THE KING’S BUSINESS
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Ancient o f Days, who sittest throned in glory, To thee all knees •-are bent, .all voices pray; Thy love has blessed the wide world’s wondrous story, With light and life since Eden’s dawning day. O Triune God, with heart and voice ador ing, Praise we the goodness that doth crown our days, Pray we that Thou wilt hear us. still imploring Thy love and favor, kept to us always. Hymns o f thanksgiving for God’s prov idence and- care are also timely. For instance: My God, I thank Thee, who hast made 'The earth so bright, - So full o f splendor and o f joy, Beauty and light; So many glorious things are here. Noble and right. Again, hymns expressing steadfastness and devotion in the Christian life are quite in keeping. Such a hymn as Faber’s “ Faith o f our Fathers, living still” reaches ba ck ward into time past in a way calculated to awaken deep emotion, and forward into the future with strong, manly resolution of loyalty. There seem to be no Scripture portions especially adapted to the opening o f a new year, as there are to Christmas and Easter. The New Year meant much in the religious calendar o f Israel, but the Old Testament passages are not appropriate for our Chris tian service. There are, indeed, few single texts even in the Bible adapted- to watch- night—ministers , must have a hard time finding texts for new year sermons. At our service Psalm 90 was read—“ Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations,” but only selected verses of
this psalm are in keeping with the spirit of watchnight. Some minutes may profitably be devoted to “throwing the meeting open” for testi mony and remarks upon “What we have to thank God for in the past year,” “ Past blessings and mercies,”- or similar topics. Several prose and poetic compositions can be found dealing with the passing of the year, or other subjects in line with the watchnight idea. At our service a lady read “Earth’s Holocaust,” one o f the chap ters in “Mosses from an Old Manse,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This piece must be abbreviated, as it takes too long to read, but parts can be omitted without amputa ting the point o f the allegory, which is so forceful in its suggestion o f burning up useless and hurtful things. Its reading prepares the way for heart-searching and prayer, with the forward look. . In order to reduce the labor o f provid ing -refreshments to a minimum, we adopted the picnic plan. Friends were asked to bring enough, cookies, doughnuts, sandwiches- or crackers,for themselves, and a few over, for strangers. These were handed in at the kitchen on arrival at the church. Hot coffee was prepared for the whole company. The refreshments- 'were -served on the “Baltimore lunch” plan. This social half-hour, with the warm drink before going outdoors, made a distinct hit. The open air feature was decided upon not simply as a novelty, but in order to turn the exuberance natural to young peo- plei on such an occasion into the highest channels. The hymns were carefully selected for this part o f the program. Not every tune is singable in the open air, nor are the words alwdys such as sound out well. Well-known hymns; forceful and positive in tone, which the people can sing from memory, go best. Those sung by us were: “Jesus .shall reign where’er the sun;” the Crusaders’ hymn, “ Fairest Lord Jesus;” the national hymn, “ God of our fathers,”
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