Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-05-15
DINNERS AND BALLS,
The Christian Ought to Par
ticipate in All Sorts
of Social Events.
WALLING IN THE CHURCH
Is Both Bad for 1t and for the World
Outside Its Circle.
RELIGION In FULL DRESS SUITS.
Extravaganza and Other Sins of Society
That Might Be Curbsd.
LONG FACES DON'T MEAN PURE HEARTS
WALLING IN THE CHURCH
RELIGION IN FULL DRESS, SUITS.
Extravaganza and Other Sins Of Society
That Might Be Curbed.
LONG FACES DON'T MEAN PURE HEARTS
WRITTEN FOR THE prsrArcB.l

10 L Hltdu llSdISE paTllcS anu AFTERNOON
teas and formal calls and dinner dances anG
the german? Yes, why not? There is NJ
reason why woman should not be societ,
woman and good Christian at the samt
time. There is no reason why a man should
not be as religious in full dress coat as il
q surplice.
know very well that in the opinion of 9
good many excellent people this will seem
like a doctrine of the pit. They believe
that if the devil were to turn preacher, he
would preach just that sort of sermon. He
would try to persuade all the Christians to
go into society, and then he would conf
IDENTIFY rely upon the influences of society
10 convert them all out of Christianity
And it is to be admitted that there is dan
ger in that direction.
Wall Between Church and Society.
Nevertheless / am confident that there is
nothing that would please the devil better
than to have high stone wall built up be-
tween the church and the world, high
stone wall without door or window in it,
so that nobody could get from the one side
to the other, and sprinkled all along the
climb over. That would be pernicious both
for society and for the church. 1t would
not only be the end of all progress, it would
not only, as somebody has said, be like put
ting all the dough in one dish and all the
yeast in another, and then expecting the
dough to rise but it would be demoralizing
both TO the church and to society. 1t
would deprive Christians OF the pleasures
OF society, and it would deprive society of
the presence OF Christians
Christians ought not to be deprived of the
pleasures Of society. God has provided
these pleasures He has put into our
hearts that social instinct which makes us
rejoice in one another's company God
does not desire us 10 spend half of our time
in hard working and the other half in hard
praying. II H had intended that we should
live that sort of lite, He would have put us
in a world that would have corresponded
with it.
Pleasures Put Hero to Enjoy.
The soil of the earth would have produced
nothing but the most wholesome kind of
vegetables useful for daily food. There
would have been no flowers in it. For what
are flowers good for? For no practical pur-
pose whatsoever-for beauty, for adorn-
ment, for pleasure only. And God would
have stretched out over the earth a sky
which would have somehow fulfilled its
purpose Of disseminating the rays OF the
sun and giving us rain for drinking and for
'rashipG; but there would have been no
rainbow inst, and the sun would have re-
tired soberlv TO bed without anv gorgeous
accompaniment OF rose-tinted clouds. Be
cause these bright colors are of no practical
value. We cannot eat them, or drink them
nor wear them. They are to look at, for our
pleasure. God has made the world beauti-
Iul that it may minister to our delight. He
intends us to be happy in it.
God is our Father This is the highest
ruth that we know about Him. And what
S there that father desires more for his
children than that they shall be happy? 1t
S mistake to think that He wants us to
write over the door of the church such an
inscription as was seen in Dante's vision of
the internal regions: "All ioy abandon, We
who enter here"' This is the day." cries
the psalmist, THAT the Lord hath made"
Now what shall we do in day the Lord
hath made? Shall we all have the longest
kind OF faces in ito "Ths is the dav
which the Lord hath made. let US rejoice
and be glad in it,'' This is the world which
the Lori hath made, let US rejoice and be
glad in it
Relation CT Sanciity and Misery.
They made great mistake in the old |
time who imagined that sanctitv and misery |
we're synonymous, and believed that in |
order TO be 4 saint approved OF God man
must make his body as uncomfortable as
possible. He must Starve himself; he mast
acerate his back with a stout whip; he must
absent himself from the habitations of men,
md live in a hole in the ground, and for
,ear the sight OF pleasant human faces Yet
Il ls,,a
tsclf upon our thoughts, that it is difficult |
.ven to-day for people TO imagine that a
nan or a woman can be perfectly happy |
md at the same time be perfectly holy. |
The Christian orght to have the privilege |
If all the pleasures of society. The Chris |
ian religion was not brought into the 1
world to take single honest pleasure out |
II il, but to bring great deal of pleasure |
nto it.
And society ought to have the privilege |
# the presence of the Christians For what !
would become of society if the Christians
we're all taken out of it? What would be- |
ome of the theater if none of the actors and |
lone of the managers nor owners and none !
# the audience were religious people? |
What wouli become of society if the host |
vas not a Christian, and the guests were
lone OF them Christians?
1he One NeeuS tne Otner.
Why. we can understand readily enough |
hat there will be the same kind of change |
II society that there used TO be in the con-
-ersation, in those barbarous times when
,eople had the heathenish custom of letting
he ladies 90 away from the dinner table |
,etore the meal was ended, and the men re-
nainen alone to drink a final course of
vine Society would be degraded. Chris
IL Il of
ietv needs the pleasures of the Christians.
The Christian, then, ought TO go into So
ictv. But he ought to take his Christian :
ty along with him.
! was speaking last week of the narrow
2ea that great many people have of re-
lgl0n They think that it is meant for Sum
lay and the churches whereas it is meant
or Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday
nd Thursday and Friday and Saturday, and
or all the parlors and all the kitchens and
II the stores and all the mills of Christen-
.om. Some people seem to believe that
sod is blind. That he can only see in the
lin, religious light of consecrated build
Egs. Whereas, God sees us everywhere.
some people seem to believe in an absentee
rod who comes down out of the sky on SUM-
lay morning, and then goes back again on
sunday night, and has no more concern with
he world until the week days have passed
y, and the sacred day comes back again.
Religion Touches All OF Life.
Whereas God is with US all the time, and
S just as much concerned in our work as in
ur prayers We need to realize that re-
igion is meant to touch our whole life,
very hour of it, every minute of it, every
ct and every thought of it. 1t is believed
ven to-day that the Christian religion is
natter OF ritual or of doctrine Some peo-