The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1902-08-21

does not mean listless idleness or
reckless abandon. Vacation rest
which would supply the needs Of the
body at the sacrifice of the soul is
perversion and an iniquity. Such is
really not vacation rest at all, but
vacation unrest.
Vacation Unrest.-And for fear
some misguided but weary soul may
read the foregoing and encourage a
self-seeking heart in indulging in
present-day vacation excess and few
erish pursuit of worldly diversions
and pleasures, we wish to talk for a
little while about vacation unrest.
It is abroad in the land to-day. It is
encouraging to excesses and indule-
ences which would never be thought
of in the soberer moments. It is
robbing privilege of it's wholesome
fruit, and is changing in the worlds
laboratory of opportunity, by the
chemistry of reckless human ingen-
uity, blessing into positive curse.
Here is where the warning note
wants to be struck. Here is where
Gods voice needs to be heard and
needed. Not a cry against vacation
rest, but against the unrest of the
age, which turns the Saturday half
holiday into blighting influence and
the summertime outing into pc
riod of unrestrained indulgence in
every whim and caprice the self-in-
dulgent flesh bankers after. The
perversion of the Saturday half-holi-
day is beginning to cast its miasmal
pail over the Lords day and is sap
ping the spiritual life and strength
of the disciples of Jesus Christ. And
to many it 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 it's
thousands and hundreds of thousands
away from wholesome influences to
the distractions of summer resort
life and merely sensual indulgences.
The place to which our Lord led
His 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 we'll 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 filing 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 a wilderness waste, but
a desert which is a 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
is 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
happened to be the most convenient
spot available at 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 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-
tion 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
neIs 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.-It 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 nm