The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1912-10-22

ialu upon every man the necessity or
work, and for this reason has distrib.
uted ito every man his work" Is 1t
not just in this connection that we
may be justified in finding fault with
|. the professional sport, the man who
gives up his whole life to pleasure?
When the main thing in college and
university life is athletics are we not
justified In protesting that LIES main
purpose Is being lost sight of? Play
and amusement is but a side Issue In
life; when 1t becomes the whole
thing, then 1t is harmful and sinful, no
matter whether the amusement in
question be In the forbidden category
or not; then even innocent amusement
becomes morally bad. Amusement is
to work what whetting the scythe is to
harvesting; he who eve stops to
create an edge tolls hard and cuts but
little, while he who whets the scythe
all day cuts none. II the mother en-
joys amusements more than she does
her children, the wife more than her
domestic duties, the husband more
than his home. the mar more than his
labor, and the student more than his
books. then amusements are harmful
and wrong.
2. The true Christian will see to It
that his amusements are really recre-
ative, and not ~dissipative.
A man may lie so long In a bath
that he comes out OF It all exhausted,
or he can take a plunge or shower and
come out ali the better prepared for
the duties of life. So is 1t with amuse-
ments; II may be just the opposite.
The amusements OF the Christian
should build up lost tissue, rest the
tired body and rejuvenate the jaded
mind, they must build up the whole
nan physically, mentally, morally
and spiritually.
1. The Christians pleasures will
r~ecreate physically. The body OF the
Christian is the temple OF the holy
ghost. 1t is incumbent upon him
therefore that he keep his body in as
good, clean, pure, and healthy a con.
dition as possible. The body needs
relaxation; il needs rest from the
strain and tension OF life; 1t needs
new blood, new nerve tissues; It needs
by means of recreation, to be better
fitted for the real tasks that lie with
in It's sphere of labor.
The test the Christian must apply to
his pleasures is this: do they recreate
and restore the waste tissues Of the
body? Excess in athletics is not rec.
reation. Young men have died from
over-strain In running; girls have
been ruined for life by excessive rope
jumping. Many pleasures dissipate
the powers Of the body instead OF re-
creating them. Apply such a test to
certain forms Of popular amusements
prevalent today: the theater, the
dance, the card party. Do they recre-
ate, or do they dissipate? Do they
violate the laws of physical health by
their late hours, their impure atmos.
phere. their mode Of dress and con.
duct, or are they perfectly consistent
with the observance OF the laws OF
good health and hygiene? II these
amusements violate the laws OF
health, then, until such times as they
can be brought within the realm of
r~ecreative pleasures, the Christian
must place them on the forbidden list.
2. The pleasures Of the Christian
should recreate mentally. The physi-
cal must not be developed at the ex-
pense of the mental. Giantism must
by no means supplant intellectuallsrn.
Mind is greater than body, as Glad
stone and Bismarck are greater than
John L. Sullivan or James j. Jeffries.
The Christian must ask himself, there
fore, "What effect do my pleasures
and amusements have upon my mind.
my thought, my thinking? Do they
build up. ennoble, purify, sanctify; or
do they debase, befoul, besmirch, de-
bauch? Is my thinking higher, nobler,
more God-like because Of the pleas
ures in which engage?"
All things are not to be Judged by
the eye; ethe mind discerns also.
Shakespeare speaks Of the man who
hath q body filled with a vacant mind,
gets him to rest crammed with dis
tressful bread" The Christian is to
Judge his amusements by this stand
ard. Apply this principle to litera-
ture. What books do we read? II
the Christians master should inquire:
"What readest thou?" what would be
our reply? Beware lest our minds be.
come diseased by the reading of light
trashy literature.