"THE PROBLEM OF PRAYER AND PAIN"

THIS SERMON SECOND IN SERIES ON "PRAYER IN A DAY LIKE THIS 11

• LAST SUNDAY 11 PROBLEM OF UNAN­S ERED PRAYER 11

; TODAY, "PROBLEM OF PRAYER AND PAIN". AND THIS TITLE IS MORE THAN MERE ALLITER­ATION; THERE IS A PROBLEM HERE THAT HAS ORRIED AND CHALLENGED MANY MINDS ; A GREAT MANY PEOPLE HAVE CRACKED THEIR TEETH ON THIS NUT.

THOUGHTS IN A DOCTOR'S PERHAPS YOUR INTEREST OFFICE. MIGHT HAVE BEEN STIMU-

LATED AND CAPTURED HAD I ANNOUNCED MY SUBJECT AS "THOUGHTS IN A DOCTOR'S OFFICE". ALMOST TEMPTED SO TO DO. AND TITLE OF SERMON WOULD HAVE BEEN APPROPRIATE THOUGH NOT AS DIGNIFIED. BUT THAT'S WHERE IT STARTED.

THERE I WAS , I N OUTER COURT WAITING TO ENTER INNER SHRINE. AND WASN 'T ALONE. ROOM CRO DED. Y'AIT ING LIST WAS LONG. FIRST QUEST ION CA~ TO MY

MIND WAS THIS: WHY ARE THEY HERE; VHY IS IT THAT DAY AFTER DAY, PEOPLE CRO.tiD THIS AND SIMILAR OF­FICES, WHILE SUNDAY AFTER SUNDAY, THE HOUSE OF THE LORD IS FORSAKEN? WHY IS IT THAT THE PHYSIC­IAN OF THE BODY HAS SUCH A FOLLO~ ING, HILE THE PHYSICIAN OF THE SOUL CRIES HIS WARES FOR MOST PART TO UNHEEDING EARS.

" 1ELL II YOU SAY' "THAT Is EASY TO ANSWER. THE WHOLE THING CAN BE PUT IN A NUTSHELL. THE DOC­TOR'S OFFICE IS FULL BECAUSE HE GETS RESULTS; HE DOES SOMETHING! 11 AND THE INFERENCE YOU LEAVE ME TO DRAW IS THAT THE CHURCH IS HALF-FULL BECAUSE WE FAIL TO GET VERIFIABLE AND EVIDENT RESULTS!

A PERSON BECOMES ILL, AND THE MINISTER CALLS; HE IS ASKED TO OFFER THE ONLY THING HE IS ABLE TO OFFER - ASKED TO OFFER PRAYER. SO VERY SINCERELY THE MINISTER PRAYS THAT GOD'S HAND OF HEALING BE PLACED ON SICK PERSON. NEXT DAY REPORT BROUGHT THAT PATIENT IS ORSE. SO MINISTER PRAYS AGAIN. THE NEXT DAY THE PATIENT DIES. THEN WITH A FEEL­ING OF FAILURE AND FUTILITY, THE MINISTER TRIES TO SUGGEST TO THE SORROWING RELATIVES THAT THERE WAS SOME GOOD REASON V'HY THE PRAYERS WERE NOT AN­SWERED. THEY ARE NOT READY TO LISTEN TO REASONS; THEY HAVE FEELING THAT MINISTER AND PRAYER HAVE

-2-FAIL.E:D. THE INISTER PRAYED BUT DID NOT GET RES­ULTS.

BUT STRANGELY ENOUGH, PEOPLE NEVER LOOK ON THE FAILURES OF DOCTORS IN THAT WAY. INDEED THEY ADOPT QUITE A DIFFERENT ATTITUDE. IF THE SKILL OF THE PHYSICIAN FAILS AND THE PATIENT DIES, THE RELATIVES DO NOT GIVE UP ALL FAITH IN MEDICINE DO THEY? NO! USUALLY THEY SPEAK GENEROUSLY OF THEIR PHYSICIAN OR SURGEON AND SAY, "THE DOCTOR DID ALL THAT WAS HUMANLY POSSIBLE". "ALL THAT MEDICAL AND SURGICAL SKILL COULD DO WAS DONE. AND NO FEE CAN EVER COMPENSATE THE DOCTORS AND NURSES FOR ALL THEIR CARE AND ATTENTION". AND SHOULD THEY FALL ILL TO-MORROW, THEY CERTAINLY \ OULD NOT SHUN THE DOCTOR; 'OULD SEE HIM AT ONCE. THEIR FAITH IN HIS SKILL AND MEDICINE viLL BE AS STRONG AS IT EVER WAS; ALONG WITH MYSELF THEY WILL BE FOUND IN THE DOCTOR'S OFFICE.

PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL WHY THIS DIFFERENCE IN HEALING. ATTITUDE? WELL, IN ONE

CASE THEY FEEL THEY UN-DERSTAND, AT LEAST PARTIALLY, THE CAUSE OF FAIL­URE. THE DI SEASE WAS INCURABLE; THE CASE HAD NOT BEEN TREATED EARLY ENOUGH; COMPLICATIONS SET IN. SOME EXPLANATION NORMALLY ACCEPTABLE; NEVER JUST DESPAIR AND DISBELIEF IN POWER OF MEDICAL SCIENCE TO HEAL.

BUT IN OTHER CASE, THEY FEEL THEY HAVE NO SATISFYING EXPLANATION. JUST A VAGUE DISBELIEF IN GOD AND POWER 0 F PRAYER . 11 GOD IS ALL-POWERFUL, ISN'T HE? AND GOD IS ALL-LOVING, ISN'T HE? AND DIDN'T JESUS SAY 'ASK AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN, SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND, KNOCK AND IT SHALL BE OPENED. WHATSOEVER YE SHALL ASK IN MY NAME THE FATHER FOR MY SAKE WILL DO IT'. AND DIDN'T THE MINISTER ASK THAT OUR LOVED ONE SHOULD BE SPARED? AND DIDN'T HE END HIS PRAYER ~ITH THE WORDS 'THIS WE ASK IN JESUS' NAME'? AND OUR LOVED ONE DIED! WHAT EX­PLANATION IS THERE? GOD DOESN'T CARE. PRAYER DOESN'T VORK. HOW CAN I EVER HAVE FAITH AGAIN."

IN THE FACE OF THAT ATTITUDE, THERE ARE SOME THINGS TO BE SAID. LET ME SAY FIRST OF ALL THAT NOTWITHSTANDING ALL THE SURGICAL AND MEDICAL SKILL, IN THE END, EVERYBODY DIES. EVEN THE PHY-

-3-SICIAN HAS TO CONFESS DEFEAT SOMETIME. EVEN HE HAS TO RECOGNIZE THE SCHEME AND DESIGN OF NATURE. THE ROSE BUDS, BLOOMS, iiTHERS AND DIES! AND SO DO WE . WE DON'T EXPECT ANY DOCTOR, NO MATTER HOW EMINENT, TO KEEP US ALIVE FOR EVER. NEITHER HAVE WE THE RIGHT TO EXPECT PRAYER TO KEEP US ALIVE FOR EVER . I AM SPEAKING IN PURELY PHYSICAL SENSE HERE .

YOU SAY YOU DON'T LOSE FAITH IN MEDICAL AND SURGICAL SCIENCE BECAUSE YOU KNOW THAT LIFE HAS BEEN PROLONGED, AND PEOPLE HAVE BEEN HEALED AND RESTORED THROUGH SUCH SCIENCE AND SKILL. AND LET ME TESTIFY ALONG WITH SOME OF YOU, THAT MANY OF US WOULD NOT BE HERE TO-DAY HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR MEDICAL SCIENCE AND SKILL. WE PAY OUR TRIBUTE OF GRATITUDE TO THE MEDICAL AND NURSING PROFESSION. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, HAVE WE ANY REASON FOR DIS­BELIEVING PRECISELY THE SAME THING ABOUT PRAYER?

I KNOW OF CASES WHERE I BELIEVE HUMAN LIFE HAS BEEN BLESSED, ENRICHED, VITALIZED AND PROLONG·· ED THROUGH PRAYER. MAY BE THAT SOME OF US ARE HERE THIS MORNING BECAUSE OF PRAYER - OUR OWN OR PRAYER OF SOME OTHER PERSON. I SUSPECT THAT ONE COULD MAKE OUT A STRONG CASE FOR BELIEF IN THE HEALING AND RESTORATION OF LIFE THROUGH PRAYER. "NO ACTUAL PROOF THAT IT IS SO"; I SAY, "NO ACT­UAL PROOF THAT IT IS NOT SO". PERHAPS AFTER ALL, AS TENNYSON SAID "THERE ARE MORE THINGS WROUGHT BY PRAYER THAN THIS WORLD DREAMS OF" .

DR. JOHN SUTHERLAND BONNELL'S ADDRESS ON "HEALING AND PRAYER" DELIVERED OVER RADIO IN OCT­OBER, 1941. WORTH QUOTING. GOES TO ILLUSTRATE THAT EVEN MEDICAL MEN THEMSELVES RECOGNIZE MORE AND MORE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRAYER AND HEAL­ING. WILLIAM JAMES; ALEXIS CARREL; LORD HORDER; BONNELL; MARTIN LLOYD JONES; BONNELL AGAIN.

FACING THE FACT OF PAIN. BUT HO - SHALL WE FACE THE FACT OF PAIN? WE HAVE TO FACE IT; MAKE

OUR PEACE WITH EVENTS. HAVE TO SAY FIRST OF ALL, THAT WE LIVE IN ViORLD OF GOOD GOD. THESE GERMS, OR WHATEVER CAUSES OUR PAIN, CANNOT HAVE CREATED THEMSELVES; ONE IS DRIVEN TO INEVITABLE CONCLUS­ION THAT GOD HIMSELF, IN A SENSE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SUFFERING. I CANNOT PRETEND TO KNOW FUNCTION OF SOME OF THESE GERMS IN SCHEME OF CREATION BUT

I AM DRIVEN TO . THE DEDUCTION THAT THEY MUST HAVE A PLACE AND A PURPOSE IN THE CREATION OF A GOD WHO TERMED ALL THINGS GOOD. THEY ARE IN THE WORLD OF A GOOD GOD. CANNOT COMPROMISE AT THAT POINT.

THEREIN IS OUR PROBLEM. NOT, WHY DID MY LOV­ED ONE CATCH THIS GERM; BUT, WHY WAS IT HERE TO BE CAUGHT BY ANYONE? AND WE HAVE TO ADMIT RIGHT OFF, THIS WORLD OF GOD'S IS A RATHER DANGEROUS WORLD IN WHICH TO LIVE - SO DANGEROUS THAT ONE IS NEVER SAFE. NOT ONE OF US IS IMMUNE. BUT THAT'S THE SORT OF ORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE.

I DON'T PROFESS TO KNOW ALL THE ANSWERS. BUT I BELIEVE A PARTIAL ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM OF PAIN IS TO BE FOUND IN THE ORD "REACTION". HOW DO WE REACT TO THESE THINGS? WHAT DO THEY DO TO US? ARE WE ABLE TO WRING FROM THEM SOME VALUE? SOMEONE SAYS, "WHAT HAPPENS TO US DOES NOT REALLY MATTER; THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IS OUR REACTION TO WHAT HAPPENS TO US." AND I HAVE SEEN PEOPLE WHO HAVE REACTED TO PAIN THROUGH PRAYER IN SUCH A WAY AS TO WIN A SPIRITUAL AND SHINING VICTORY. HAVE SEEN PEOPLE TAKE HARD BLOWS AND DESOLATING CALAM­ITY AND TURN THEM INTO WINGED VICTORY FOR THEM­SELVES AND THEIR ATSBING LOVED ONES.

AND SUPPOSING DEATH COMES! I AM NOT TRYING TO EVADE THE PROBLEM HERE. BUT I WANT TO DECLARE

HAT OUR COMMON FAITH STATES, THAT DEATH IS BUT A MILESTONE ALONG THE ROAD. FULL OF THE SADNESS OF FAREWELL, BUT LEADS TO THE FATHER'S HOUSE. SAYS MARK GUY PEARSE, "A WONDERFUL DOCTOR IS OLD DOCTOR DEATH. WE GO INTO HIS HOUSE AT THE BACK DOOR, AND COME OUT AT THE FRONT DOOR. WE GO IN BLIND, AND WE COME OUT SEEING CELESTIAL BEAUTY. ViE GO IN DEAF, AND COME OUT HEARING CELESTIAL MUSIC . E GO IN DUMB AND COME OUT SINGING THE SONGS OF THE RE­DEEMED. WE GO IN HALT, MAIMED AND DECREPIT, AND

E COME OUT YOUNG AND STRONG TO RUN UP THE SHINING WAY".

SUCH IS MY FAITH. A FAITH THAT BELIEVES THAT GOD IS INFINITELY GOOD- A FATHER; i HO ~OULD NOT PUT US IN THIS WORLD UNLESS HE COULD BRING US THROUGH. A FAITH THAT DECLARES THAT GOD WOULD NOT PUT US IN A WORLD WH ICH CARRIES SO MANY ARGUMENTS AGAINST HIM, UNLESS HE COULD ANSWER THEM ALL.

POEM READ AT CAROLE LOMBARD'S FUNERAL.

Poem read at Carole Lombard's funeral.

"My life is but a weavimg "Between My Lord and me, "I cannot choose the colors

he worketh steadily. "At times he weaveth sorrow

and I, in foolish pride, "Forget He sees the upper and I

the underside. ~~Not 'til the loom is silent and

the shuttles have ceased to fly "Shall God unroll the canvas

and explain the reason why. "The dark threads are as needful "In the weaver's skillful hands, nAs the threads of gold and silver "In the pattern he has planned.

"OUR SPTIUTUAL LIFE" Oct. 1940 to March 1941 A presentation of the National Broadcasting Co.

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rM .t&t·· 1 ''HEALING AND PRA~"

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WJZ and Blue Network 1:30 to 1;45 P. M. Eastern standard Time TUESDAY, Dec. 17, 1940

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A Radio Address by DR. JOHN SUTHERLA.ND BONNELL

MY theme for today deals with a subject that is rapidly coming into its own both in the Christian Church and among medical scientists as well -­spiritual healing. Professor Harnack, tho eminent Biblical scholar has said that the ministry to tho sick was not an extraordinary but a normal function of the Christian Church in the early centuries of its history. From tllat period comes the first Epistle of Clement which has preserved prayers on behalf of the sick in body as well as in soul.

Anyone who reads the New Testament understandingly can readily sec that His ministry to tho sick claimod a large part of tho tj,me and interest of Jesus; in fact several chapters of the first three gospels are devoted almost exclusively to this aspect of the Master's work. It has sometimes boon claimed. that Jesus's healing ministry was relatively unimportant, be- .. longing to the circumference of his activities rather than to the center, but if we were to cut out from tho chapters of tho Now 'lbsta.m.ent every record of healing, w should leave tho documcnt in shreds and tatters. Our Lord's concern for tho mental and physical, as well as tho spiritual needs of men establishes tho fact tllat His healing activities belong to the very warp and woof of the Gospel record. Jesus ca.:mo to open unto men and women tho gates of lifo, abundant lifo, life that is life indeed.

Now it would be uttor folly to suggest that in our age Christian lllCn and women should try to duplicate tho healing miracles of Jesus, 'V.e have to remember in the first place that there never will be an another like Him in character and personality. He Himself was the supremo moral miracle of all tho ages. He lived in constant and unbroken harmony with God. His life was an unobstructed channel of God's healing power. He alone was able to say of God "I do always tho things that arc pleasing to Him."

In the second place, we have at hand tho blessings of medical science which wore not available in tho days of Josue and His Apostles. Our Lord said on one occasion "Greater things than those shall ye do." When one has a first hand knowledge of the work of medical missionaries who not only heal cases of leprosy but who promise the elimination of this dreadful scourge within a quarter of a century, he can understand something of what the Master meant. When I speak today, therefore, of the undoubted spiritual resources available to us for healing, I do not for a moment moan that we are to dis­regard God's great gift to man in the constantly advancing discoveries of medical science, This spiritual ministry can be and is today a most effective aupl;>leroont to the work of the physicians •

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"Healing and Prayer" -2- Dec. 17, 1940

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We have only begun to realize in recent years the tremendous :power of the mind or s:piri t over the body. Our emotions are constantly effecting all our physical :processes. Professor William James has pointed out the reactions to intense fear. The eyes and mouth are widely open, the eyebrows are raised, the heart beats quickly and violently so that it knocks against the ribs, the small arteries of the skin contract, the breathing is hurried, the superficial muscles of the body quiver, the salivary glands are arrested, the mouth is dry and :parched and there is an almost uncontrollable impulse to flight. The influence of only one emotion can have this :profound effect upon the huma.'ll body. Now if we substitute a constructive spiritual impulse, such as the Peace of God, in :place of fear, immediately · it subdues and calma and quieta us, regulating and s-ea.'bllizing mental and :physical functions, and giving us serenity and :peace.- For same considerable time medical scientists have aclmitted that functional disorders can be helped by a spiritual ministry, but the rea~ of the organic or :physical used to be reserved for the work of the :physician alone. Today, however, the whole situation is changed, We find a scientist like Dr. Cobb saying: "The line between the organic and the functional, and between the :physical and the mental is an artifact. The body acts as a whole organism and an;rthing that happens in that organism is organic. Structural and functional are inseparable. "

His conclusions are ably championed by the well lmo'Wn American medical scientist--Alexis Carrel who assures us that such spiritual stimulus as :prayer can CaJlSe anatomical changes of tissues and organs of the human body. His conelusions he declares are based upon the obeervation of patients in

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whose lives prayer had been operative. He mentions a list of organic illnesses that he has known to be improved, and in some instances cured through :prayer.

1?1 Lord Rtirder, the Carrel of Britain, and Physician-in-Ordinary to

King George the 6th, decla.l'es: "As for pain, that worst of ills, both its degree and our tolerance of it are influenced greatly by the mind and still more by the spirit," He advocates the closest cooperation between religion and medicine.

Speaking out of :personal experience in a ministry of spiritual ~ counseling of some eighteen years, I can testify to the truth of what these

l :physicians say. I have seen :profound changes wrought :physically and mentally b~ through :prayer. I have lmown cases where the :physician, for very good reasons,

had given up hope, but where :prayer and the tremendous surge of confidence and faith that it evokes turned the tide and brought the patient back to life and health.

You will recall how st. James in his Epistle emphasizes the value of a spiritual ministry to the sick. "The prayer of faith shall save the sick," he says, "and the !Drd shall raise him up." And he adds, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteoua man availeth much." By prayer st. James does not mean our begging from God something which God otherwise would deny to us had we not succeeded in changing his mind. Rather it is the unhindered contact of the human will and the Divine, the completion of an electric circuit, as it were, which is a channel for the Divine healing :power.

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"Healing and Prayer" -3- Dec. J,.7, 1940

A striking testimony to the importance of religion as a medium of healing wa.s given in london, England, a few years ago. !lr. Martin Lloyd Jbnes, a Harley Street specialist in diseases of the heart gave up his medical work to become a Christian minister. He was a colleague of lord Horder, of whom

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I have already spoken. One day he suggested to Lord Horder that they go through the files of all the cases they had dealt with in recent years, separat­ing those cases who were suffering with organic diseases from those who were sick of functional disorders. It was found that only 25% of the patients had organic diseases and 75% were of the functional type. Dr. Jones asked Lord Horder what he thought medicine could do for that 75~, and the great physici an replied, "Little or nothing. Wha.t they need most of all is religion." It was largely a result of this investigation that Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones entered the ministry. He ia now doing an effective work in ~itain by applying the re­sources of religion · to the physical and mental, as well as to the spiritual, needs of the people who came to him for help.

A few weeks ago I sat in at a conference of physicians, psychiatrists and surgeons. They were discussing the influence of mind and spirit on bodily llls. As evidence of this it was pointed out that patients sometimes have brought about their own death, soleJ,.y through their determination to die. This is now called psychic-suicide. In a number of instances the patient would announce eight or ten months ahead of time that on a certain day he would die. When the day arrived the death took place, without any discernible physical cause for it. So powerful is the influence of the will in this matter that very few surgeons of ability will operate on a patient who is convinced that he is going to die. This again shows the tremendous importance of a spiritual ministry to the sick because nothing is so effective in producing the will to live as a profound religious experience, for it makes Hfe worth livi~.

In New York hospitals you will often find a small chapel, and it is not an uncommon sight to see a well lmown surgeon stepping into the chapel to pray before going to the operating room~ That moment of prayer will give him greater serenity of mind and heart, steadying his hand and quickening all hie skills. For physician and patient alike the greatest factor in healing is the healing power o~ God.

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r "Drop thy still dews of quietness 'Till all our strivings cease;

• Talce from our souls the strain and stress, And let our ordered lives confess The beauty of thy peace."

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Department of National Religious Radio 297 Fourth Avenue - New York City

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FREMONT STREET METHODIST CHURCH Gloversville, New York Fred Clarke, Minister

Dorothy E. Me llick Grace L. Gifford Mini ster of ~.:u s ic Church Secretary

Lewi s Cunning , Sexton

ORGAN PF.ELUDE 11 Andantino" Godard CALL TO WORS:UP By the min ister EYI.JJ 30 ncome , r.w soul, t hou must be wa king" DJVOCi,TION 1-.ND LORD'S PRh.YER

* RESPONSI~ rtFJ:.DmG GLORI.b.. PATRI APOSTLES 1 CR~ED

lOth Sunday - 2nd Reading

* SCRIPTURE LESSON Ma r k 1: 21-45 A PRAYER FOR T~-IE ;~HlfED FORCF.S To be said by all

0 Lord of Hosts, grant to thos e who have gone forth to fie:ht our battle by l a nd, sea, or air, Thy protection in danger, pa t ienc e i n suf f ering , and mode ra t ion in vic t ory .

Look with compassion .on the sick, the wounded, and the captives ; sancti fy to them their trials, and turn their heart s tmto Thee . VFe be seech Thee t o comfort and bles s t he dying ; ha ve me rcy upon t he widow and f a therl ess, and gi ve the assurance of Thy pr esence to a ll who mourn.

.i>.nd, 0 God , who rna.ke st wa rs to c eas e in a ll t he ea rth, r estore to us the bles sings of peac e ; and grant that our pr esent t r oubl e r.1a y be overruled to Thy honor and glory; t hrough Jesus Chr ist, our 'Lord . .h.men .

* ANTIICl.f "Je sus, Lover of My Soul" Fos s Ph..STORJ~L PRJ-.YER CHOR .. L RESPOi:SE Oiilli-JJ OFFI:RTORY "Prayer" Humper dinck PRESF.NTHTIOH OF OFFERDJGS HYTlN 240 "Vlha t n. Fr iend we ha vc in Jesus"

SElli\lON " THE PROBLF.l-:1 OF PRi..YER i.ND PL .. IN"

HYMN 23 2 1' I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord"

BENEDICTION 1',ND DOXOLOGY ORGi.N POSTLUDE "Fugue in E Minor" Bn ch

10:30 11:00 11:45 6:00 7:00

MARCH 5, - CALENDAR FOR TOD.b.Y

' Morning Worship. Second Sunday in Lent. Primary Church and Junior Church~ Church School; visitors cordially invited . Fremont Youth Fellowship. Union Evening Service at the First Ba pti s t Church. Guest speaker will be Mrs .. D. Lei gh Colvin, noted leader in the field of Chri stian Citizenship. Plan to attend this servic e .

THROUGH THE WEEK AT FREMONT

MONDAY 3:45 Junior Choir rehearsal. Girl Scouts. 7: 00

8:00

TUESD.A.Y 8:00

WEDNESDAY 7:55

7:30

8:30 THURSDAY 4 ~00

6:30

7:30 8:00

8 :00

Moul Baraca Class meets a t the home of Albert Fagant, 107 West Stre et. Woman's Society of Chr~stian Servirre wi ll meet at the church. All women invited . Third Lenten Service for high school and junior hig_h school students. This ·week this Students' Service will be conduc ted by the young people of First and Emmanue l Baptist Churches. Mid~eek Lenten Service. Seventy persons attended last week. You a r e i nvi ted. !vlarch Official Board Meeting • Minister's Membe rship Cla ss. Cordial Class Covered Dish Supper u t t he home of Roy Ogden, 60 ·west Pine Street. Chorus Choir r ehearsal. Excelsior Philathea meets a t the church. Hostesses; .Mrs. Bertram Perry and Mr s . C, Newnham. Berean Class meets at the Y. W. C. i'.. .• ; 1~rs. ada Ward and Mrs. George Honeywell arc the hostesses.

8r00 Venner Class will meet a t t he home of Albert Ma rsh, 9 South McNab .t~vcnuo.

The flowers today arc given by the Maul Ba r!' 'J "~. ,; IJ.n in loving memory of Henry S. Moul and dec oo.s J C. r .. '·; :ase ~ ..,.

STRANGE A pastor receiving a very revealing and encouraging letter from a young man serving his country in the South Seas battle area wrote in reply somewhat as follows:

My dear friend George: Your good letter received this morning is sincerely appre­

ciated. God has done great things for you, for which we

thank Him.

You say the men out there are attending religious services regularly and in increasing numbers. That is encouraging. I am sorry to say, nothing like that is happening here at

home.

You mention that you have partaken of the Lord's Sup­per eight times in recent months. That is a blessed practice. But nothing like that is taking place in the home church.

You indicate that you are reading your Testament more regularly and more thoughtfully than in former years. That will give you strength and confidence. Nothing like that, however, is happening in your home congregation.

You remark that prayer has taken on a new meaning for you and that it has a much larger place in your everyday life than heretofore. That shows definite advancement in your spiritual development. Nothing here indicates that the home folks are sharing this spiritual experience.

It seems strange that we have to be thrust way out in the danger zone before this terrible war can arouse us to a deeper earnestness in our Christian faith and life.

Assuring you that my earnest prayers go with you from day to day, I remain, faithfully,

Your Pastor.