Tárogató, 1939-1940 (2. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1939-09-01 / 3. szám

in

16 TÁROGATÓ

brought together young people from Europe and America. The young man I have mentioned was studying for the ministry in Paris. He had been bom in Russia and had spent most of his boyhood there. Because of his interest in the Church he had come to Paris to study and had become one of that large group of people known as Russians-in-exile. Even though he was less than twenty-five years of age, he had a well-developed beard and long, wavy, jet-black hair. He wore a black robe that almost touched the ground. He could speak fluently in French and English and probably a number of other languages in addition to his native tongue. To a twentieth-century American, he looked as if he had dropped out of the Middle Ages.

As we talked, a young man joined us who was in sharp contrast to my Russian friend. He had a very light complexion, was tall and thin, and had blond hair. He wore leather breeches such as you would see in the Tyrols. His home was Vienna. He spoke a broken English and frequently would interrupt his sentences in order to insert a phrase in German which gave the exact meaning to his thought. Presently another person joined our conversation—a young girl with a lace bonnet and a flowered dress. Her home was in Sweden. She spoke also in English, but could converse as well in German when those of us from provincial America were not present.

We were all called to an attic room in the youth hostel where we were staying. This room had been fitted up as a small chapel. The boards were left unfinished and we sat on rough benches made by hand. Before us was an altar and on it a hand-wrought cross with candles on either side. Upon entering this small sanctuary, we forgot whether we were a Russian-in-exile, a German, a Swede, or an American. The leader would usually speak in English, but we would sing our favourite hymn in the language of our country. The climax, however, came when we began to recite the Lord’s Prayer. This was a time for each to speak in his own tongue. Surprisingly, it did not make a babble of sound, for the voices were hushed and reverent, but this act of worship joined us together far closer than superficialities of language and custom. Here was something universal which touched the depths of each heart.

Such is the atmosphere for a world conference. It was here that some of the leaders spoke about a World Conference for Christian Youth to be held in 1939. They were planning to bring together fifteen hundred young people from the four corners of the earth in

order to talk over matters vital to Christianity. They would expect young people from the denominations of the United States and Canada, from the Greek Orthodox Church, from the Lutheran Church, and from the Church of England. All of these young people would represent vast differences of theological creed and training. Their presence at a conference, however, would bear witness to the universality of Christianity and to the fact that barriers of nationalism and economic rivalries can be surmounted.

From that time on, plans have been going Forward steadily for the realization of this World Conference of Christian Youth. The Churches of the world are to be represented, and, in addition, the World Alliance of Y.M.C.A., the World’s Y.W.C.A., and the W.S.C.F. Canada has fifty delegates. The conference will be held in Amsterdam, Holland, from July 24th to August 2nd. The theme of the conference is “Christus Victor—A World Conference of Christian Youth on the Task of the Christian Community in the Modern World.” The purpose of the Conference is “to gather representative young members and leaders of the youth work of the Churches and of all national and international Christian youth movements. It aims at confronting youth with the results of the world gatherings of the Christian Churches and the Christian youth movements in the years, 1937-38. Its purpose is to mobilize youth to witness to the reality of the Christian community as the God-given, super-national body to which has been entrusted the message of the victory of Jesus Christ over the world’s spiritual, political, and social confusion.”

A VOLTE FACE By Charles Clark

I used to think I’d hate to be His Majesty the King

And have to go upon parade, while people shout and sing;

To have to change my uniform a dozen times a day

And take a scheduled part in ceremonial display.

To have to live in that fierce light that beats upon a throne,

Had nothing glamorous for me—I’d rather live my own.

That’s how I felt about the King; ’twas natural, I ween,

But I confess I changed my mind the day I saw the Queen.

—In High Rives Times.