Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-04-16
HorO Shall Our Restless Age Find Rest

1t is agreed on all sides that the present is
very strenuous age. The strain on life greater
than in any former time. and this being So it fol-
lows that wise methods for renewing vitality and re-
freshing strength are of great importance. Accord
ngly all sorts of proposals brought forward daily
to lis end, including such seAsv4ess and -eked
suggestions that Gods day of weekly rest shall
become day of amusement and that the churches
themselves shall include Sunday diversions in their
nroerammes AS a matter of fact churches
already amount to little more than concert halls
in which the people employ an entertainer called
preacher to say a brief piece of more or less relig
ous character at certain point in the exercises OF
the salaried musicians who are engaged to soothe
the audience with playing and singing.
Somehow all these schemes of amusement leave
the people more faded than ever. When amusement
is made a serious business, to which one addresses
himself strenuously and the same level Of life
on which he has been exerting himself already it
exhausts rather than refreshes the spirit True rest
must come to our tired souls by getting away from
the things that fret and strain us, and dwelling
awhile in an atmosphere of sacred serenity The
present generation has forgotten to degree the rest
of worship and they have fallen victims to the folly
for which the prophet rebuked ancient Israel when
he said BE astonshed we heavens, at this and be
horribly afraid, be We very desoate saith the Lord;
for my people have committed two evils; they have
forsaken the fountain of living waters, and hewed
them out cisterns broken cisterns, that hold
water" Jeremiah ii:12 and 49,
We need to learn the great truth which Haydn
taught a company of artists occasion num-
Der Of them discussing how could most
quickly recover strength after period of great
ertion Various methods suggested, and then
Haydn reverently said. "In my home I have a small
chapel. When feel wearied because of my work.
I go there and pray. This remedy has never failed
me-" Such a remedy could not fail, If sincerely APP
piled to the tired soul 1t could no more fail than
mothers arms and mothers soothing song could
fail to rest WORKOUT child at night-fall.
is ptiful that our restless generation with its
consuming tolls and Irritating cares, has forgotten
the of worship and the solace of communion with
God. Devout Israelites in the long ago knew the
blessed refreshment to be found in the courts of
the Lord. We hear singing. "A day in thy
courts is better than thousand. 1 had rather be
doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in
the tents of wickedness My soul longeth
yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my
heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God"
The original suggestion of the holy day is that
it is a day of rest: And on the seventh day God
ended his work which he had made; and he rested
the seventh day from all his work which He had
made" Whatever men may make out of these words
they can not mean less than that divine repose
designed to be associated with the Sabbath
When the day is robbed of that restful feature the
race of man suffers Unreasonable loss We human
beings must be wound up week like eightday
clocks and the winding must be done at the center
Of our being, at the point where the soul God
Sunday diversion which leaves God and worship
out of the account is too akin the exhausting
things of earth in which we have been engaged all
the week to be of any value a means Of rest. We
need to rise out of the low murray atmosphere of the
world and into the tonic air of heaven to find the
refreshment which wearied souls require. Jesus
the busy worker knew the heart of a tired man. and
standing day amid weary throng who were
fainting around him like tired sheep without shep
herd, he called to them saying, Come unto me, all
We that labour and are heavy laden and will give
you rest" ~
Many of our fathers entered into this rest of God
The songs which they sang sound like the Psalms of
ancient Israel Let recall some of them.
In the quiet, sweet old church of our childhood
we heard them sing,