St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1902-08-30


uods voice needs to be heard and
seeded. Not a cry against vacation
iest' but against the unrest of the
"se' which turns the Saturday half
nol1oay into blighting influence and
'ne summertime outing into a pc.
l1oo OF unrestrained indulgence in
every whlm and caprice the self-in-
oulgent flesh bankers after. The
Perversion of the Saturday half-holi
Jay Is beginning to cast it's miasmal
pail over the Lords day and is sap.
ping the spiritual life and strength
OF the disciples of Jesus Christ. And
W many 1T is proving the easy gate
way TO the downward road of self
Indulgence and pleasure, and the
very threshold of hell. The modern
development of the vacation habit is
proving an allurement whose swift,
broad current is yearly drawing its
thousands and hundreds of thousands
away from wholesome influences to
the distractions of summer resort
life and merely sensual indulgences.
lhe place to which our Lord led
bis disciples for their vacation rest
was a quiet and restful spot, where
the beat of the heart of Nature
could be felt, and where God could
bless soul as well as body. To-day,
think you, He would lead to some of
the popular resorts and watering
places? Do you believe He would be
found with His disciples at many of
the pleasure places and roof gardens,
and Sunday excursions and outings,
which to-day are filling the land and
| the world with their distractions?
Pleasure, such as the world can give,
and plenty of it, but not that body
and soul invigorating rest which
comes as wholesome portion to him
who, following the bidding of the
| Master, withdraws with Him apart
into desert place. Not desert in
the sense of wilderness waste, but
desert which is stranger to the
whirl and allurements of the world
and where the voice of Nature can
be heard. Where one has time to
listen to the ''heavens declare the
glory of God" and the armament
shew forth His handiwork; where
day unto day may utter speech and
night unto night shew forth knowl-
edge. Not where gay companionship
il essential to happiness, but where
Bryant found the inspiration for his
lines:
ITO him who in the love of Nature holds
Communion with her visible forms, she
speaks
A various language"
Vacation Purpose.-The man of
Jesus parable, who heedlessly built
his house upon the sand because it
spot availa BILE a t the time, was not less
wickedly careless than is he who
thoughtlessly runs hither or thither
on his vacation with no other purpose
than that of going somewhere or do
ing something, in quest of recreation
and change and so-called rest. The
vacation should be definitely purpose
full. Three elements are discernible in
the purpose of our Lord in providing
an outing for His weary disciples.
Primarily it was that they might OBJ
tain much-needed rest. But as the
events of that short vacation rapidly
unfold under the quick pen of Mark,
we find that Jesus sought to lead His
disciples thoughts away from the
things of men to the things of God,
to help them to know Nature and Ma
lures God better, and to feel the pulsa-
ton and throb of Gods almighty
arm as it reaches out to shelter and
protect and feed a needy world. And
lastly, He wanted them to learn that
the most perfect rest was to be found
in a new and enlarged service. And
without these three elements, vaca-
ton plans are lacking and fail to pro-
vide adequately for the-weary body and
needy soul. Rest for the body, en-
largement for the soul and new chan
nels of service-where these three con-
ditions can be best realized, there is
where the Lord is calling you apart to
rest awhile.
Rest for the Body.-1t is interesting
to note that the disciples were SO in
terested in the work in which they
had been engaged as apparently to be
unconscious of their bodily needs I'M
til Christ said unto them: "Come ye
Yourselves apart into a desert place,
and rest awhile" How blessed it
would be if to-day Jesus disciples were
81 enerossed in the Masters business!
There would not be so much self-plan-
ming weeks and months ahead as to the
summer outing, if such were the case.
To-day Christian people have hardly
returned from one outing and taken
up the dropped work before their
heads are full of plans for future
rest and recreation, and they get
ready to let go again. Keep busy in
the work of the Lord; don't think so
much of your weary body as you do of
the great need all about you, and even
while you are telling the Lord about
the work in which you are SO much in
terested, He will bid you come apart
for needful rest. And 24-hour vaca-
ton to which the Lord leads you will
hiring more refreshing to the body
than a month of self-appropriated
idleness and change. ....=
A night with the Lord on the water
and a walk with Him through the |
fields in the early morning before the
crowds are again pressing about Him
can put renewed strength into those i
weary muscles, can quiet the throb of
that aching head, can send new and
vigorous life throbbing through every
vein and artery of your being. Pic
ture to yourself the trip that night.
A handful of weary disciples gath
cred with their Lord on that rude /
sailing craft. AS the receding shore
at Capernau m. black with its restless
49, ~ humanity * left behind the |