The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1915-06-04
In the Religious World
Who Wears the Laurel?

Who Wears
Terse Comments on the Uniform
Prayer Meeting Topic OF the
Young Peoples Soeietles-chrls.
tlsn Endeavor, ete.--for June @;
Cody Under. Soul on Top
Cor. s:24-27.
(6Y WILLIAM T. ElliS.)
Billy Sunday one day outlined 10
me new sermon. which he meant
10 call his "Jekyll and Hyde ser.
mon" and he traced for me the
growth through the famous fiction OF
this idea OF the dual personality.
And IL all goes back ne concluded.
sc what Paul said about the two
natures which he found I'm himself"
ThiStopic carries us straight 10 that
subject. Every one OF is IL two.
We are all OF us perambulating bat.
tieflelds The war above all other
wars is that raging within the con.
Sciousness OF men and women. be-
tween the higher and the lower ma.
ture. Character and destiny are both
determined by which one OF these
,wo-fold elements wears the laurel
Of victory when spirit keeps body
In subsection, then all the graces OF
the Christian life are possible: but
when body Is on top-when appetite
drives conscience and indulgence
spurns intelligence-then all the
woes of INDUCED sin lie In wait
Shadow boxing" Is a fad In ath-
letic circles nowadays Hut Paul
would have none OF e. In our les
son. with It's forceful figure from the
boxing arena. ne cries. so tox |.
~ rot beating the air: but bruise
nv body. and bring It into bondage"
All OF which Is only one way Cf say
ing that the supremacy Of the spirit
r. so important that il Is worth suf-
fering for A price must be paid for
emancipation from the thralldom OF
the flesh, Spirituality comes not by
mere aspiration. nor piety ~ pin.
ing stern work is needed. Sclf-de-
NAL Ia the route go souLsnprcmacy.
Our luxurious age speaks cynical
ly OF the hair shirt and penances Of
the nscetics Our sensual cGltlva-
zion OF voluptuous tastes removes us
as far from the nonastic type Of re-.
lIy;on as Lucullrs vas from Simeon
Stylites. No sweeping indictments
hi ls 20
wrong 20 say that our modern fash
ions hail from decadent Rome rath-
or than from rigorous Sparta The
styles Of apparel which women have
81 late accepted certainly intimate
that the claims Of spirituality and
aestheticism are subordinated to
those OF sense and materialism. God
send us prophets, women as we'll az
men. who will first practice. and
then preach. the holy urgency OF
the claims OF a life lived f. the
spirit For the rocks on which an
rIent Rome went 10 shipwrecf are
nov visible ahead Of the ship OF
our modern life.
Christians should ne among the
frst 20 confess the sin and shame OF
the recent action OF British church.
men I'm refusing TO endorse the gov
ernment's suggestion OF the prohibit
ton OF the sale Of lntoXiCants At
two ecclesiastical convocation held
m England In April. the members re-
fused 10 abstain from alcohol. one
eminent ecclesiastic fatty declared
' tina, 10 do so impaired his health"
what a deadly parallel the nara
tive makes with the writing Of the
Apostle Paul. who. for his brethren's
sake. vas not only willing % torego
. meat. but also To be accurssd. Are
The marks OF the Lord Jesus-the
stigmata oil the cross no longer 10
be found on the church? When
Christian leaders put appetite above
spiritual duty then we must with
Bowed heads accept such structures
as this caustic comment from an
editorial in The Philadelphia North
American: "Clergymen In n futter
OF agitation lest they be asked TO
I. stop tipping, and q dignitary OF the
church putting the state OF his pre-.
cious health against the SAFETY of
the empire-suroly these spectacles
mike one regret that Gilbert and
Sullivan have passed away.
Only the reign OF the spirit insures
the refining OF tho appetites.
Heaven has no crowns for Wills
surrendered TO wishes.
Every day, in the symnasiums o
the great cities. one may find classes
@ men busily engaged in trying to
keep their bodies eft" They spend
time and effort in the duty Of pre-.
serving their health. Because OF the
.oar that their muscles will grow
'soft and their arteries hard, they