Signs of the Times
[A Correspondent, in The Times, London, England]
Present-day circumstances have quickened, to a degree beyond precedent, perception of the truth that even the humblest opportunity of service is a privilege to be welcomed, not a demand to be met in a spirit of condescension. The lesson gains yet further value when we observe our Lord's unique success in blending what too often have seemed the contrasting ideals of service and self-development. How, it has been asked, are the duties of self-cultivation and self-abnegation to be combined? If a man spends himself, his thought, time, and abilities in caring for others, how is he to care for his own inner life? ... But the conflict between the individual and the social claims disappears in his [Jesus'] teaching. He does not say that in social service a man will, as it were, lose his own life, yet the loss will seem worth while. What he does imply is that in so losing his life a man will find it. ... The purely self-centered life not only will be sterile in its relation with others, but will be doomed to internal decay. The life which gives itself will discover that it has gained for itself by spending for others.... If he would render full service to the community, a man must use all means to purify his own character; if he desires strength and growth for his own character, he will be eager to wash the feet of his brethren.
[Rev. Samuel A. Wright, as quoted in the Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Arizona]
We are not kind enough. Most of us would confess before God we are not as kind as we ought to be. Of course, there are many things that conspire to make us hard and unkind. We are busy, we are simply driven through the week, we have no time to cultivate those social graces that make for the beauty and bloom of life.
Many of us are not kind enough in our actions. Few of us show ourselves kind. There are many of us who are conscious that we are kind at heart. We have many tender feelings, but we never take the trouble to express them. We are too busy to be considerate, too afraid of showing our inner depth to be tender. No one would ever know from our outward behavior that our heart was sensitive and gentle. We are not as kind as we ought to be in our judgments. We are oftentimes harsh, and sometimes downright cruel. We condemn men without mercy. We say, "That man said thus and thus; I heard him say it." But do we know that he was sorry when he said it? Do we know that he would have given anything if he could take it back?...
We ought to try to deal gently and kindly with our fellow men. If we had the love of Christ in our hearts, we would be more patient and kind. Love suffers long and still is kind. Love never fails.
[From the Williamsport (Indiana) Pioneer]
When we enter a dark room and desire to find our way about, we turn on the light and then our way is made clear—our vision is clarified and we proceed with precision and safety.
Darkness Vanishes instantly when the room is illuminated, but darkness cannot replace light until the light is extinguished; therefore light is always the dominating factor in this dual operation. In fact, there is never darkness as long as there is light in sufficient quantity to obliterate darkness, and the brightness of the illumination is in accordance with the candlepower of the illuminating elements.
The life of an individual is comparable to this situation. In the proportion that the light of understanding—not necessarily intellectual training—removes ignorance from our thinking, in that proportion our life is illumined and becomes a beacon for others.
If we allow unnecessary and unwholesome habits, and these habits are nothing more than the outward expression of our thought, to darken an otherwise well-lighted pathway, that life lends little to the upbuilding of society and the world is no better place in which to live, because this particular life has "wasted his substance with riotous living."
On the other hand, one who expresses his fullest understanding of goodness—and goodness is light, because we have the Biblical proof that "God saw the light, that it was good"—expresses a purity that no amount of unfavorable comment can overthrow or hide under a bushel. Rather does it become as a city "set on an hill" that cannot be hid.
Man's true nature is to express this light, and whatever seems dark is only the false concept of a belief in something that in reality does not belong to him and that he does not really want. Down deep in our hearts, none of us want to express error—good is the dominant factor; but because attractions other than good have led us into darkened sense dreams we say with Paul, "The good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do."
As we rise above temptation, which every individual is spiritually capable of doing, the light of understanding dawns and we begin to express the good instead of the bad. And we do not have to wait for some specific date upon which to begin this memorable journey, but, like turning on the light in the room to eliminate the darkness, we can begin now to emerge from our false sense of life and even with the speed of light we can be delivered from the terrors of sense to the joys of Soul. All we need to do is to open our consciousness to good and the law of natural sequences will do the rest, and we shall gain a new light from the twenty-first verse of the seventeenth chapter of Luke's Gospel, "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
[Rev. W. R. Sproule, as quoted in the West Toronto (Ontario, Canada) Weekly]
"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." is a good rule for both nations and individuals. When love rules between men and when love rules between nations, the distinction of mine and thine is lost; that greed which makes for strife is replaced by a new understanding which seeks the good of the other person.
[From the News-Press, Santa Barbara, California]
Who will deny that the most beautiful trait of human character is that which makes one forget self in the desire for the welfare and pleasure of others? And this not merely to get their love or something from them in return, or to secure praise or approbation; but because of the love of God burning in the heart that finds its greatest reward and pleasure in bringing happiness and well-being to others.
Make no mistake about one thing more.... We must not only truly want this "pearl of great price," but we must ask for and seek it; we must be willing to sell all that we have in order to purchase it. And having this, we shall want nothing.
[Herbert Barnes, in the Evening Chronicle, Newcastle-on-Tyne, England]
I underlined this suggestive passage in a book the other day: "The person who sees life in a different way which is also a larger way ... has a price to pay if he undertakes to live in accordance with his insight." I want to widen out this truth.
The liberal and progressive have always a price to pay.... But the price that you pay is a purchase price. Ideas that come cheaply are apt to be cheap ideas. Good things are a high price.
A man of himself is little. But a man who is the incarnation of a moral and spiritual idea is invincible. It is the idea that matters.
Never yet has mankind grasped the full significance of the truth that our wrestling is not finally "against flesh and blood." It is against principalities of thought, against powers of ideas, against wickedness in the high places of the mind, against spiritual darkness in the soul.
The question simply becomes, What kinds of things are being said through you—are they the truths of the greatest importance?
[From the Free Press, London, Ontario, Canada]
There is an old proverb to the effect that God helps those who help themselves. Like most old proverbs, it is stale, but also like most old proverbs, it is true.
Much has been said in these days of uncertainty and confusion about a better world that is to come, a genuinely new order that is to rise from the wreckage of the world in which we all grew up. All of us are hoping with all our hearts that these dreams of a better world will come true—the more so because we know that such a world is possible.
However, such a new and better world will not just come, like the weather or the seasons. It needs our utmost efforts to bring it into being.
What must we do? There are many things that we must do. Before we can remake the world we must remake ourselves. We must remake our lives. We must remake our communities. We must remake our country. Our sins of omission and commission, which have brought us to our present difficulties, must be righted. We cannot continue on the path which we have followed in the past, for that path leads nowhere. We must make a fresh start.
First and foremost—indeed, this includes just about our complete list of things we must do— we must restore Christianity to the world. Not lip service to a creed which we ignore in our actions, but genuine Christianity. We must give to the world a sense of honor, a sense of decency. We must restore respect for the rights of others. We must adopt the teachings of Christ [Jesus]. We must fully realize that the Christian way of life is not just a collection of vague ideals, but the only thoroughly practical means by which men may live together in the same world.
Christianity is not only divine —it is plain common sense.
If we do these things, then our new world will come about, for truly God does help those who help themselves. If we continue to drift, then there is no hope for us.
The men and women of your church are people who realize these facts more or less clearly and are working to bring this new and better world into being. They deserve your support. You can give it by attending your church regularly, starting at once.
