CARDENING, GAMES, AND THE GOSPEL.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 558, 17 August 1920, Page 2

CARDENING, GAMES, AND THE GOSPEL.

By UTERATUS.

de bottes" (about nothuig at all) as the French savins; goes, on a recent congenial occasion when two friends and I were seatpd together, one friend, without preliminary reference of any sort, asked the other, who happened to be a very estimable minister of the Anglican denomination in another district, "What about gardening on a Sunday?" My clerical friend is a man of wide sympathies, deep understanding of human nature, and tolerant withal. Just in case you may get a wrong impression of him, let me explain that his tolerance is tolerance, and not that form of weakness which condones 1 things essentially evil under the cloak of pretended tolerance. To get on with the story, the reverend gentleman replied that he did not object to a man gardening on a Sunday as long as gardening was not his means of livelihood. (The human and the Divine laws harmonise for once in while, you see.) The Sabbath was ordained as a Day of Rest, my clerical friend supplemented, but we should be careful how we interpreted the word "rest." For a man leading an indoor life, especially if not involving physical exercise, rest, as ordinarily understood, would be no rest for him at all; he needed physical activity on Sunday to make up for the lack of exercise during the week. "Rest" should be defined as "recreation." To garden all the morning on Sunday did not constitute an offence; but there was room for fault-finding when, after attending to his garden all day a man neglected his duty to the Gospel in the evening. Now the above, in my humble opinion, is a fair view of the case, and admits of both gardening and active observance of religious institutions on the Sabbath. Read, mark, learn, and—garden and go to hear the Gospel on Sundays.

And now about games. The (Same cleric had no objection to games being played on Sunday, provided they were of such a nature and under such conditions that offence was not given to people of different views who were obliged to hear or witness them. Here, also, he stipulated that games should not be indulged in to the utter exclusion of God. That's a fair view too, for there are plenty of games that do not require the accompaniment of such a hullabaloo as is heard at football matches. Bowls, tennis, croquet, golf—take your choice.

I Singling; out bowls for "special , mention," my friends want me to become biassed in favour of bowls, but the thing bristles with difficulties. It is an accepted doctrine among the already biassed ones that if bowls and ■ business engagements clash you must • banish business, otherwise you can- > not be one of the elect; you lose ■ caste, bias, status, and are for evei > ostracised by the bowling fraternity. , Well, now, if business, by which s I fellow solves- or attempts to solve—- ■ the cost of living problem, must take i second place, what chance is there • for gardening? And I love my gardei: , as a young mother loves her fust f born. Bowls takes up all of a perl son's waking hours that he is not - compelled to devote to chasing the t depreciated shilling. And those hard . headed economist chaps and finan- ; ciers tell us that the purchasing ; power of twelve pence has dwindlet 1 down to about sixpenorth, so most of , us require twice as many shillings . as were needed of yore to buy the , wherewithal to feed and clothe the body. And even then we are not arrayed as was King Solomon. (I should prefer, especially during the cold, days, being arrayed like King Solo , mon rather than after the mode of ( the lilies of the valley.) I presented my case to a constant frequenter ot ( the Pukekohe Bowling Green, but he . glibly side-stepped my view by tellI ing me that during the bowling sea i son he felt more (it physically and was able to ari#e earlier in the morn ing to attend to his gardening. Sounds very feasible, but hardlj works out in practice for scribes wh< are seldom able to get to bed at : respectable hour. These innumerablt prosy meetings where there is mucl ado about nothing certainly do tak< up an unconscionable lot of time. Theorising and moralising may bi entertaining enough, and they maj also be either stodgy or actually de moralising, but whichever categorj the above come under they are no! the major themes of this article. Spring is here, and I want you tc get busy in your flower and vegetable gardens and orchards. By so you will improve your health, ant make yourself physically and men tally more efficient. Moreover, it is estimated that a garden which sup plies vegetables to a family of foui persons during the greater part ol the year is worth at least £2O pei annum, to say nothing of the plea sure and convenience of always hav ing a supply of good fresh vege tables at hand. And if the man wh< has not music in his soul is fit foi murders, treasons and stratagems then by certes the man who lovenot beautiful flowers has no soul at | all, and the woman to whom flower; give no delight is a mockery of God's fairest creation. So set to work and enrich and beautify your and collectively make Pukekohe a sightly place to live in. The keys of health and happiness are fcere, but you must use them to disclose the wondrous beauties of Nature. While administering to your own needs and pleasures you also give solace to all who behold. And this is the secret of making happiness abiding, instead of being evanescent like the snow-flake: it must be shared with others