The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-07-21
THE PREACHER MUST GO.

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the ceaseless grind that tends to uncharita-
bless If not to actual madness. A lawyer
may lay aside his books and briefs, the court
may adjourn and the judge HE himself to
some more restful spot and even an editor
may visit an uncle down in the country,
where he can fight mosquitoes and listen to
the tree-frog and the tuneful peafowl for
week-but a minister Fiel He should
never let up, tor behold the evil one
taketh no vacation, but continually goeth up
and down the land seeking whom he may de-
your. No; the minister, who has nothing to
do but to get up a couple of sermons week,
attend Sunday-school once on Sunday,
business meeting of the elders on Monday
night, guild social on Tuesday night prayer
meeting on Thursday night, teachers meet
ing on Friday night, drop in on the choir on
Saturday night, and be prepared to pay or
receive calls on the other evenings of the
week, to say nothing of the unwritten but
none the less imperative demands to be gene
rally sociable, and to look after the
sick and those who imagine they
are sick, aud those who make Others sick
the minister, some think, ought to stick
right to his business twelve months in the
year For know you, some poor sinner
who for ten months has spurned church in
Huences, may be lost" and then nobody
would be to blame but the minister who is
off somewhere getting strength for the next
campaign. No, minister has no right to
get tired and sour and WORKOUT. Wound
up at some theological seminary, he ought
to run constantly until he is completely run
down and is gathered to his
fathers. So reason many thoughtless
persons who can find no excuse
for relaxation on the part of the preacher.
And so it used to be; the pulpit galley-slave
knew no CESSATION of his labors. He ham,
mered and thumped the pulpit in winter to
keep warm, and swung his arms in summer
to keep off the flies His congregation might
or might not be there, but he was there al
ways The inevitable result came with it
the Book, without the suggestion of fresh
breath of religious thought from the natural
world lying outside.
This is all changed and changing, and it is
we'll that it is People have come to believe
that preachers are much like other people
and subject to the same laws. Other people
drop business for little while to get a
breath of fresh air, and come back all the
better for the only too brief relaxation. Peo-
pie all work too hard-those who work at
all-and they ought to stop in the tread-mill
once in while to look about them, above
at the blue heavens, and below at the green
earth They ought to take an occasional
look at the stars. and then at the
toiling millions. 1t will give a bet
man and nature. The preacher
who depends alone on printed texts for SER
mons robs himself of his best and highest
privileges He who preached the Sermon on
on the Mount seldom took scriptural text
in his life, but drew inspiration from natural
scenes about him. The preacher of the nine
tenth century may safely follow His exam
Pile. Then why not let him loose-turn him
out to unrestrained freedom for few days
this hot weather? He will come back all the
better for his companionship with nature,
and will have better feeling toward those
who look to him for spiritual guidance.
Turn him Quit will do him good. If you
are very good, your goodness will endure
until he gets back. If you are bad, it is
your own fault, and not that of the harassed
man who has so long sought to convert you
from the error of your ways. Let the
preacher out. Let him go down into the
country and rest, or up to the lakes and fish.
In short, let him do as he pleases, and let
him do nothing if he pleases. Give him a
chance with the rest, and his SER
mons next fall will have a new and
refreshing vitality. preacher is man,
and man gets tired, awful tired, leading
other men. 1t is so with school-teachers.
Without the summer vacation they would
all go mad within five years. The holiday
of summer is the safety-valye Give to
preachers the same much-needed recreation.
With heads barred under the open heavens
and lungs expanded in crisp country air,
they will see new visions of heaven, as John
did in Patmos, and will return to the people
with new version of the old, old story to
replace the one long since worn threadbare.
The preacher must go.
The business OF the public cannot be per-
nnirted To sn fer and Kill nnI be rnnrmiffed