NBWTA Report 1903-057
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109 108 “the modern world the Church has nothing to offer. Those within the ‘Church have no welcome and no sympathy.” The summary of Mr. Charles Booth’s latest work is certainly depressing reading, summed up possibly in this one sentence :— “Although it is difficult to form any definite judgment as to the ‘religious character of London, the fact must be admitted that the “great mass of the people remain apart from all forms of religious ‘communion, apparently untouched by the Gospel that with various “ differences of interpretation and application is preached from every ‘“ pulpit.” Now, if these things are so, surely time and money, thought the and prayer and effort should be put in, not to remedy religion of others who think that they can steer their ship, to the haven - where we all would be, best along a certain line, but rather to save those drifting millions that are floating about the dark and stormy tempest of a world endeavour to see all that is best in the points at which we touch, rather than all This would bring about a new differ. which would remodel Christendom, upon an without a creed of the many concept ocean of trouble, in God; to make it our others, all the many points on which we of our Christian life and if we once set ourselves task we should find the happy realization that all Christians in common than they dream, and as they hold out hands have to this more of fellowship and clasp those great fundamental truths, they will realize that in the essen- tial points they are one, and the non-essentials will grow smaller and not greater. God has made in the world many races of mankind; He has out- Perhaps it is His plan that the points wardly fashioned them differently. of vision from which they look at truth should be different ; I know not, but this I know, that bitterness and wrath and clamouring and persecu- tion can never be, by whatever name it may be called, a part of the religion that Christ came to teach. ENGLAND’S DEVELOPING RESPONSIBILITIES. The tear-stained pages of the history of the past three years are Whatever may be our personal impres- full of bewildering controversy. sion, time alone, I think, will prove whether or no the great events that have marked the march of English armies across the plains of Africa are to be among the records of her triumph or of the deeds that need repentance ; and I would fain be amongst those who would leave Nevertheless there is one aspect which must that problem unsolved. be patent to us all, and that is the vastly developing responsibilities that The destiny before us may perhaps be are coming to us every hour. the greatest that has ever been given to a people, and it may be that if we fall short of those responsibilities we shall lose the high place that we have held, and our fall will be greater than that recorded of any people in the world’s history. The inheritance that we possess from the past is noble and great. For centuries England stood with unstained honour, and wherever she went, although the faults of humanity went with her, she took at any rate a sense of honour and a pure chivalry for which she was recognized and known. With the extension of her vast empire at this hour, are these principles strengthening or diminishing? As our colonists forge forth to the uttermost parts of the globe, as they claim vast territories beyond the seas, as they turn the wildernesses into fruitful gardens, and as the footsteps of civilization make beaten highways across the desert places, so England, for whatever she may stand, is reproduced in every quarter of the globe. In our own individual life we can realize just the importance of the situation, You find yourself in some far-away spot and your thoughts turn homeward. To what home? To a home filled with hallowed memories, a hearth peopled by sweet faces, to happy, holy ways, to gentle blesséd influences? If so, the memory of that home is reproduced by you in the life you live in that distant land. Every seed you sow reminds you of the quiet garden of old days. All the ingenious ways in which you beautify your home are to bring it into the similitude of that blest memory. It moulds and models and fashions your existence. So with our colonists in those distant lands. What England is, so she will be reproduced across the seas, a hundred Englands everywhere. And here comes the vast responsibility, Is it to be a country that sheds the light of truth across the world, that does not flinch to have that light turned upon her own social existence, a country that invariably seeks the uplift of her people the betterment of their home life, the purification of their dwellings the spread of real, true, useful knowledge that sinks individual benefit for the good of the many, a country where purity and peace rise triumphant over the fiends of lust and avarice? So only shall England be great among the empires of the world, so only shall she be the dominant mother who has a right to sway the destinies of her children ; and we each one, must add our little part in this our day to make the home land the model for her distant sons and daughters. _. Does this seem only the mirage conjured up in the mind ofa visionary ? Then let us pause, and remember who it was of whom it was ae that ‘‘ He came to His own, and His own received Him not; but to as many as received Him to them gave He the power to become the sons of God,” as many as received Him—herein lies our personal responsibility, for to each one who has received that wonderful revela- tion, who has sought to pass on the knowledge to another, has been entrusted a part in the founding of this true empire, and therefore it only behoves us each one to be fearless and to be free, ‘‘to keep our- selves clean and sweet in the midst of the crowd,” to take into our hands and firmly hold through the heat and din of the battle not the weapon of carnal conquest but of self-reliance and self-control, to go with courage through the world, a courage that vivifies our souls and beautifies our life. Thus shall we be sons of God, thus shall our country be a worthy home for the children of the Most High, thus shall our sons and daughters across the seas everywhere claim the same heavenly heritage. |