The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1906-01-04
SAILORS AND THE CHURCH
The Pathos Of Their Lives Makes
seamen Objects of Much
Concern.

Those who go down to the sea in
ships, as the ancient observation is.
have abundant opportunity to study
the works Of God at first hand and see
tremendous wonders in the deep. But
the man who goes out upon the sea Is
always in peril, and his experiences,
even when not fraught with discom-
fort or disaster. are frequently pa
thetic, says the New York Observer.
Poets-many of them from a safe dis
tance on land-have sung of the beau
ties OF the ocean, while actual voy-
ayers have forgotten all distinctions
between prose and poetry in their mel
ancholy sufferings from "mal de mer."
The sea has no mercy on those who
tempt Its tides and breezes. Sailors
sail at their own risk, and from that
fact appears the appropriateness of the
prayer Of the sweet. cad hymn: For
Those in Peril on the Sea-"
1t is true that, hrmanly speaking,
as men seek to average things with
their statistics, the perils of the
ocean for the worried tourist who
embarks on the floating hotels run
from Liverpool to Now York by the
Cunard. White Star and other lines,
appear much less than those that
attended, say, julius Caesar or
his little trireme on the boisterous
Adriatic, or which involved the corn
ship on which Paul was embarked in
shipment on the shores of Malta. But
most sailors are not fortunate enough
to travel in luxurious transatlantic
"greyhounds." equipped now with
every appliance for comfort, even to
lifts" but serve before the mast in
leaky ships or dingy tramp" steam
ships-hardly more than floating tin
kettles-which are constantly in dan
ger from fire, tempest, shoals or col
lision. Broadly considered, taking
into view the fact that more people go
to sea now than in the days of Caesar
or the apostles. It may be doubted
whether the perils of the ocean (which
itself remains as untamed and un-
tamable as In the days of the Phoeni-
cians) are any the less as regards
either degree or number.
Even where marine perils are avoid
ed or surmounted, the lot of the sailor
is a weird, lonesome and pathetic ex-
perience. He Is face to face with the
elements OF nature, always grand In
their immensity Of reach and strength.
sometimes fearful in their uncon-
trolled raging. He Is cut off from
domestic joys and the social exhilara-
tions Of life which do much. in the
case OF the landsman. to mitigate mel
ancholy and to restore the spirits when
jaded. Most serious of all deprivations
is the infrequency with which Divine
service can be attended-and where
the stated "means OF grace" (Which
are such q prop to the piety of the
landsman) are lesseDed or absent. or
seldom enjoyed, mind and soul fall cas-
lily prey to either apathy or superstl-
tion. Long absences from home sad
den the hearts of the sailors with
home ties. while those for whom no
man careth-not even a stray comfort
bag" perhaps coming their way-tend
to become hard and reckless.
All these facts combine TO render
the sailor an object OF deep concern
for the Church of Christ, which has
already profted so greatly in its mis-
sionary work through the bold and
wide voyaging Of the sailors. Surely
the man of the sea should be remem-
bered often in prayer and aided
morally and materially by the Chris
tan public. Peril and pathos unite in
the lot of the seaman - generosity
and sympathetic help should be the
responsive Offering Of the landsman,
who is put so constantly in the
sailors debt