and forethought that our business needs during the other six days, or our body, or even our garden. It is so easy to push aside the happinesses which lie hidden in the Lord’s Day which demand real sacrifice to attain on our side.

“I hope with increasing knowledge that as a result we shall see in our time a complete reaction in favour of quiet and thoughtful Sundays in which sporting news will cease to trouble, and prices are at rest. As a result, I think we shall see in our time a changed idea of life valuations, and . that no longer will the monetary equation be regarded by the mass of the people as the main standard of a successful life, a view which tends to engender envy of persons who may have money, but who have missed happiness, and are therefore poor indeed. Also as a result of Sundays of quiet and thoughtfulness, we shall live to see in our time during the remaining six days an increased joy in work and an increased pride in Duty, which splendid word has almost escaped from our vocabulary.’’