The Washington herald., 1922-07-31
KEEP SUNDAY HOLY
IS ADMONITION OF
PASTOR IN CAPITAL
There are Physical, Men.
tai, Social and Moral
Reasons, He Says.
By REV. GEORGE NJ. CUMMINGS,
Garden Memorial Presbyterian
Church.

By REV. GEORGE M. CUMMINGS,
Garden Memorial Presbyterian
Church.
The Sabbath was made for man"
Mark 2:27.
One Of Gods best gifts to man is
the Sabbath. 1t is indispensable
for his highest well being. physical,
mental, social. spiritual.
1. Physical. Periods of rest are
necessary for all animate creation
and sometimes for inanimate. A
telegraph wire has greater conduc-
tivity on Monday IL unused on Sun
day. and a rest of three weeks will
increase its productivity 10 per
cent. Vegetation demands cessa-
cal climates nature pauses between
her efforts in fruit bearing. A
beast of burden has the same claim.
In an early day before the railroad
two families drove from Ohio to
Kansas. One was Goddess, the
other God-fearing. The former had
not time to stop for Sunday: the
other stopped. rested and worship
ped each Lords day. The result
was that the latter reached its des-
tination two weeks in advance of
the other. So for man; in addition
to rest Of sleep. one whole day in
seven, as scientific experiments
have proven, is an absolute neces-
sity. Years after France abolished
the Sabbath a traveller said: 'I
found no old mechanics. no old
merchants. no old professional men.
They all died young"
2. Mental. The mind. ever ac-
tive, requires change of thought
that It may be invigorated 1t is
our God-given privilege on the
Sabbath to lay aside the concerns
If our daily round of duty for
higher thoughts. The man who
concerns himself with one subject
seven days in the week becomes
unbalanced. Edmund Burke says:
THE student who tolls necessarily
can have no reliable judgment: he
exhausts his attention. burns out
his lamp and is left in the dark"
An eminent alienist says: ITO
the mere student a Sabbath spent
in the happy exercises OF individ-
ual. domestic and public worship is
the best possible cordial for the in
tellect. A merchant in Indianapo-
lis used to spend his Sundays bal
ancing his books. He had not time
to do II through the week. But he
found time to spend three years in
an insane asylum. Some one has
well said. Man cannot be wiser
than his Maker"
8. Social. II a man. is to know
his family; IL the members are to
give and receive the utmost of mu-
tual help. one day in the week for
home life Is necessary. II man
leaves home for his work before
the little ones are up and returns
so late that they retire soon after
his arrival. IL he is deprived of his
Sunday he Is deprived of the bless
ings Of the two oldest institutions
in the world. given by God to man
in his state of innocency--the fam
lily and the Sabbath.
4. Moral Blackstone says: Cor
ruption of morals is always found
to follow fast on the PROCLAMATION
of the Sabbath" Sabbath desecra-
tion. either by unnecessary work or
by pleasure seeking blunts the con-
science. lowers the standard of
morality and destroys the spiritual
life. There Is much discussion as
to the cause of the crime wave
sweeping over the country today.
When the day given us for wor-
ship. for doing good. to wean us
from selfishness. is prostituted by
greed for gain and by pleasure
madness: when the day is given
over to automobiling, playing golf
and baseball; when in so many
| places, as in Washington, theaters
and movies are wide open; when
custom Is substituted for consci-
ence: when Gods law is either for
gotten or spurned; when His holy
day is insulted by impiety and
folly. is 1t any wonder that there
| are So many men held up. so many
women assaulted. so many strikes,
So many divorce suits?