SUNDAY COLUMN.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 8, 4 January 1913, Page 2

SUNDAY COLUMN.

GUARDING HOLY THINGS

“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs.”—Matt. 7 :6. Give not that which is holy untoi the dogs—that is to say, never surrender the higher to the lower, never sink the heavenly to the earthly, never desecrate that which has been consecrated. That was the sound piece of advice that cur Lord gave to men and women who were trying to aim at a higher life while they were living in and mixing with the" world. That was what he put before them as something definite to aim at. In mixing with men and women you will find much that is holy, much that is beautiful and pure and spiritual, and you will find much that is unholy, much that is ugly, and coarse and animal. And when you find it, when you meet it face to face, then never surrender good to evil, never sink the higher to the lower. There is the advice and this is the picture. It is the picture of a glorious and a great temple, the priests sacrificing some spotless lamb, and as they stand at the altar, the picture is that of a« Eastern dog—a coarse cruel scavenger—creeping up the distance of the temple, and then the priest taking a piece of this pure spotless lamb, and throwing it to' the dog. Every Jew would regard it as a scandal, everyone to whom our Lord was speaking would know to what He referred. I. The Holiness of Manhood. First I think human nature itself. You arc holy—human nature is holy, that which is unholy is inhuman. Human nature is holy because it is human. Man is holy, woman is holy, and am I not right in saying that there is a danger lest our womanhood and our manhood be flung to the dogs and treated recklessly as something unholy, as Satanic rather than as sacred? Manhood is holy and yet men desecrate their manhood. IT. The Holiness of Womanhood. — And the same is true of womanhood. We know there are women who in one mad moment have thrown their holiest and their best to the dogs. We know their temptations, we know what it means to them. They have lowered the level of womanhood. They have desecrated the consecrated. They have made themselves a sort of right-of-way for the public to* walk over. To them the Master says as to the men, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs.” 111. The Holiness of Childhood.— And may I say a word for the children P The children are holy; if ever there is a time in life when men and women have been holy it is when they were children. And yet look how children are by their parents literally thrown to the dogs, sent out into life unwarned of everything. What wonder that they go when they are sent to the dogs. I have read the story of a child whoso afterlife was the life of many a man. He was a judge’s sou, and he stood at last in a felon’s dock, and the judge who was trying the case knew, anti knew well, the man’s father. And he said to the prisoner at the dock: “Don’t you remember your, father as you stand in that dock?” “Yes,” was the reply; “I do remember my father, and the greatest remembrance that I have of him is that whenever I wanted a word of advice, whenever I wanted him to enter into my boy life, he replied, ‘Go away and don’t worry or bother.’” IV. The Holiness of Health.—“ Give not that which is holy to the dogs.” _ What is it you are in danger of to-day Think it ; out and a*sk 1 whether you are doing your best to keep it whole and intact and unimpaired. I will take but one more illustration of what I mean—health. Health is holy. Don’t fling away health as men and women do so wildly and recklessly. In the prayer of all prayers, the Lord’s Prayer, “Give ns this day our daily bread,” comes in before the plea for pardon. First the body ,then the soul, because if the body is not kept right the soul is morbid and consequently is not at its best to resist what it has to meet in life. “Give not that which is holy to the dogs.” Take care of the drugs, take care of the stimulants that are so easily to he had. Take care of the way yon spend your recreation hours. Life is in that sense holy, and it is to he treated as yon would treat r church or a church-yard. Fence it from the clogs, fence it from all that desecrates. All life really is sacred and .holy; and our thought to-day is the thought the Master gave to men and women who, as we have to do, lived in and mixed with the world. “Give not that which is holy to the dogs.”

S' NEWS NOTES. The “Era” has obtained the notes of all the actors and actresses in Great Britain on the question of the Sunday closing of theatres and musichalls. ' The result is shown by the following figures:— For theatres and music-halls to be shut ... ... ... 2834 For picture palaces to be shut 2265 For theatres and music-halls to be open ... ... 128 For theatres and music-halls to be open ... ... 678 At a meeting of music-hall artists, the Rev. F. B. Meyer supported a resolution calling for the abolition ol Sunday entertainments in dramatic, variety, and picture theatres. Letters in support of the resolution which was carried were read from Wilkie Bard, Neil Kenyon, esta Tilley, G. H. Chirgwen, Harry Lauder George Robey, Ada Reeve and others It is interesting to read the re markable letter sent by Harry Lauder the great music-hall artiste, it is a? follows:—“I feel that if we fail tc uphold our religion and our Sunday, men will scorn us, women will weep for us, children will be taught t< hate the name of the theatre, am the curses of the generations to coim will be for ever at the. stage door. Men who disregard God’s Word am God’s work can never hope to lie respected. A man cannot buy respect he must live the life to win it. When for the first time I went to America. I had four Sunday performances, and a more miserable engagement I ncvei fulfilled. I felt I was doing something against my religion, something which ' had been taught was wrong. It was unnatural for me to work on the Sabbath, and I felt the shame of it. ! am a Scot, and 1 will rather than disregard God’s Word and work. It would be better for me to <ro back to the mines, where, at anv” rate, Sunday is looked upon as God’s gift to man to refresh himself ‘for his next week’s work.” That is a view of Sunday observance offered, not by the lips ol a Puritan, nr from a pulpit; it comes from an artiste who lias mad amusement Ids business, and has won unrivalled fame as an entertainer. T T -|jr TATE GENERAL BOOTH’S LAST CHRISTMAS MESSAGE. Have you heard the Good Tidings? Christ has come. He lias brought von the nnerdrs? Messing of forgive-

ness, happiness, usefulness and heaven. Have you found the treasure? If not, seek if this very day. Don't let Christ live and die in vain. If you have found it, ho sure and use Christmas to carry the glad tidings to some ignorant, perishing soul. WILLIAM BOOTH.