68
February 1929
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
then struck out into the following extemporary prayer: “O Lord, our heavenly Father, high and mighty, King of kings and Lord of lords, who dost from Thy throne be hold all the dwellers on earth and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all the kingdoms, empires and governments, look down in mercy, we beseech Thee, on these American States, who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor, and throw themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring henceforth to be dependent only on Thee; to Thee they have appealed for the righteousness of tl;ieir cause; to Thee do they now look for that countenance and support which Thou alone canst gi?e; take, them there fore, heavenly Father, under Thy nurturing care; give them wisdom in council and valor in the field; defeat the malicious designs of our cruel adversaries; convince them of the unrighteousness of their cause; and if they persist in their sanguinary purpose, oh, let the voice of Thine own unerring justice, sounding in their hearts, constrain them to drop the weapons of war from their unnerved hand in the day of battle! Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honorable assembly; enable them to settle things-on the best and surest foundation that the scene of blood may be speedily closed; that order, harmony and peace may be effectually restored, and truth and justice, religion and piety, prevail and flourish among Thy people. Preserve the health of their bodies and vigor of their minds; shower down on them, and the millions they here represent; such temporal blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in this world, and crown them with everlasting glory in the world to come. All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Saviour. Amen.” How different this prayer from the ones offered at many of our political conventions. They are almost meaningless. The Everlasting Racket W E do not wonder that in England a campaign is being started against the plague of noise. Sci entists are awakening to the fact that the racket of our modern world is a problem that must soon be dealt with if the public health is to be safeguarded. The effect of street noises, especially in the large cities, has undoubtedly been to shatter the nerves of strong men and women. Physicians are finding pathetic cases of breakdowns un doubtedly due to industrial noise. Prof. Henry J. Spooner has expressed the situation well. He says we are living in an “age of folly vul garized by an absence of quietude and repose, and noto rious for uncontrolled devastating din that tortured the thinkers, deprived countless invalids and workers of re cuperative sleep, impoverished owners of traffic route properties, increased the overhead costs in modern busi ness, and shortened the lives of countless sufferers.” Undoubtedly this problem is more serious in America than anywhere else on earth. Day and night our city dwellers must hear that roar of racing motors, the honk ing of horns, screeching of brakes, screaming sirens of ambulance and police cars, blowing of whistles, thundering of airplanes overhead, clanging of traffic signals, to say nothing of loud jazz music, from which, if one flees, he is sure to hear from the radios of his jazz-crazy neighbors. These conditions must have an unhealthy spiritual effect. How' can one chime in with the music of heaven when his ears are constantly filled with jarring, discordant sounds ? To be sure, we may have Christian peace in the
midst of the noisiest occupations of life. It is possible to work in a boiler factory and be in harmony with God, yet there must be some relief from the hubbub or the nervous tension becomes such that one cannot be at his best for God. Amid the continual din of our modern life; amid the ever-rushing of throngs with their ambitions and hot con tentions, .it becomes increasingly difficult to realize inner calm of soul and to concentrate our wearied minds upon the things of God and eternity. If you would have a delightful emblem of a heart filled with the peace of, God, go to the margin of some trans parent lake, wlfifee placid bosom reflects the beauty ana loveliness of surrounding nature. Pause there and take in the sweet quietness of God’s out-of-doors. He begins to speak to the soul. Peace has been likened to the still music of the soul, the calm sunset of a summer’s Sabbath. “Study to be quiet,” urged Paul (1 Thess. 4:11). He writes to Timothy of living “a quiet and peaceable life” (1 Tim. 2 :2). We MUST be led in “green pastures” and beside "still waters” before we can be in tune with the minstrelsy of the spheres. It is becoming more and more a problem where to go to find quietness. God grant, not only for the sake of the tingling nerves of tired men and women, but for the sake of mental and spiritual repose, that some way may be found to eliminate much of the noise of our machine age. The problem in volves interrelated factors of a wide range and great importance. —K. L. B. ON’T quote Gamaliel too, much. Some well-meaning Christians are always doing it when some false cult comes along and entraps a lot of underfed Christians. “Leave, them alone,” they say. “If it is of men it will come to naught. If it is of God you can’t overthrow it” .(Acts 5:38-39); Of course we should be very cautious about moving against any religious activity. We should be tolerant to ward those who have been misled, sure of our Scriptural ground and Christlike in refuting false teachers. But—don’t quote Gamaliel. His argument is not altogether true. The fact that a movement languishes does not prove it not to be of God. Beneficent Christian insti tutions, born in prayer, have had to go out of business for lack of support. For the truth’s sake there have been many sacrifices of lives and property. That does not show that they were not of God. Nor is seeming success and continuance a sure sign of God’s approval. Satan’s institutions run at full blast century after century. They are well supported in their faith-wrecking work. Most of the modern cults are pa ganism in a fresh coat of paint. Gamaliel’s argument is a ready handle for those who have no spiritual backbone. Gamaliel’s thought was to shift responsibility. It was his business to find out if the teachings of the apostles were true or false, according to Scripture. If they were in the right, it was up to him to take his stand with them. If tliey were fakers, it was his duty to warn against them. He saw an easy way out by which he would not get in bad with either side. Yet there are preachers and earnest Christians who quote Gamaliel. —K. L. B. Doubtful Doctrine
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