The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1907-09-19
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{, ~ A SERMON 4 SSsS,.'A = IA
ef May ThE REV. SSAf.SsfsY
4 IRAMI HENDERSON y
,EbIect; The Church and Amusc-
mcnts.


q put Brooklyn. n Y.-Prescning at the
'.mburg avenue and VERIFIED
9 = -----reet on the above theme. the Rev.
ntoN ira Wemmel Henderson. pastor,
o. ao,pok as his text John 2:17, THE
,. 4 sou.orld passsth away. and the lust
NJ adereof; but ne that doeth the will of
EWlee moi abideth forever" He said:
,Alv, happiness Is universal human
5nsipg. The search for It is a world
Sue-iwide human characteristic. The
4 ese longing OF living souls for that which
tse minister's to the satisfaction OF the
l.A at L9blest and most lasting of human
n IS and desires is natural. God
Brf dted us to be happy We were not
II 81, IN did we not search for JOY. Je-
UOSovah meant US to live in the pos
lurclycial vision and exercise Of all that is
y .seful and joyous and lovabe. It
DIR rouSuld be strange II We did not seek
~. fou- to possess them. We are foolish If
we do not use them.
Il sens Not otherwise pleasure, or the sat
y. the isfactlon of lesser human desires and
IN human needs Is universal human
Z ~ ma craving. As we long for those things
ar THAT are eternally and finally salts
pay ing, so do we long for those things
h. littlehat are of immediate and of contem-
I cat~ ..oraneous value. And this craving
M is natural. The desire is divinely
am granted II is not strange that we
want pleasure.
But happiness and pleasure are not
necessarily to be found in that land
we shall deliberately circumscribe
the application of the word) which
we call amusement Happiness may
Jh onl,he far from the heart that is amused.
th oHiJ ANY soul that is scared and heavy
ant. ith sorrow has been amused. But
~! e.l .musement brings such soul no abid-
4, oi Vong Joy and ministers no balm of
to olace to heal their wounds. Pleas
; ure is not amusement. For man
m may find much pleasure outside of
hof uyhfo IN he ,v,1
gh acceptaton of the term is called
- aCq u.musement Happiness is a matter,
streat the base, of subjective satlsfac-
tion. Happiness is centrally con-
my Germ OF the soul. Pleasure may con-
4 Ey, serve happiness. But man may be
y 4, well pleased and yet not be happy.
''A obh man may be amused and find pleas
to ure IN the amusement. But man
may be superlatively unhappy though
snl his face may be forced to smiles
III through the power of amusement.
~. For amusement is a diversion,
WI dissipation, an indication of inward
& anf s1iscontent. Happiness indicates con-
eminent. The desire to be amused
col'is very nearly always an indication
m OF the incapacity of man to achieve
happiness:
ant The church expresses happiness in
VIZ the terms of eternity, of divinity, Of
conscience. The happiness of man
n, Is, in the mind of the Church of
stra eessus Christ and in the light of His
SUI LsllSIth, dependent upon It's perdura-
.ity. Its divineness, upon the clarity
of the conscience of the man who
possesses 1t. In the conception of
the church happiness is eternal, it is
lol the gift of God and a force that
propels man nearer to God ii can
not be enjoyed except the conscience
on of men are void of the consciousness
hal of their unworthiness before God A
man is not really happy unless his
81 soul is satisfied In an eternal fashion.
unless he has the Joy and peace that
are the gift of God unto those who
love Him and who keep His command
ments as his innermost possession,
unless his mind and heart are certi-
a. fed of his personal acceptability be-
~ fore God.
The church expresses righteoys
and worthy pleasure in the terms Of
ov. the conservation OF that which is
eternal, the promotion of that which
is divine, the satisfaction Of duty.
Any pleasure that does not augment
happiness is unworthy That Is to
say. that II our pleasures initiate
against our growth in that which is
eternal and divine, If they dull our
consciousness of the imperatives of
the Almighty that are law and life
30 to the human soul, they are unright-
eous
Now, the Church measures amuse-
ments by these same standards. She
asks us what our amusements do to
afford us larger vision of the eter-
mites, to increase our certainty of
the reality and of our self-possession
of divinity. to draw us into correct
relationships with God. BY these
standards we have a right TO meas
lure our amusements and by these
Judgments they must stand or fall.
If they can meet these tests they may
remain steadfast and they will. If
they cannot be justified by them or
squared to them they will fall and
they ought to. For life Is short.
Time advances. Opportunities come
and go. There Is much to be done.
We must do 1t. We have little time
TO waste. Our efforts must tend, be
they little or momentous, TO the en-
largement of humanitys comprehen-
sion of those things that are eternal
and divine. II happiness lies in the
achievement OF these graces we have
stipulated then we ought to be about
the Masters business.
No country In the world needs the
white light of publicity and philos-
opby and of uncommon sense TO glare
upon its amusements more than
= America. For we are amusement
~ crazy Our catch-penny, tinseled,
gaudy summer places of amusement
are evidence of our amusement fever.
ut Our theatres are jammed with peo-
aft pie who want not to be compelled to
mot with reprodSctiops Of real real NJ life ,AIo IN
q miniature. They go largely to be
amused. Our amusements are almost
wholly superficial They minister to
the needs OF the mind that is mo-
mentarily surfeited. to the faded
spirit They are strictly temporal
They are very nearly always mex
pressibly cheap and tawdry when We
sift them to the bottom. They arr
unrelated to duty. For they arr
primarily intended to aid as to forge
OF our multitude of amusement
we shall consider four: the care