Women’s World Day of Prayer Wellington, 1958

White Ribbon, Volume 29, Issue 10, 1 June 1958, Page 2

Women’s World Day of Prayer Wellington, 1958

Lady Mallaby, whose husband, Sir George Mallaby, is High Commissioner for the United Kingdom in New Zealand, was guest speaker at the Women’s World Day of Prayer in Wellington this year. In her address, Lady Mallaby said: When the Secretary of the World Day of Prayer Committee first approached me by phone to ask whether I would speak to you here today, 1 felt unable to answer immediately. The very thought made me dreadfully nervous, so I said I would like iO discuss it with my husband. This was, of Course, but a way of giving me time to struggle with my conscience, for I knew that acceptance was inevitable. How could I refuse? Here was an opportunity unsought and God-given, for me to testify to these beliefs and ideals taught me so lovingly in childhood by my parents and fostered throughout my life by the shining example of a much-oved sister until her untimely death—and to stand witness for the retygion which has sustained, comforted, and enriched me during a life of excitement, change and adventure, in which unhappiness, loneliress, hard work, worry, deep love and happiress, gay laughter, ease and achievement have all played a part. The Bread of Life" So, on this first Friday in Lent, I stand here to share with you and with all those in some hundred countries in the world in this World Day of Prayer. The theme is “The Bread of Life” and how we can relate it to our daily lives. The Bread of Lifehow can it be defined? How CAN it? To each one of us it will mean something different and we each think of it in a variety of ways; a great mystery and a great Truth. It seems almost impossible to translate my thoughts into words. To me it is the Beauty of Holiness,, that permeates, enriches and sweetens the everyday lives of those who believe in God and vvho have a deep religious conviction. In the sometimes tedious and exacting struggle •of a woman’s life, the endless cooking, tiie dreary dishes to be washed, the often boring round of housework, the exhausting shopping and the constant demands of the children, and in times of illness, financial worry or anxiety over this Sputnik-ridden world, which both men and women must endure, the stoutest hearts will w’aver and the brightest be dulled unless they have that inner strength. Unless they have that never failing source of courage, inspiration, and comfort, which this belief in God and deep religious conviction alone can give. The Bread of Life—without it, life is meaningless and frustrating Without it, there is no true life as God meant us to live it—vibrant, full or purpose and meaning, whether we be called to high or low estate, to poverty or riches, to sickness or health, to fame or obscurity. With it, ill-health can be borne the more bravely when the sick body is sustained by a quiet mind full of the love of God and acceptance of His will; drudgery disappears and work becomes a tribute to God “Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws, makes that and the action fine.”

Home—The Centre of our Lives

In our homes, which, after all, are the centres of our lives, whether we are young or old, married or single, we must see that this belief in God, the Bread of Life, is part and parcel of our daily lives.

If we live alone, then we must not allow ourselves to become introspective, selfish, dull and useless, but rather, let this inner source, this light of the spirit keep us active and aware of the needs of others and to all the services great and small, that we may render to those less fortunate than ourselves. It is so easy to think, “Oh, what’s the usf What can I do?” You can do something, something which will cost us nothing but the effort you make, but which will bring you a rich reward. You can visit that sick or lonely neighbour; you can do those little services for the aged and for which so few seem to have time; you can speak those .words of comfort; you can do untolid little acts of kindness which will bring this Bread of Lite into other people’s lives. In so doing,, loneliness is banished i.nd life becomes full and purposeful. Think of the missionaries scattered throughout the world in lonely and often unhealthy outposts; how they have given up everything that we hold most dear, family, home and country and all the accepted pleasures and distractions of life, in order to carry tl e Word of God to oppressed and fearridden people, the world over. Think, too, of those who work in Leper colonies, not so very far from this fair land, so richly blessed. Think of’those Sisters of Mercy, throughout the world, who cherish the unwanted and unloved, who tend the deformed, the sick and aged, so selflessly and so lovingly. T hey know the true meanrng of contentment and of a full and satisfying kfe. We see the gentle radiance of their faces the shining light of devotion in their eyes—of a truth they have tasted of the Bread of Life If we are not alone; if we marry and are privileged in becoming parents, it is not enough for us to run our homes well, to feed, clothe and educate our children, we must not only criticise and correct, teacn them good manners, and orderly ways We must bring them love and laughter, fresh ideas, high ideals, a sense of duty and the love of God into our homes. We must nourish their souls as well as their bodies and show them by our own example, that they, too, can achieve this inner strength, this radiance from above, which will enrich and strengthen ‘liern all the days of their lives. “Jesus said unto them, ‘I am the Bread of Life; He that comcth to Me shall never hunger, and he that beheveth on Me, shall never thirst’”