The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-04-15
SATURDAY, APRIL is, 1911.
SUNDAY OBSERVANCE.

TO the true cnTlStlan IoHloEEOW 40
one Of the most sacred days Of the
year. 1t is commemorative of the res
direction OF Christ. The day viii be
observed wherever reverentiai tribute
is paid to the Lord. In Fargo appro-
pirate services win be held in all
churches with apecial music for the oc-
casion. Every man who makes any
pretense at religious belief-whether
affiliated or not with any organized
church-will make an effort to attend
divine services tomorrow.
AS imperative as church attendance
is tomorrow-it emphasizes the pres
ent status Of Sunday Observance-or
the lack Of It.
Every great religion has It's special
day OF worship. The seventh day was
the Jewish Sabbath--to be kept by a
complete abstinence from work-and
minute and burdensome Observance
for religious ceremony and rites. The
christians changed the day TO the first
of the weeh-In commsmoration of the
resurrection Of Christ.
The day has been kept with varying
exactness. The Puritan influence in
England made the christian observ-
ance as strict as that of the Jews. That
influence shaped the early New Eng
land life. Sabbath was a day of aus
terity and gloom. The churches were
bare-worship was colorless-religlon
joyless.
There has come a reaction from the
New England ideal which made the
Sabbath a holy day. It is changing to
a holiday. There, are reasons for It..
Foreign emigration is bringing foreign
laxity of customs The church is no
longer the sole source of intellectual,
social and moral power. These ener-
giles are distributed through other in
struments. A brilliant material civil
ization tends to an indulgence of the
bodily man-which seeks sensation
and not sentiment. First the natural,
then the spiritual. with this laxity of
conviction. multitudes forsake the
sanctuary.
s Every law Of God is rooted in a need.
The animal grows tired in the harness.
The wheel becomes hot upon its axle.
The toiler wearies at his bench.
]. To the weary-the overworked-Sab-
bath is boon. 1t is an island of rest
In a stormy sea: 1t is the one day
when the poor man owns himself. Yes
terday he obeyed the command Of 9TH
ers. Today he is master Of himself.
The Sabbath should be day of rest
not tdleness. Business should cease.
The curtains should be drawn in the
windows Of the shops-the fire should
be banked beneath the boiler. The IL
braries and the art galleries should be
open. Inspiring music should be where
the world could hear It.
Men should have. large liberty-not
the liberty of rioting and dissipation
but the liberty of order-the liberty
which comes Of knowledge. They
should be taught that the church denies
no pleasure that is lawful-and inter-
diets no amusement that elevates and
does not degrade.
The Sabbath Is day when the home
mot the shoD-should be emphasized
when social fellowships should be
strengthened-when sympathy should
give its healing to the sick and its
comfort to the sorrowing-when men
should try to feel the grandeur of life
and should dwell upon the higher
levels Of thought The Sabbath should
leave man more man-than when on
Saturday night he threw down the i'm
plements Of toll.
The Sabbath should be day of wor-
ship. According to his conscience
man should revere God. II he believes
God is to be found in the office of the
holy mass. that is his avenue of APP
proaeh. If in the silence of his own
thoughts he feels the communings Of
the sDirit-silence is his best speech
and song. II he can see God In the
heavens or in the leaves and brooks
let the brooks be his anthems and the
whispers Of the leaves his prayers.
Only let him recognize his obligations
to God--feel the divinity Of life-the
mandates or conscience-the obliga-
lions OF duty.