Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

cat"
vain."
cat."
planned for next year. Non-Communist Asia lacks
unity but not potential strength. The Western atti
tude, and particularly the American attitude, should
therefore be one of
discriminating thought about
Asia and resolute adherence to our own political prin
ciples. We must sympathize with all Asia but dis
tinguish between the cry of those countries we can
usefully help now (Free China, South Vietnam, Thai
land, etc.) and those (the mainland Chinese) whose
hopes for true progress may have to wait. If we show
this discrimination and resolution, our stand in Asia
will be supported by Asia's own best strength,
and
none need wait in
The challenge of all this to evangelicals should
be evident. Just to list some of them should be
sufficient: 1) Half of the world's people are nonwhite;
2) The non-Christians of the world are not
antagonistic to religion ; 3) Religion in non-Christian
countries plays a larger role in national life than it
does in America; 4) Communism can be swayed by
religious opinion; 5) Christian America must extend
social and economic aid to Asia ; 6) Non-Communists
in Asia are numerically more than a match for Red
China; 7) The Asians have a deep-seated need for
hope and progress.
All of the needs of Asia and Africa and the
rest of the world, too could be met if evangelicals
would unite in one great effort to present Christ and
Christianity as the Hope of the World. This is the
true challenge of Bandung.
(ERA-4/27/55)
FOR WOMEN ONLY
MICE, THAT CAT, AND US
A houseful of happy mice and a wonderful out
look on life. There were spacious cupboards with
food, and shelves for capers, and soft wool for nests,
yes, and a career-bent housekeeper not much given
to domestic arts. All was going well for the mice
until one day, alas, a kitten came into the house an
innocent furry little kitten. But soon, how very soon,
that kitten became a huge mouse-eating cat. Life
became dangerous for the once happy mice. They
called a council. No mouse could think of a solution
until one very wise young mouse exclaimed, "Let's
put a bell on the How happy they were, forget
ting their plight for a moment, until one very wise
old mouse ventured, "But who will put the bell on
the
So far as we have been able to learn that still
is an unsolved question. With a Cat in the house,
mice can only exist in terror for their very lives
without hope, peace, safety, or happiness till tragedy
trips them up. DO I DARE speak from the
point of view of one woman and in behalf of wo
men only
How often we women are like mice. We live in a
fine world of plenty and life is grand, until one
day something comes into our lives yes, a CAT, if
you please, and no solution seems to help. The aw
ful handwriting appears on the wall. There is no
one to put the bell on the CAT.
In life we see many many women like that. This
problem his become greater in proportion than any
epidemic of measles in our generation. The medical
profession proclaims that about 75% of their patients
312
are victims of mental and emotional disturbances pri
marily. With our American way of life our high ed
ucation, our fine social set-up, our leisure, our church,
our creed, our revered background, yes, and we claim
the second birth, and life could be so wonderfully
abundant but for the CAT, and there is yet no prac
tical solution.
That Cat may exist in any of various feline
forms: it may be financial difficulties, or family
troubles, or losing a job, or an unsuccessful mar
riage, or incompatible in-laws. Perhaps its an insane
fear of some dread disease, or it may stem from
pain of a very real illness. There may be the death
of a loved one, life may be completely changed and
a new pattern for living demanded. It could be a
neighborhood row or a feud in a women's group.
Could it be the children have grown and left mother
unable to cope with life Or might it be the death
of the last hope of finding a husband or having a
baby or that age or, or, just that sinister CAT
ad infinitum. In any case this cat looms up chok
ing us and threatening our very lives. Our play house
is toppled, our fun ruined, our future menaced, and
life is no longer normal.
Ah, we might expect such
tragedy among the
heathen and the ungodly, but we are astounded when
Christian friends, fallen in despair, resort to hys
teria, mental disorder, divorce, suicide, or perhaps
just yield to a low plane of unhappy existence with
out hope for that abounding life. For them there
is no one to put the bell on the CAT.
Christ came that we might have life and that
we might have it more abundantly, and we know the
Bible is full of the promises of God, and God never
fails. We know this life has its troubles, and these
trials should make us stronger and better. So who is
to blame for this sinister CAT that warps and ruins
life, driving its victims, sometimes, beyond that
tragic point of no return
Who is to come forth with a practical solution
The church does not meet the need. Fine or
thodox sermons do not seem to be the answer for
mending broken hearts and crushed souls. Society
has its education and its psychiatrists, but few of
us have the desire or means for an effective psycho
analysis. We have long prided ourselves in our re
form and missionary enterprises and community
projects all very necessary, but how little we have
to offer the woman baffled and suffering emotional
collapse because of the CAT. Her world of friends
may suddenly become uninterested, unsympathetic,
perhaps critical and antagonistic regarding her as
one to be blamed for her pitiful state. Where is she
to turn in seeking help Who is there to help her
put a bell on the CAT
Did someone say something about looking for
a challenge Did anyone ever get the idea there are
no opportunities for pioneering souls today If you
are looking for a challenge, open your eyes and ears.
and most of all your heart ; for here is a wide open
field. Look about you and see the need. Come down
from your pinnacle of high intellect and stand on a
mutual level for (don't look now) but psssttt ! that
CAT lurks on YOUR side, and sooner than you think,
your pedestal may topple. Offer a helping hand. Set
yourself to the task of finding a solution
solution. There is a solution. We need your help !
Anne HOWE
a practical
COVENANTER WITNESS