The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1913-05-16
TEXT-Col. 3:17.


man the necessity
of work, and has distributed ito every
man his work" Is it 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 ath-
letics are we not justified in protest
ing that life's main purpose is being
lost sight of? Play and amusement is
but side issue in life; when it be-
comes the whole thing, then it is
harmful and sinful, no matter whether
the amusement In question be in the
forbidden category or not; then even
an innocent amusement becomes NOR
ally bad. Amusement is to work what
whetting the scythe is to harvesting;
he who never stops to create an edge
tolls hard and cuts but little, while
he who whets the scythe all day cuts
none. If the mother enjoys amuse-
ments more than she does her chill
dren, the wife more than her domes-
tic duties, the husband more than his
home, the man more than his labor,
and the student more than his books,
then amusements are harmful and
wrong.
II. The true Christian will see to it
that his amusements are really recre-
alive, and not dissipative.
A man may lie so long in a bath
that he comes out of it exhausted, or
he can take a plunge or shower and
come out better prepared for the du-
ties of life So Is it with amusements:
they may dissipate rather than recre-
ate. Having good time Is not always
recreation; it may be just the oppo-
site. The amusements of the Christian
should build up the whole man-phys-
ically, mentally, morally and spirit
ually.
/. The Christians pleasures will
recreate physically. The body Of the
Christian is temple of the holy ghost.
Therefore he must keep his body In
as good, clean, pure and healthy a
condition as possible. The body needs
relaxation; it needs rest from the
strain and tension of life; it needs
new blood, new nerve tissues; it needs
to be better fitted for the real tasks
that lie within its sphere Of labor. Bad
thinking often comes from lack of ex-
ercise. Some people do not have
enough body Ito cover the mind with
decently." There may be time when
it is my duty to play rather than pray,
to romp rather than read, to take
good brisk walk rather than prepare
a good talk.
The test the Christian must apply
to his pleasuressis: do they recreate
and restore the waste tissues of the
body? Excess in athletics Is not rec
reation. Young men have died from
overstrain in running; girls have been
ruined for life by excessive rope
jumping. Many pleasures dissipate
the powers of the body instead of
recreating them.
Apply such test to certain forms
Of popular amusements; the theater,
the dance, the card party. Do they
recreate, 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 recreative
pleasures, the Christian must place
them on the forbidden list.
2. The pleasure of the Christian
should recreate mentally. The physical
must not be developed at the expense
of the mental. Giantism must not
supplant intellectualism. Mind Is
greater than body, as Gladstone and
Sullivan or James Jeffries. The Chris
tan must ask himself. therefore.
What effect do my pleasures and
amusements have upon nay mind, my
thought, my thinking? Do they build
up, ennoble, purify. sanctify, or do
they debase, defoul, besmirch. de-
bauch? Is my thinking higher. nobler.
more God-like because of the pleas
ures in which l engage?" All things
are not to be judged by the eye; the
mind discerns also. Shakespeare
speaks of the man who hath a body
filled with vacant mind, gets him to
rest crammed with distressful bread"
The Christian is to judge his amuse-
ments by this standard. Apply this
principle to literature? What books
do we read? If the Christians mas
ter should inquire: What readest
thou?" what would be our reply? Be-
ware lest our minds become diseased
by the reading of light and trashy lit
erature.
Judge the theater by this standard.
Someone has said: 1.-THE laugh of the
theater is the laugh that speaks of
the vacant mind" Are we purer in
thought, more virtuous in our dreams,
sweeter in our imaginations; have we
more earnest views of life; is the
mind sensualized or spiritualized by
attendance upon the theater?
Apply this test to the card table
Does this popular amusement furnish
recreation to the mind? With it's pas
sion, its tenseness, it's excitement, it's
late hours, does the game of chance
rest and quicken the faculties for the
labors of the next day? Does not Nh6
game rather dissirate than recreate
the mind?
Apply this standard to dancing Do
the atmosphere, the passion, the whirl
and dazzling fascination, the late
hours-do all these recreate or dissi-
pate, which? On the right answer to
this question depends the right or
wrong of this amusement for the
Christian. Surely there can be but
one answer to this question.