Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-09-28

home aeein, safe ana we'll. Thank 0oA
today for your reunited fAmlliesl
lament Amenr' I can hear from doz-
ens Of grateful lips NJ a great climax
to iris domestic thanksgiving.
Thanks For Reunited Families.
Then. again. I want you to thank
God that you have returned to the
work Of the etore, or the factory. or the
Office. Lot me see; how long were you
out In the country Two wseks7 Three
weeks? Ten days? Oh, 1t docs not
matter much how long. l know n
fact about you. and that Ia you were
away long enough to know that the
hardest work a strong. healthy man
ever has to do is to learn how to do
nothing. When you left the city some
months ago you went OF N high hopes.
Nothing to DO: nothing to do" was
your congratulatory CRY. The arst
night you went to bad In the country
you said to yourseaf: NOV I an going
to stay IN bed 1ust a. long % I wish.
I am not soins 10 get up until IL
O'Clock II I DO not DESIRE" Did y0u
stay IN bed Until II o'clockt Oh. no.
You arose at your regular time. Old
habits cannot b. broken In q day.
Then after . few tshing trips aud q
few mountain climbs you bsgan to
grow restless. You wanted to get back
to work. Then, II I mistake not. It has
been your good fortune during this va
cation to be thrown with a few chron-
Icaily unhappy men-unhappy because
they have nothing to do. Perhaps on
account Of inherited wealth or from
the fact that they have made money
they retirsd from business to have a
good time. What a miserable mistake
they have made. Instead Of being hap
py with nothing to do, you have found
that they are the most unhappy OF
men. They spend most Of their time In
playing nursegirl or picking UP pins
or in finding fault with their children
or in making the lives Of their wives
us miserable as their own. The simple
fact 10 a full biooded mau like you has
no business loading around the house
with nothing tn do. II you loiter about
the house thus you will degenerate into
nothing but a FIRST class "fusser" and
n genuine masculine nuisance. You
know that you never felt happier than
when you boarded the street car the
other day and started for the store. In
my time I have met hundreds of
healthy men who had retired from
business because they had amassed q
-~...o~Ov VavyAa ovv,soJ nun ~
them. l have always thanked God.
first, that he has given me health; sec
ondiy. that he has compelled me to
work. Thank God today that you have
been able to cast Off the innctivities of
a vacation and have been compelled to
go back to the daily treadmills Of man.
ual and mental toll. The financial
struggles ef life not only arm bread
for our children. tu% also unlimited
joys for our W nealthfui physical
and mental existence.
Welcome Back TO Chuvch.
But as I welcome you tack to the
store and TO the domestic f1resides
and to your reunited families I also
welcome you back to your church home
and TO your family pew. welcome
yon home to the household Of faith
( welcome you home to Gods temple
where you ran worship God better and
more simply ana devotediy than in any
other church In all this round planet
! welcome you back from THIS pulpit
and to this altar.
What do l mean By making such {
statement as this? You may have sa'
IN finer churches than your " whii'
you have been away; you may have
heard nor eloquent preachers thar
| your own: you may have had you'
souls lifted BY grander music. more
exQuisitely rendered. than you hear I.
your own church. hut has that gtvet
you a distaste for the home services
Oh. no. As the beat place for a mar
TO grow and live In o domestic sens,
is BY the Preside Of bic own home. q
the best place in which he 10 to built
up spiritually is in bis " church
In spite Of yourself. when you 60 II
other churches you 90 in a critica
spirit, but here In your owl churci
home you come to worship. There /
an atmosphere about your accustomed
church which ought to be more sacret
to you than that Of any other building
That Is your church home. There yo'
have 80 often commingled your prayer
that they have a different meaning
there than when you pray among stran
gers. The pastor Is In II gospel sens
part Of you and you are part Of him
He welcomes you back to your plac
Of worship. to your household o
faith"
Then there ia another reason why
80 gladly welcome you beck as wor
shippers to your own church pew. Yo'
know AZ we'll as I know that most 0
the good we get from a gospel ser
mon Ia due not so much 10 the In,
trinsic worth and to the brilliapcy ol
the sermon az to the spiritual prepare
lions we make at home for the recep
ton OF the Bread of Nfe. This Sab
bath day. In a Christian home. yoy
awoke In a spiritual atmosphere. Yot
did not see any fishing poles. You dc
not see tho carriages being driven W
for the long mountain rides. You dc
not see the pleasure parties starting OH
for a yachting trip. You arose In TIN
spirit Of prayer. After breakfast 20,
gathered tho children about the family
altar. Then before you started To-
Sunday school you all kne!t. Thel
,,ov ,,tNnu0A n npouAR HkO thfQ. az