The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1912-01-16

pray for and work with every other
church which exalts our Lord.
Head OF Thy church beneath,
The catholic, the true,
On all her members breathe,
Her broken frame renew;
Then shall Thy perfect will be DONE
When Christians love and live as one 80
As we continue our study of this
militant hymn We clearly see the
great truth suggested that the ideal
church is an optimistic church This
is one of the most optimistic hymns
ever written. There is not a single
pessimistic line i'm it, 1t is unneces-
sary to quote any part Of the hymn to
prove these assertions because the
whole hymn illustrates the truth sug
gested Not only are the words opti-
mistic, but the tune is equally so.
The tune is charged with the spirit
of hope and triumph.
There are many timid folks in
these days who believe that the
Church of Christ has come upon evil
times and that Christianity is becom-
ing decadent. But such fears are
merely fanciful and not real. The
church is not losing its grip on this
world Christianity is by no means
decadent Christ is not being sup
planted in the thoughts and affections
of mankind Never since Christ plant
ed His church has the Christian re-
ligion held so many people in its say
ing embrace as at the present time.
Never has the influence of the cross
been so far-reaching as now. So let
us catch the spirit of the author of
this hymn and view the church
through optimistic eyes.
DR.. Johnston Myers well says: The
best institution in the world is the
church. Our civilization without the
church and its allied organizations
would be like the day without the sun.
We can trace almost every blessing
which we enjoy as American people
directly to the influence of the
church" Such is the glorious position
of the church in the world. Such is
the grandeur of her history. Such
should be our view of her coming con-
quests. As members of the militant
church We should be optimistic in our
conception of the moral world. Alas,
there are some good peOple-Christ-
ian pessimists-who believe that this
world is hopelessly headed in the
wrong direction. They believe that
moral reforms are moving so slowly
that they will never amount to any
thing; that all the good which we seek
to do is counteracted by preponder
ance of evil. They never seem to seE
the bright and promising features il
the worlds intellectual, moral anC
spiritual redemption.
True. there is sin in the world il
every conceivable form. Let us ad
NIT the awful fact Of sin and recognize
its terrible ravages in human society
But let us remember that God is still
in this world; that the Holy Spirit is
still in the world; that Christ is still
in the world, that
Warm, sweet, tender, even yet >;
A present help is He;
And faith has still its Olvet,
And love its Galilee,
THE healing of the seamless dress
Is (stilD by our beds of pain;
We CstilD touch Him in life's throng
and press,
And we are whole again
That truth is still in the world;
that fearless and heroic champions of
the right are still in the world; that
mighty social, intellectual, moral and
spiritual agencies-yea, mightier than
ever befOre-are still in the world;
that a noble host of consecrated men
and women are still in the world; that
the Holy Bible is still in the world,
that like a mighty army moves the
church of God"-still in the world. 1t
was such a splendid and optimistic
conception of the moral world that led
Faber to write:
'Workmen of God! o lose not leart,
But learn what God is like;
And in the darkest battlefield
Thou shalt know where to strike.
Thrice blest is he to whom is given
The instinct that can tell
That God is on the field, when He
Is most invisible
Let us press this thought a little
further An ideal church is church