The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-04-13

you fallen under the delusion that your chief
aim ought to be to enjoy YOURSELF Hand me a
list of those people whom you find all hours or
the day and evening in places of entertainment
and ] will give you list Of people who are be-
ing sacrificed for both worlds. Pepper, salt,
sugar. cinnamon, are good and important in
their places but that would be an unhealthy
repast in which there was nothing else on the
table Amusements and recreation are the
spice and condiments Of the solid feast of this
trying to feed your body, mind and soul on con-
dirents- Only those who have useful
work to do and do it well are
entitled to recreations. The Bible
was not sarcastic, as is generally supposed, when
it says: Rejoice, O, young man in thy youth,
and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy
youth. but know thou that for all these things
God win bring thee unto judgment" 1t means
to say: Have good time, have real good
time, but don't go into anything that the judg-
duties don't forget your immortality"
Scion made a law that every man should once
year show by what trade be got living. If
he could not show that ne had any business, he
was arrested and punished as thief. If man
in olden time wanted to become Roman citi-
zen, the officer of the law would take the mans
hand and feel it to see whether it was hard or
soft, and conclude if hard he was industrious.
and if soft he was idle While in our time many
a man with soft hands is diligent because he
does his work with the brain, and
consequently the palm does not get callous,
we must all have something earnest and useful
to do and recreations are only to reinforce our
capacity. Any game or exercise from which
you cannot return at night and say: 30 Lord,
bless the amusement in which / have engaged
this evening to my better qualification for the
duties of this life," was an entertainment in
which you had no right to indulge. Living is a
tremendous affair, and alas for the man who
makes sport and game a depletion instead of
an augmentation. One time when Rome was
besieged by Hannibars army a great shout of
laughter inside the city strangely alarmed the
surrounding army, and it fed in wild precipita-
ton. But guffaw of merry making will never
scatter our foes or lift our besiegement or gain
our victory. 1t will be face to face foot to
foot, sword to sword. battle ak against battle
AK If we ever achieve anything worthy.
Can you imagine predicament than
now sketchi Time has ended and we are
brought up to judgment to give account of what
we have been doing. And the judgment angel
says ''You lived for many years in world
where there were millions of people in poverty,
in sickness, in sin, liz wretchedness of all sorts,
and there were hundreds of men and women
who put forth every exertion to help them, some
of those philanthropists and Christians toiling
themselves into the grave sacrificing all for 9TH
erS." ''Those women out yonder," says the an
gel of Judgment, ''consecrated their needle to
God and sewed garments for the destitute. Those
heroes consecrated their swords to patriot
ism and fought for their country. Those were
the FRIENDS or orphan asyiumS, and took the
motherless to the bosom of divineeharity. Those
were the angels of Northern and
Southern battle-felds. Those were eyes
to the Blind and ears to the
deaf and bread to the hungry and heaven to
the lost" '"They were" cry thousands of the
rescued 'They were!" reply all the ransomed
earth. ''They were' shout the congratulating
heaven. "They were!" says the Christ whom
for many years they served.
Then the angel of Judgment will turn toward
those who gave their life to pleasure and say,
''What did you dog swell, | enjoyed myself
says one. ''Well," says another, II was very
fond of the drama and l spent my leisure time
in looking at it," 'WelI" says an
other, II could beat anyone in our
city in playing lawn tennis" WELL"
says another, II was the champion of
ball players. /" SWELL" says another II could
skate four hours without stopping, and in brill
fancy of gyration won the loudest applause"
rs that all" says the judgment angel THAT
was all" say the pleasurists ''That was all, re-
spends the keeper of the records THAT was ALL"
cry the wounded who have been healed, and the
lost who have been found, and the sinful who have
been rescued. '"That was ALL" echo the caverns
of this world they get hot in the last
confagration. ''That was ALL" reverberate the
hills Of heaven THAT was ALL says the
Judge of the quick and the dead as He seals their
destinies. May Almighty God forbid that any
of us should make the disastrous mistake of sub
stituting merriment for duty May we all at last
be found among those who used the world with
out abusing it!