CARELESS COUNSEL
Some questions posed by laymen can be answered with clear-cut, scriptural evidence. Others are resolved with quotations from the Spirit of Prophecy. Some questions are not directly answered in either. However, the church members expect guidance from their minister. In this delicate area, conservative counsel (minus the pharisaical spirit) is the safest. Laxity in small things has often proved destructive of larger moral values. It is a man's privilege to have liberal opinions, but it is not the minister's prerogative to open doors that are better closed, or to point to exits not previously discovered by the inquirer. Succeeding pastors will forever be plagued with slack pronouncements, for will not the saints say, "Elder--------- said that it is all right to do it"?
E. E. C.
"FOR THIS CAUSE CAME I"
A preacher was. asked to conduct the funeral of a certain person related to some Adventists of good standing. Now, a funeral is a sad and somewhat difficult occasion, and some of us find conversation difficult because of the solemnity of the event. Quite often the wise preacher, after initial condolences and comments on family events, says rather less than on other occasions. Silence that is not allowed to become embarrassing is often more eloquent than loquacity.
This man, however, had things to talk about, and he talked. He had just bought a new car, one of the latest, and he waxed enthusiastic about it on the way to the cemetery, on the way back, and in the home with the bereaved relatives and friends when the sad day's work was done, so much so that the family wrote a letter to headquarters about preachers who ought to be car salesmen instead!
It is a great shame when a man of the gospel leaves the impression that he is chiefly concerned about something else. Men with sideline interests will sometimes argue that the church does not control them twenty-four hours of the day. That may be true, but it is also true that a minister, whatever extracurricular activities he may enjoy, is a minister all the time, on duty and off duty. He cannot escape the inexorable responsibilities of his office.
"To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth" (John 18:37). How personally convenient it would have been for Jesus to have foresworn His kingship and thus escape the fearful responsibility of representing—even before the Roman proconsul—the truth of God. But that was not for Him! At all times, in all places, before all men, He had one purpose—to let men know that He was God's witness. Can the minister be anything less than that, on duty or off?
When a financial crisis in 1896 was causing some of our leaders to engage in political talk, Ellen G. White said: "Would we know how we may best please the Saviour? It is not in engaging in political speeches, either in or out of the puipit. It is in considering with fear and trembling every word we utter."—Testimonies to Ministers, p. 331. That is not kill-joy counsel. It is a call to remember our high calling in Christ Jesus wherever we are and whatever we do.
H. W. L
THE ADVANCING YEARS
More and more programs for the care of the aged are in evidence, not only in government but also in private church circles.
Recently two experts in this field addressed an important meeting of the Church of the Brethren Homes Conference in Columbus, Ohio, on this important subject. Miss Donahue, one of the foremost experts on the aging, told 65 trustees and administrators from 13 institutions that care for the aged and the aging requires, first of all, homes, real homes, and not just substitutes. "Happiness is not built by brick and mortar, but in large part by human relatedness," she said. Ward arrangements of former days are not successful in any large measure in the care of the aged. Institutions that foster individuality, privacy, and natural opportunities for companionship among residents are what is really needed.
Another expert pointed out that older people, besides wishing to retain what he called "independence and economy," want to "remain in the stream of life." Continuing, he said that elderly people increasingly have capacities for independence and self-sufficiency.
Long ago we were told by the servant of the Lord: "The aged also need the helpful influences of the family. In the home of brethren and sisters in Christ can most nearly be made up to them the loss of their own home. If encouraged to share in the interests and occupations of the household, it will help them to feel that their usefulness is not at an end."—Ministry of Healing, p. 204. For long years we did not do as much as might have been expected for our aging members, but it is gratifying to notice that in recent years more and more homes for the aged have been established in different parts of the world.
Some of these homes provide the influences spoken of by the servant of the Lord. It was encouraging to visit our homes for the aged in the city of Melbourne, Australia, recently. These homes are in a beautiful setting, and allow for companionship, a little gardening, and the comforts of life in the declining years. In North America and elsewhere homes for the aged are becoming a creditable part of our denominational organization. It is evident that the blessing of God is resting upon the church's compassionate care of many of its faithful elderly believers.
H. W. L