The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-10-16
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Subject: The Church and AEuSe-
mentS.

49, iva
took as his text 1 John 2:17, "The
world passeth away, and the lust
thereof; but he that doeth the will OF
God abideth forever" He said:
Happiness is a universal human
longing. The search for it is a world
wide human characteristic. The
longing of living souls for that which
ministers to the satisfaction of the
noblest and most lasting of human
needs and desires is natural. God
created US to be happy. We were not
men did we not search for Joy. Je-
hovah meant US to live in the pos
session and exercise of all that is
peaceful and joyous and lovable. 1t
would. be strange if we did not seek
to possess them. We are foolish II
We do not use them.
Not otherwise pleasure, or the cat
isfaction of lesser human desires and
human needs, is a universal human
craving. AS We long for those things
that are %eternally and finally salts
flying, so do we long for those things
| that are of immediate and of contem-
p%oraneous value. And this craving
Is natural. The desire is divinely
/ granted. 1t is not strange that we
want pleasure.
But happiness and pleasure are not
necessarily to be found in that (and
we shall deliberately circumscribe
the application Of the word) which
we call amusement. Happiness may
be far from the heart that is amused.
Many a soul that is scared and heavy
with sorrow has been amused. But
amusement brings such soul no .abid-
ing 10Y and ministers no balm Of
! solace to heal their wounds. Pleas
ure is not amusement. For a mar
may find much pleasure outside of
that which in the common use and
acceptation of the term is called
amusement. Happiness is a matter,
at the base, of subjective satisfac-
ton. Happiness is centrally a con-
Germ of the soul. Pleasure may con-
serve happiness. But a man may be
well pleased and yet not be, happy.
A man may be amused and find pleas
ure in the amusement. But a man
may be s~uperlatively unhappy though
his face may be forced to smiles
through the power Of amusement.
For amusement is a diversion, a
dissipation, an indication Of inward
discomfort. Happiness indicates con-
tentment. The desire to be amused
is very nearly always an indication
Of the incapacity of a man to achieve
happiness!
The church expresses happiness in
the terms of eternity, Of divinity, Of
conscience. The happiness Of man
is, in the mind of the Church of
Jesus Christ and in the light of His
truth, dependent upon its perdura-
bility, it's d%ivineness, upon the clarity
Of the conscience of the nan who
possesses it. In the conception Of
the church happiness is eternal, it is
the gift of God and a force that
propels man nearer to God; it can
not be enjoyed except the conscience
Of men are void Of the consciousness
of their unworthiness before God. A
man is not really happy unless his
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-
fed Of his personal acceptability be-
fore God.
The church expresses righteous
and worthy pleasure in the terms of
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 if 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
to the human soul, they are upright
eous.
Now, the Church measures amuse-
ments by these same standards. She
asks us what our amusements do to
afford us a larger vision Of the eter-
mites, to increase Il 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
ure 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 it. We have little time
to waste. Our efforts must tend, be
they little or momentous, to the ell
largement of %humanity's comprehen-
sion of those things that are eternal
and divine. If 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-
ophy 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.
Our theatres are damned with peo-
pie who want not to be compelled to
think Or to be brought face to face
with reproductions of real life in
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 jaded
! spirit. They are strictly temporal.
They are very nearly always mex
pressibly cheap and tawdry when we
sift them to the bottom. They arc
unrelated to duty. For they are
primarily intended to aid us to forget
duty.
Of our multitude of amusements
we shall consider four: the card
table, the dance, the theatre, the
racetrack. And they arc taken for
consideration, not because they are
per Sc evil. but because they have
| hennma naruertnd hecnnse they are