The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1898-06-24
GOOD AND BAD SPORT.
DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON ABOUT THE
ADJUSTMENTS OF THE HOUR.

GAIA Inc CnTlsGldH w no Hecred1es
Wisely-The Deadly "GoOd Time"
copyright. 1898, by American Press Asso-
ciation.l
WASHINGTON, June 19.-From an un-
usual standpoint DR.. Talmage in this
discourse discusses amusements and APP
plies tests by which they may be known
as good or bad. The text is Judges xvi,
25, "And it came to pass, when their
hearts were merry, that they said, Call
for Samson, that he may make us sport.
And they called for Samson out of the
prison house. and he made them sport. "
There were 8, 900 people assembled in
the temple of Dagon. They had come
to make sport of eyeless Samson. They
were all ready for the entertainment.
They began to clap and pound, impa-
tent for the amusement to begin, and
they cried: "Fetch him out Fetch him
outp" Yonder | see the blind old giant
coming, led by the hand of a child into
the very midst of the temple. At his
first appearance there goes up a shout of
laughter and derision. The blind old
giant pretends he is tired and wants to
rest himself against the pillars Of the
house, so he says to the lad who leads
him, "Bring me where the main pillars
are. " The lad does so. Then the strong
man puts his hands on one Of the pill
lars, and, with the mightiest push that
mortal ever made, throws himself for
ward until the whole house comes down
in thunderous crash, grinding the audi
ence like grapes in a wine press. "And
so it came to pass, when their hearts
were merry, that they said, Call for
Samson, that he may make us sport.
And they called for Samson out of tine
prison house, and he made them sport. :"
In other words, there are amusements
that are destructive and bring down dis
aster and death upon the heads of those
who practice them. While they laugh
and cheer they die. The 1000 who per-
ished that day in GAIA are nothing COM
pared with the tens of thousands who
have been destroyed, body, mind and
soul, by bad amusements and by good
amusements carried to excess.
In my sermons you must have noticed
that have no sympathy with eccleslas-
teal straitjackets, or with that whole
sale denunciation of amusements to
which many are pledged l believe the
church of God has made a tremendous
mistake in trying to suppress the sport
fitness of youth and drive out from men
their love of amusement. If God ever
implanted anything in us, he implanted
this desire. But instead of providing
for this demand of our nature the church
of God has for the main part ignored it.
AS in riot the mayor plants battery
at the end of the street and has it fired
off, so that everything is cut down that
happens to stand in the range the good
as well as the bad, so there are men in
the church who plant their batteries OF
condemnation and fire away indiscrimi-
nately. Everything is condemned. They
talk as if they would like to have our
youth dress in blue uniform, like the
children of an orphan asylum, and
march down the path of life to the tune
of the dead march i'll saul. They
hate a blue sash, or rosebud i'll the
hair, or a tasseled gaiter, and think a
man almost ready for the lunatic asy-
lum who utters a conundrum.
Young Mems Christian associations
of the country are doing a glorious
work They have fine reading rooms,
and all the influences are of the best
kind, and are now adding gymnasiums
and bowling alleys, where, without any
evil surroundings our young men may
get physical as well as spiritual i'm
provement. We are dwindling away to
a narrow chested, weak armed, feeble
voiced race, when God calls US to a
work in which he wants physical as
well as spiritual athletes. | would to
God that the time might soon come
when in all our colleges and theological
seminaries, as at Princeton, gymna-
SUM shall be established. We spend
seven years of hard study in preparation
for the ministry and come out with
bronchitis and dyspepsia and liver COM
plant, and then crawl up into the pull
pit and the people say, "Doesn t he look
heavenly !" because he looks sickly.
Let the church of God direct rather
than attempt to suppress the desire for
amusement. The best men that the
world ever knew have had their sports.
William Wilberforce trundled hoop
with his children. Martin Luther helped
dress the Christmas tree. Ministers have
pitched quoits, philanthropists have
gone a-skating prime ministers have
played ball.
Our communities are filled with men
and women who have in their souls un-
measured resources for sportfulness and
frolic Show me a man who never
lights up with sportfulness and has nc
sympathy with the recreations of 9th
ers, and l will show you a man who is
a stumbling block to the kingdom OF
God. Such men are caricatures of reli-
gion. They lead young people to think
that man is good in proportion as he
groans and frowns and looks sallow,
and that the height of a mans Chris
tian stature is in proportion to the
length of his face. Iwould trade off SOC
such men for one bright faced, radiant
Christian on whose face are the words,
"Reioice evermorel" Every morning
by his cheerful face he breaches so ser.