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102 

gent more or less unrelated. He crawled worst, I think, when he ignored the common facts of practiced Christianity in [[strikethrough]] a question [[/strikethrough]] answering a question on superstition in the Christian religion. The better educated of the audience (many of the teachers can teach Chinese but know little else) felt the whole thing rather a farce; they can see no reason why a man should cleave to any one religion forsaking all others, or why he should join a church and wear the name of Christian because he happens to see some good in Jesus. Personally I am inclined to think that in their position I should agree as they do. One cannot grip an audience like that and hold it by saying that he follows Jesus because Jesus is the best man and closest to God of all he has known of; especially when it is patent in the man's talk that he has never given anything like a commensurate amount of time and energy to the study of other leaders that he has given to Jesus. If Jesus is the only man about whom I know very much I am quite apt to think him unique. If I devote the same attention to the study of Buddha or LaoTzu or Confucius that I do to Jesus perhaps I will still think Jesus the best; perhaps not. At least my reasoning will show my equal familiarity with all ofthem, and will have some wirght, if I do favor Jesus. Another thing that we Christians do not begin to weigh sufficiently is the effect that our early training and environment has upon us. We think we recognize it, but we don't. A very great deal of our thinking on the matter of religion is merely a form of rationalization of the habits we been in ever since earlist youth. Even the man who is "coverted" well along in life has in almost ever case never been really out of touch with Christian surroundings. But I'm off again.

Dorothy went shopping while I went to the school, then she met me and we came home together. I started a new typist on the job today. He is a Mr. Kuo, and studied in the business training department of Yenching last year, and is taking more work in shorthand this year. I am trying him out, and giving him $25 a month for six hours a day.

On the way home we stopped at Mrs. Foette's and picked out a couple very attractive rugs to have sent home on approval. We came home for tea, put down our new rugs, and soon had guests in the