Ruler and Rescuer .sx BY THE REVD DR A.D.C. GREER , .sx DUMFRIESSHIRE .sx Colin Mitchell is Head of a big school .sx In Scotland the Head Teacher of a secondary school is very often called the Rector .sx One Friday Dumfries people opened their local paper to read .sx Rector's Rescue Honoured .sx Colin saved puppy from 12-Ft Gorge .sx Above a picture of Mr Mitchell receiving a special certificate from the Director of the SSPCA .sx Underneath the headline , it told how Colin had abseiled down a slippery chasm at Crichope Linn , swam upstream in the cold November water , then downstream again and then climbed out up a rope .sx In a rucksack on his back he brought up the one he went in to rescue , an 18 week old springer spaniel puppy , Gyp .sx Gyp was the only one who was dry .sx " I am not a hero and I am just glad the dog was all right " , said Mr Mitchell , a member of the Moffat Hill Rescue Team .sx We don't usually think of Head Teachers as heroes , do we ?sx We don't usually think of Rectors as rescuers .sx A Rector is a 'ruler' , the dictionary tells us .sx Colin Mitchell proved that a ruler can be a rescuer .sx Gyp knows that .sx So do the pupils of Dumfries High School .sx Christians know that God , the Ruler of all things in heaven and on earth is a Rescuer too .sx He cares enough to come and help in whatever sort of trouble and danger we have got ourselves into .sx And he is able to save us and set us free .sx Remember that when we sing in church about " the wisest love " that " to the rescue came " .sx Our Teacher .sx BY DENNIS K. TACKLEY , BA , BD , MED , .sx SHERBORNE , DORSET .sx Visual aids :sx A school exercise book , a children's slate , and a pointed stick to represent a stylus .sx I expect you will know what this is ( Hold up the exercise book ) .sx You must use books like this every day at school .sx But in ancient times paper was much too expensive for children to use .sx When they went to school they might learn to write by drawing with their fingers on a sanded floor .sx Or they might have a shallow box about the size of this slate which was coated with soft wax .sx Then they held a stick with a pointed end and practised their letters by scratching on the wax .sx We are told that in ancient Greece the master who was teaching boys to write would put a line of writing at the top of the tablet , and each boy was expected to copy this .sx He would keep practising this sentence until he could copy it without making any mistakes .sx Sometimes , we're told , the master would hold his hand over the boy's hand and guide him as he traced the letters on the wax tablet .sx That would get the boy started and give him confidence .sx Now this is a wonderful illustration of what Jesus does for us .sx He has given us an example of how we should live , but he doesn't leave us to get on with the job all by ourselves .sx He helps us to follow his example ; he holds our hand as we try to imitate the way in which he lived .sx And there is more to it than that .sx What could a boy do who had made a mistake on his wax tablet ?sx ( Wait for answers ) Yes , he could smooth the wax over and try again .sx Jesus , too , is always making it possible for us to make a new start , forgiving us for the mistakes we make , and encouraging us to do better next time .sx Go for the Real .sx BY THE REVD GEORGE S. GIBSON , .sx LEAMINGTON SPA .sx The psychiatrist Jung wrote :sx " It is frankly disappointing to see how Paul hardly ever allows the real Jesus to get a word in " .sx He is just one in a long line of critics who have accused Paul of theologizing Jesus out of all recognition !sx .sx But is Paul really the villain of the piece ?sx Certainly he does not have much to say about the earthy life of Jesus , but that , in part , was because there were others around far more able to talk from personal experience of the 'Jesus event' , and Paul had other things he urgently wanted to do !sx But this is not to say that he was either uninterested or uninformed about Jesus of Nazareth .sx Writing to the Galatian church he speaks of making a special trip to Jerusalem to " see Peter " and someone has suggested that " see " is to be interpreted as when we say " I must see the doctor " .sx It was a purposeful visit and the two of them wouldn't spend the time talking about the weather !sx I believe that Paul was anxious to learn from one who had known Jesus intimately over a period of time ; to have his hearsay information 'filled in .sx ' .sx Why , then , is there so little said by Paul about the Galilean ?sx I think it is because Paul knew from bitter experience how futile exhortations to " be like Jesus " would be .sx He had found " keeping the Law " something beyond unaided effort .sx How much more then would such an exhortation be a counsel of despair .sx Yet many of us have not learned Paul's lesson .sx The element of struggle is only too evident in the lives of Christians , and the strain shows .sx Our mistake , to use a phrase much used in evangelical circles , is that we want the fruit without the root .sx We are like the suitor in the well-known song who was discovered " tying apples to the lilac tree " !sx When Paul wrote to the Roman Christians he told them ( as Phillips translates him ) that there must be " no imitation Christian love " .sx Put bluntly , the Christian life cannot be faked !sx .sx There is a principle here which we are prepared to acknowledge in other spheres , but which apparently we do not always apply to our spiritual life .sx No lover would offer his girl a bouquet of artificial flowers - though there are some very lifelike creations - and they would last longer !sx No art expert is fooled by the most clever reproduction of a masterpiece - or by a daub claimed to be 'art' in the latest fashion !sx No musical virtuoso can be 'explained' in terms of his perfected technique alone .sx What we are concerned with here is what Dr Fosdick called " The Principle of Released Power " .sx And he goes on to say :sx " Power is primarily a matter not of self-generation but of appropriation .sx Not strenuous activity but hospitable receptivity is the ultimate source of energy .sx " That was Paul's liberating discovery .sx From the moral struggle of Romans 7 to the exhilarating liberty of Romans 8 , this possibility is for him the glorious gospel - truly Good News .sx " Christ in you - the hope of glory .sx " Christlikeness is an inward beauty reflected in outward character .sx This then is the truth to which Paul returns again and again .sx He talks of " putting on Christ " , of Christ " being formed in us " , about " having the mind of Christ " .sx And ever and anon he breaks into personal testimony :sx " I live , yet not I but Christ lives in me " ; " the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ has made me free of the law of sin and death " .sx He was free at last !sx .sx Yet there is another emphasis in his teaching .sx No one has insisted more than Paul did on the necessity of strict discipline in the spiritual life .sx He is the author of that seeming paradox , " Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling , for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose " .sx What Paul is saying is that , having come to the end of our resources , God in Christ supplied the missing impetus .sx But having now divine resources , we must use them .sx We cannot initiate the new life , but we must cooperate in its fulfilment .sx Christian discipleship never can be a laid-back affair .sx Here again we have a principle we recognize in other spheres of experience .sx True art is 'inspired' - but the artist sweats blood to give his vision expression on canvas .sx Great literature is 'inspired' - but an author's wastepaper basket often bears testimony to the travail of writing .sx And , as one of the world's reluctant gardeners , I am painfully aware of the effort required in tending and nourishing the life that is in the seed !sx The Christian way is neither " leave it all to God " nor " buckle to and get on with it " .sx Which is what Jesus was saying when he offered rest to the over-burdened and then called them to " take his yoke " upon them .sx He was saying , " I've released you from the treadmill - now let us pull together " .sx So we have entered on the road to Christlikeness .sx But that will not be achieved in a moment .sx God has planted the seed but we are at times indifferent husbandmen !sx Prayer becomes irksome .sx The Bible seems stale .sx Church is in danger of becoming a bore .sx This happens to most of us at some stage .sx The reason is that we see these things as ends in themselves .sx We're back to the futility of salvation by works !sx We have lost sight of the goal .sx We need to take another long look at Jesus , until once again the hunger for that kind of life becomes clamant , and everything that ministers to its realization ceases to be a 'duty' .sx C. S. Lewis wrote :sx " I think all Christians would agree with me that though Christianity seems at first to be all about morality , all about duties and rules and guilt and virtue , yet it leads you on , out of all that , into something beyond .sx One has a glimpse of a country where they do not talk of those things , except perhaps as a joke .sx Everyone there is filled full with what we should call goodness as a mirror is filled with light .sx But they do not call it goodness .sx They do not call it anything .sx They are not thinking of it .sx They are too busy looking at the source from which it comes .sx " .sx Most of us are a long way from that - though I have met that kind of 'goodness' more than once .sx But God will not let us go .sx Paul again :sx " ( I am ) confident of this , that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus " .sx And the completion of that good work will be that " we shall be like him - for we shall see him as he is " .sx It will be the Real Thing - for God never was interested in mere cosmetic surgery !sx .sx A January Journey .sx BY THE REVD MICHAEL J. WARD , BSC , BD , .sx ST MADOES , PERTHSHIRE .sx Ps 139 :sx 1-12 ; Mt 2 :sx 1-12. Well , that was Christmas and New Year , that was !sx The church Christmas tree is now down , along with all our decorations and cards , and we're probably relieved that life is again returning to normal after the festive binge of eating and drinking that somehow seems to resemble more of the Roman Saturnalia and less of the peaceful atmosphere of the coming of the Christ-child .sx And what has changed in the last two weeks ?sx On the face of it , very little .sx In our own community as elsewhere , deaths and funerals have continued during the so-called festive season .sx Our newspapers are once more filled with stories of terrorism and strife .sx It would appear that the world has been untouched by our celebration of Christ's birth , leaving some of us to wonder what kind of godly intervention it is that we celebrated on Christmas Day .sx Perhaps we're looking for the wrong sort of change , the wrong sort of signs that the entry into our world of the God-with-us does make a difference .sx " Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders , you will never believe .sx " Jesus might just as easily have been speaking to us .sx For we long , do we not , to see a sign that the peace and goodwill of Christmas might last into the New Year , a sign that the annual journey to Bethlehem might at last pay off , a sign that nations and peoples are being drawn to the light of the world ?sx