Omaha daily bee., 1905-08-23
SLEEPING IN CHURCH.
Pointed Conclusions Drawn erOm a
Pointed Text.
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Nhhnlnetou foat,
Bishop Potter Of New York. preaching IN
the cathedral crypt OF st. John the Divine
on Sunday, drew a witty and wholesome
moral from this text, which he found In
the twentieth chapteT Of Acts;
And there sat in window certain
young pan named Eutychus, being fallen
into a deep sleep and as Paul was long
preaching, he sank down with sleep and
fell down from the third loft and was taken
up dead"
Before venturing to voice his own ideas
upon the esoteric truths in this text Bishop
Potter consulted learned authorities and
commentators. One Of the commentators
drew the hasty and Purltauical conclusion
that the young man was punished In this
effective manner because Of his sin in sleep
ing in church. Bishop Potter, with the toll
GRANGE and observation-disclosures OF a modern,
dissents from this shocking conclusion.
when you see a man go to sleep in
church It is we'll TO think, perhaps. before
condemning him, OF what he has been do
Ing" cautions the learned prelate. Think
Of his life and its circumstances There is
a very personal message in this text"
These words are spoken in the proper
spirit Eutychus, as we see the matter,
was not entirely 20 blame That he was I'M
the chariot races, was wholly in his favor
The presumption is strong that he was in
the window to hear Paul. and not TO sleep.
What had he been doing? Was II not pos
sible that the powerful intellect Of the
worlds greatest preacher overpowered the
reasoning faculties Of the young man,
weakened as they may have been by ex-
cessve toll? May It not even be true that
Pauls presence and wondrous words eXer-
clsed a hyphotic spell over the youth?
There is no thought Of irreverence in the
suggestion.
An explanation has been made recently Of
the cause of drowsiness in church, to the
effect that II is caused by bad air. Holy
edfces being poorly ventilated or not at
all during the week and then crowded on
Sunday are declared to be fun of soporl1o
germs, as II were, against which the most
brilliant OF preachers battle In vain. In
fact the longer the preacher wrestles the
more the bacllli multiply.
Bishop Potter possibly had this theory in
mind when he discussed the text, but II is
evident that he dissents from It. He said:
Think of the thousands down on the East
Side with no cool place in which TO sleep
and no decent place in which to pray" The
inference to be drawn from this remark
is that he regards a cool, spacious church
interior as an ideal place for a nap and
that poor human nature is not to be con-
demned II 1t succumbs
1t is unquestionable that the reasoning OF
the text is that the young man fell down
because Paul was long preaching. although
sleep may have come before the sermon
had reached great length. This reasoning
is adopted by Bishop Potter, together with
the theory that man is more prone to sleep
in church than elsewhere. Accordingly, he
laid down the rule that a preacher should
never preach for more than twenty min
utes If he would properly hold the attention
OF his congregation.
In view of the clear evidence OF the text
and the somniferous qualities OF the sacred
house, It is impossible 10 disagree with
Bishop Potter's conclusion.