Article January 4, 1969 ISSUE

Signs of the Times

with contributions from Jack Burton

The Reverend Jack Burton, M. A. Vicar, Ellacombe Parish Church Torquay, Devonshire, England in a letter to his parishioners

We all feel at times the years seem to rush past too quickly, but when we stand at the beginning of a year we are filled with fresh hope for the future. I have used the word "hope" because it is a wonderful word, but one of the most misunderstood and least used in the Christian sense.

You will remember that it is the middle one of the three great virtues which are God's gifts described by St. Paul when he writes to the Corinthians. He speaks of these three: faith, hope and charity, but how little space we give to hope! I think the reason is because it has become so misused and misunderstood.

Ask yourself what people mean when they say, "Oh, I do hope so"' or "I can only hope it will turn out all right." To me expressions like these are ones almost of despair. They lack the great ingredient in Christian hope which is confidence. Having hope means living in the present with absolute confidence in the future. Confidence, that is, that although we cannot forecast events, we can affect the future by our attitude to it....

As you look forward with hope, that is with confidence in the good things of God, this will help you in the present and attract good things to you in the future. For instance, as you relax your mind and your body and learn to be still and know God you will be drawing upon the good and health-giving influences for the days to come....

What a great resolution for [the New Year] it would be to say that you will set aside a few minutes each day to be still and know God within!

From an editorial in The Journal Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England

Prayer is more likely to be ... effective when it consists in listening rather than talking; in seeking to be shown how to think and act for the best and in asking humbly for the strength so to think and to act. The hardest part is so to clear the mind that it has a chance of receiving answers.

Unbelievers smile tolerantly at Tennyson's assurance that "More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of." Yet real believers know that they can thus reach up and take strength from a higher source.

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