Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1915-06-23
ONE DAY OF REST
True Christian Meaning of the
Sabbath Has Not Been
Fully Understood

Is it not time for US to get over the
notion that Sabbath laws are Puritan
blue laws, or that the purpose Of men
who stand for the observance OF the
Sabbath is to thrust it down the
throats of unwilling believers? Is 1t
not time for Christian believers to end
their hesitation in making the demand
for wise and firm control of Sabbath
excesses? Sunday baseball and NOV
ing pictures, and other forms Of sport
are not SO necessary to any life, mol
SO helpful, that it Is impertnent to
demand their cessation.
There it not much difference Of opin'
ion among thoughtful people about the
need of rest. Ours is not the first
time when men have hurried too
much, and there are more people than
most Of us suppose who are beginning
to slow down, to take things more
easily. Here is the head Of large
business. who began in it as an Office
boy, at SO a week, and became part
ner while most of the men originally
in the firm were still living. He tells
that he noticed that the men who
actually did the most were not the
ones who were always neryously at
it, who never could get away, who
never had time for anything else. and
who had no outside interests.
Christians Sabbath Spending.
He noticed instead that, the men
who died prematurely and sud6enfy
were those who felt they were 30 very
important that they could not be
spared; so they drove themselves long
hours and as many days as possible.
Then they died. and the business
went right on. This young man de-
cided that as Christian he would be
steady and persistent, but never a
nervous worker. The Sabbath Is sacred
to him, ard he sees the common sease
Of a real observance Of 1t. 1t gives
him chance to let off his strain: He
points out that in his business the
men who spend the Sabbath loosely
come back on Monday in no condition
for work, while the men who spend 1t
in a Christian way are ready for their
tasks.
Now, Of course, the chief reason for
urging Sabbath observance Is that
there is great divine law that runs
under the whole race, which requires
not chiefly that there shall be time
for rest, but that there shall be time
for worship. The value OF the Sabbath
from our Christian point Of view is
that it gives people chance to wor-
ship Almighty God, which they cannot
do if they work, and which they will
not do If they play on Sunday. The
objection to seyen-day work is that If
a man wants to worship he cannot d.
1t. But after that there Is the large
value of the Sabbath as a time for the
building up Of men. Our merchant
friend says that in theory he had al
ways held that pleasure resorts ought
to be open on Sunday for the sake OF
the people who could not go to them
on week days, but the more he saw Of
the result the less he believed in it,
These are pleasures that use man
up, instead OF building him up.
Sensible View of the Matter.
One Of the large business houses of
Chicago has rule in its manual that
employees are to seek the right kind Of
associations and the right kind of
pleasures outside of business hours.
That is for the sake of the business, 1t
is safe rule that no man ought to do
on Sunday what wears him out for the
following week. The Sabbath was
made for man, Jesus said, and God in
tended it to be used for the highest
part Of our manhood. EXcesses on the
Sabbath, in any form, are violation
not of Gods law written in the Scrip
ture alone but Of Gods law written in
human nature As Christian men we
are eager to upbuild the church. So
we insist upon the Sabbath. But equal
ly, as Christian men, we are eager to
develop and aid our race and ciyiliza-
ton. So we insist again on the Sab
bath. We are not narrow-minded In
It; we are not petty and bigoted; we
are simply sensible. We are insisting
upon the thing which history and COM
mon sense declare the race needs
Editorial In The Continent.