Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1903-10-26
THE VIRTUE IN VACATIONS.
When One Gets Next to Natures
Heart. He Sees Truer.


When lived i'm Colorado. had a
friend who had a quaint and pungent
habit OF speech. Some cars ago ne
went over the divide He lett ne
E'ud him a little book. in which there
ls "a record OF some original thinking
and some epigrammatic sentences lie
was a lover Of wild nature, an ardent
fisherman, a CamperOut Oy many
streams. Much OF the bad theology,
he used To saw. that afiicts the world
has been coucoCted in steady. steam
heated rooms. Is 10 a mere accident
that the lest thoughts, the words that
have life in them, come from out-Ol
door reimbursement snepherds,
dwerIers in tents. ishermen?"
Emerson has said somewhere thai
christianity can be best understood in
the open air. and ] am sure that Emer-
son himself can babest appreciated IN
der the same conditions. and perhaps
for the same reasons. / have been
trying reading En- on out Of DOORS
and I think I und, ytand him better
than used TO. Som low his thoughts
and inspiration blend with the beauty
Of the landscape. They cooperate
with the scent of the balsam frs and
the wide horizon of the sea
Jesus lived ami preached in the open
air. He saw the sOwer going forth TO
sow. ne saw the lily of the field. the
house built on the sand, and the house
built on the rock. and the harvest
ready for the sickle. Do we not best
understand many OF his teachings
when we read them by the lake shore
or on the mountain side?
Do we not need to get out occasion
ally OF the artificial life that most of
us have 10 live? A soul cannot from
its own fuel permanently feed its
uobIer fires. IL needs some streams Of
pure air. some new sunshine to dis
uerse the clouds OF heayiness. Ought
we not to hold ourselves more in COM
muuiOn with natural things, and mingle
more OF beauty with the prOsaic story
Of our days? Is IL not our privilege in
the summer time TO thrust aside the
swarm Of competitors for our atten-
-i0n. and open our hearts and minds TO
larger things?
Electric lights and Office telephones
are not an unmitigated blessing. We
need more contact with the wilder
ness. Jacob was a very mean man;
but. when he lay down TO sleep with
the stone for his pillow, away from all
the triviaIities and chickering's of every
day existence. he could jream dreams
aud see angel ladders. The wilder
ness about him became the house Of
God. and he knew himself a child Of
the Eternal
Ny Colorado friend preached a ser
mon once from the old story that tells
how King NebuchadnezZar for his own
salvation was driven from men, and
did eat grass as oxen; and his head
was wet with the dew Of heaven" That
was good for that proud despOt. He
had siCkeued Of too much luxury. He
had grown hard and cruel. He was so
very proud that the very bricks that
the autiuuarians find in his city have
his monogram stamped on them. He
had said. els not this great Babylon.
that I have built By the might of my
power and for the honor of my males
-yg" Now he was rescued from the
hattery OF the cOurtiers. He was
brought back TO primitive relations
with nature. He found out what the
rain was and the dew. he saw the sun
rise. he slept on the bed OF bOughs.
aud he found health OF body and soul.
Hear his confession. My reason re-
turned unto me: and, for the glory OF
my kingdom. mine honor and bright
ness returned unto me" His ways are
Judgment. and those who walk in
power he is able to abase." As far as
we know. after that experience Ne
At