The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-05-15
BAPTIST EhCAMPAtNT
GOOD VACATION PLACE
Rev. r. CTaggett skinner breaches Ser
mon on Vacation Virtues and
Vices.
CHRIsTs HUMAN INVITATION
Come We Yourselves Apart Into a
Desert Place and Rest Awhile" Used
as Text--The Good and Bad in Va
cations.

Desert Place and Rest Awhile" Used
as Text--The Good and Bad in Va
cations ------.
Yesterday morning DIR. T. ClaREett
skinner spoke to his people at the
Second Baptist Church or Vacation
Virtues md Vacation Vices" He chose
for his text Mark 6 81: Jesus said
unto them. Come We yourselves apart
into a desert place aud rest awhile,
Few sentences In the New Tesla
ment are more human than this in
vitation OF jesus The record says
there were many coming and going
so that the apostles # Jesus did not
have opportunity to eat. Jesus had
sent them away TO do their benefcent
work upon the bodies minds and
hearts OF the people They had car
ried out His program and returned and
gathered about Him % relate all that
had hefallen them. Jesus listened
with an interest of mingled JOY and
pity. He knew that for the happy
prosecution Of the work of life men
need not only enthusiasm. hut
strength. So when their tale is told
He simply says. Come aside from this
busy. demandful life and calm your
nerves anu rest N3pul b'uitS anu SFt
a new start Not less needful than
when first spoken is this healing word
Of Jesus to the crowded, distracted
lives of men today
Our Lord frequented the mountain
and garden at night Was ii not be-
cause He felt the boon companionship
of nature, the friendly helpfulness OF
the vast and the beautiful Mountain
and garden were allies 0f the spirit,
silent Greathearts, who mInistered to
Him in the Pilgrim way He sought
the mountains when He was bordering
over great decisions He was found
in the garden lin the night in which
He was betrayed" Nature was to
Jesus blessed colleague in the souls
fellowship with the highest"
Horizon Must Be Broad.
The disciples were not above their
Lord They shared with Him this
need of aloofness and rest. They had
enjoyed some measure of success in
their mission. and they proba bly, were
elated by their temporary popularity.
At any rate, II was time for them TO
GO into seclusion for awhile: time to
get away from the disturbing illu-
sions of the crowd, to some deserted
place. where they could view them
selves and their work in truer per-
speCtive.
Sir Arthur Helps in his Friends
in Council declares that many a
man goes through aome intellectual
process for the greater part Of his
working hours which corresponds to
the making of a pins head " 1t Is
one of the conditions Of his livelihood
that he shall rivet his attention and
concentrate his energies on the pin.
II is this increasing and unavoidable
contraction of our modern strenuous
ness that makes the claim OF the va
cation imperative. The humdrum Of
life has it's peculiar perils. II Is quite
difficult TO feel the Wilderness Of the
universe, If our daily horizon Is no
larger than the PIN. head
The greatest value of a vacation L.
The view of the relative importance
of things which II gives. A crowd is
, a good thing, but also a dangerous
/ thing. and good men need to beware of
the crowd They must fear it's false
standards of success. They must fear
lest they come TO measure the worth
of their work by the size Of the crowd.
I They must he guarded lest they care
more for the applause than for the
needs of the crowd Yes, the crowd
is often a menace to a mans true es-
innate Of himself, and as he loves his
own soul, he Will once in awhile leave
1t all for the deserted place. where
there is little 70 turn his head or lis
tort his vision.
Wow In Calm Detachment.
Nothing is more hideous and con-
fusing than an oil painting when
viewed at the distance OF an inch.
To see 1t we must get away from II.
Deta chment is essential to the com
prehension Of the whole. and, there
e.
1t is not otherwise with life There
are many feverish and threatening
crises which would dwindle into
harmless proportion II only we saw
them in calm detachment. Let us
leave this and that and the other. and
from the place OF sacred and restful
detachment look over the entire field
of life and duty, Of purpose and
destiny. and the fragment shall take
lis appointed place in the vast design.
and shall no longer masquerade as
AN appalling and overwhelming to-
tality.
Again in addition to aloofness the
disciples needed rest. The crowd
often has tendency not only 10 low er
our standards and ideals. but also to
exhaust our strength and impair our
real efficiency. Our bodies become
like lamps that are in need OF oil
they burn - little dim and uncertain
and sometimes because we are a little
spent AID weary we become very un-
pleasant to those about US. like lamps
that have begun to smoke. We are
consuming wick rather than Oil and
il is attended with offensive con-
sequences all around. We need to get
our lamps refilled and we can ind
the precious oil in the green pastures
or beside the soft flowing waters.
illustrates Rests Need.
DIR. Macmillan narrates how. in
Damascus. he saw a workman making
an amber necklace. He wrought at
each separate bead but FOR moment
then laying one aside, he picked up
another And he wrought thus be-
cause those amber beads are so
charged with electricity by friction.
that they would. without rest, fly into
hundred pieces 1t is this centri-
t~sA r.,