Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1901-07-10


our daily papers we could not tell the
Sabbath from Monday by any sign or
token in nature. and nature is Gods
way of doing things. If there is such
an intense meaning in the Sabbath, il
any infraction of it sends such
A VAIL OF DISTRESS THROUGH
ALL THE UNIVERSE,
scattering insults" on every hand and
"stultifying" every man and every
minister who should step willingly into
the breach, why does not God in his
vast conduct of nature give some hint
of it? Why was not nature construct
ed like the Scotchman's clock, that
would tick strong and full till Saturday
night at midnight and refuse to move
a wheel until "a hours had passed But
no. The grass grows on Sunday; the
waters flow on in the streams, singing
to the sa; the tides are as regular on
the Sabbath as onThursdays; the earth
revolves and flowers bloom and birds
sing and people get hungry and thirsty
on that day as on others, and some
times | think a little more so. The
Sunday dinner is to thousands of peo-
pie the greatest PREPARATION of the week
Why should not the desire to meet our
friends be suspended on Sunday? In
stead it is coming to be
THE GREAT SOCIAL DAY OF THE
SEVEN,
as if in obedience to a great natural
law.
But someone will be asking, Is there
no Sabbath then? Yes, there is Sab
bath in nature, but it is limited to hu.
man nature. 1t is not law pervading
the universe in that intense and consti-
tutional fashion implied by the fanatic
urgency of our ministerial brethren.
1t is not a law whose setting aside is
attended with insults to our Lord" or
qualification" to men who do not fol-
low the ancient traditions concerning
it. There is no Sabbath law in the ma
terial universe, except it be that the
tremendous movements of the universe
are impelled by such tremendous unity
that the mightiest work is always at
tended with the mightiest rest The
Sabbath law calling for rest is
WRITTEN ON THE HUMAN SIDE OF
NATURE
in the tired nerves and muscles of men
and women who toll. and human ex-
perience has taught that about one
seventh of the time is required for rest
in order that they may accomplish the
largest amount of work with the least
injury to the toiler. There is nothing
arbitrary or fixed, or uniform for all
people in this institution of the Sab
bath, and there ought to be wide mar
gin for variation of mood. pursuit,
choice, action in its observance accord
ing to the wide variety of activity and
condition among the people. 1t is
A REST INSTITUTION
and what is rest for one person may
not be rest to another. How. indeed,
shall the man who has been engaged
for six days in killing time, having
nothing to do, rest in the same fashion
with the man who has been engaged
for the same time at the forge or in the
shop, working to support his family?
How shall the man whose business is
general laziness rest with the man
whose business is constant work? How
shall Feliciana, on whose hand and
brain time hangs heavily, rest with the
girl who cannot find time enough fol
her ever unfinished task? And what
folly is more colossal than that judg
ment which prescibes for this infinite
variety of condition one uniform meth
cd of rest and recreation? 1t cannot h'
done without defeating
THE VERY IDEA OF THE SABBATH
The man who will insist upon it mus
be very young man, green and ignor
ant of the world, or else very old mai
who has become inactive and has Tor
gotten the meaning and method of
strong and vigorous life. am Ger
tain that it is not the judgment of TIL
strong life that is carrying the heav
burdens of the living world
b.
The Sabbath. in order to be of an
value to the world. must be a fieXiDl
institution, capable of adjustment to
great variety of situations. One of o..
pastors who talks of insults to III
Lord insists that, his Sabbath mus
not be disturbed, and another insist
that If his ideas are not recognized h
will boycott the fair and preach againf
it and advisA his people not to visit i
But what about the other mans far
What about the Jew who thinks thu
Saturday is the Lords day. He, to
is citizen, and he pays his tax to kee
the machinery of the state in motto
What about him? Have these Chris