From India

From India

Published in the Agnostic Journal

London, England

7 January 1905

(page 7)

On Sunday, the 20th of November last, there was a great bustle amidst the good missionaries of this country; their wives donned their best frocks, and their children had their faces scrubbed, and all toddled off to church posthaste, with their hands full of bibles and prayer-books, and their brains full of—well, nothing in particular. There was a hurry, a skurry, a kneeling, a mumbling, and then a great prayer arose for "the conversion of India," and the Unchangeable was besought to change, as if the Omnipotent needed the adulations of man, or could act only when propitiated by the supplications of that microbic grub, homo sapiens.

Once Christians prayed against the "horrid comet," and the "dire eclipse"; they still sometimes pray for rain, but not quite so confidently as in former days, and still sometimes for wealth. I once met a certain proselyte Jew who in prayer promised the Lord that he would turn a Christian, if on the following morning he found a £5 note under his pillow. Next day he awoke extra early, and placing his hand under his pillow, lo and behold, drew forth a nice crisp fiver! But prayer is not always so accommodating; people understand comets and eclipses nowadays, and no longer treat them with prayer; they are beginning to understand the weather, and with the barometer and the aneroid prayer for rain is going out of fashion. So now they pray for the conversion of the "heathen," which nobody quite understands; let it be hoped that they may soon pray for a little common sense and, further, that it may be granted them. Now for the prayer for India, and some proposed emendations of my own:—

"That we all may be one in Christ Jesus."

That all men may be one in Human Brotherhood.

"That the Church may be quickened to realize the high responsibility and happy privilege in extending everywhere the Kingdom of her Saviour."

That the Church may be quickened to realize her false position in following Christianity; and the impossibility of attempting to sit on both sides of a fence at the same time.

"That confession may be made for sin, and the grace of true penitence granted."

That missionaries may be imbued with more honesty, and try a more useful occupation.

"That thanksgiving from hearts full of gratitude may abound for blessings spiritual and temporal, received during the past year."

That men, instead of thanking some divinity for plague, famine, and misery, may put their shoulders to the wheel and fight them, not on their knees but on their feet.

"That our Rulers may legislate and govern in the fear of the Lord."

That our Rulers may legislate and govern for the greatest welfare of the many to the least detriment of the few.

"That the European community of India, if careless and indifferent, may be convicted of sin; if striving to live a Christian life, may witness by word and example to the saving power of Christ."

That the European community of India, if careless and indifferent, may be meted out justice; if striving to benefit the country, may be rewarded with affection.

"That Europeans in Government and railway service, in the army, in mercantile and professional pursuits, on tea estates, and coffee plantations, in mines, mills, camps, and out-of-the-way places, in colleges, schools, and hospitals, may fear God always, be victors in temptation, and exercise themselves unto Godliness."

That Europeans in Government, etc., etc., may treat those under them with kindness as well as justice, and exercise themselves unto humanity.

"That the Indian Christian Church may adorn the doctrine of Jesus Christ in all things, and may under the Holy Spirit endeavour to win their fellow-countrymen to the truth as it is in Jesus."

That the Indian Christian Church may reverence the original possessors of the land, and not steal away their children, or pervert their wives; and endeavour to win their fellow-countrymen by a little human kindness and less "divine love."

"That all churches may experience days of refreshing, so that there may be a great revival."

That all churches may be blessed with a little more common-sense.

"That all those engaged in mission work—evangelistic, educational, medical, industrial, etc., may be filled with the spirit of Christ and be fully consecrated."

That all those engaged in mission work, etc., etc., may be filled with the spirit of Truthfulness, and be a little more manly.

"That Hindus, Mohammedans, and others who are convinced of the truth of the claims of Jesus Christ may be given the courage to confess him in baptism."

That Hindus, Mohammedans, and others may adopt as their rule of life "Be thyself, imitate no one whomsoever; thou canst not possibly be anything so great as thine own true self"; and try to leave this world a little better than you found it.

"That caste may be broken down, idolatry abolished, prejudices overcome, and all false views of God and religion dissipated in the light of the glory of God manifested in Christ Jesus."

That caste may be broken down, idolatry abolished, prejudices overcome, and all false views of God and religion dissipated in the light and glory of Reason manifested by Nature through man.

"That the compassion of Christ may be realized by the afflicted of the land stricken by famine, plague, leprosy, or other dread disease."

That men may not be so blasphemous as to impute the evils that they themselves bring on this world to a supposed personal and loving deity, or to a malignant fiend.

"That God's mercy may be vouchsafed to the womanhood of India, women in zenanas, girls in homes and schools, and all sorely tempted or tried."

That God may not be mocked by being supposed to allow or disallow temptations or trials, and that the womanhood of India, etc., etc., may lead noble and honourable lives, diffusing happiness, tenderness, affection and love on all around them.

And that missionaries may read more diligently a work called the "New Testament," wherein they will find that a certain Jesus Christ, whom they profess to worship, taught as follows:—

That those who were reviled should be blessed (Matthew v., 11); that we should sell all, and distribute it to the poor (Matthew xix., 29). He reproved the rich, stating that it was harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew xix., 24), and even bade him who had two coats to impart to him who had none (Luke iii., 11), and in solemn tones uttered, "Woe unto you that are rich; for ye have received your consolation" (Luke vi., 24). "Ye cannot serve God and Mammon"; and yet this latter is exactly what the Christian missionaries in India are trying to do, "whose God is their belly, and whose glory is their shame, who mind earthly things" (Philippians iii., 19).

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