SUNDAY READING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 389, 14 May 1910, Page 10

SUNDAY READING.

SUNDAY OBSERVANCE. (By the Hon. and Eight Rev. E. Can - Glyn, D.D.) This U not the place for arguing the duty of some observance of the Lord's Bay, nor need 1 remind you that the divine appointment of the seventh day as the day of rest of the Creator after the creation of the world has been changed into the observance of the first day of the week in recognition of the Lord's Resurrection irom the grave on the first Easter Sunday of the Church, and that the Scriptural commands as to the observance of the seventh day remain in respect to the observance of Sunday. Nor need I dwell upon the fact that in a Christian land the first great purpose of Sunday is the assembling of the servants of the Lord to worship Him, and that such Sunday worship is not only the first object of .the day, but also an ■abiding testimony to the world, and to ourselves, so that, in the words of the Venite, we so rightly say: "Oh, come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker, for He is the Lord our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His Hand." We may, then, take for granted that in our Christian England the first feature of our observance of the Sunday must ibe the worship of Almighty God. SUNDAY AND THE WORKING CLASSES. Nor need we labor, as a second point,

that besides making Sunday a day of worship, we should also regard it as a day of rest. The observance of Sunday

as a needed day of rest was dealt with at the Trade Union Congress which was held at Nottingham an September, 1 !)<_)§, when a resolution expressing the opinion of our "working classes" in favor of rest on Sunday was carried almost unanimously—that is, wittf only six dissentients. Such -a fact is of great importance, as showing the increasing value of Sunday rest, and it must 'be a great advantage to those who- dread what is known as a "Continental Sunday," to find that such an important body as the Trade Union Congress should have thus so distinctly and unmistakably expressed by such a I resolution the value of a weekly day of j rest. j Another movement in favor of Sunday observance deserves the gratitude of all who value the Lord's Day. "The Sunday Lay Movement" has been started,! and is already exercising important influence in behalf of those suffering from enforced Sunday labor, and is doing ad=" mirable work, with quiet perseverance and estimable tact. INDIVIDUAL EFFORT NEEDED. But is there not an abundant opening for individual work in this direction? In the Lambeth Conference of 1889, and again dn 1908, resolutions were passed iwhich, while they took the view of the responsibility of the whole Church in the matter, yet also laid before us the individual responsibility of each man and woman who calls himself or herself a member of the Church. The resolutions deal with the growitlg laxity of the observance of the Lord's Day, in the increasing practice, on the part of some of the wealthy and leisured classes, of making Sunday a day of secular amusement, and it is this dangerous propensity which seems to be a growing evil in the way of the due observance of Sunday. In the recent Lambeth Conference, 1908, the following resolution was passed: "The Conference desires to call attention to the evidence supplied from every part of Christendom as to the grave perils arising from the increasing disregard of the religious duties and privileges which are attached to a due observance, both on the social and spiritual sides, of the Christian Sunday. In consequence of this, the Conference records jts solemn conviction that strong and co-ordinated action is urgently demanded, with a view to educating the public conscience and forming a higher sense of individual responsibility alike on the religious and humanitarian aspects of the question. "The Conference further, in pursuance of the resolutions passed upon this subject in former conferences, calls upon Christian people -to promote, by all means in their power, the better observance of the Lord's Day, both on land and sea, for the worship of God, and for the spiritual, mental and physical health of man."

A PLEA FOR SELF-DENIAL. r There seems to be two or three ways in which, as individual Christians, we may take some part in the endeavor to correct the growing disregard of the observance of our Christian Sunday. The facility of locomotion and the varied means by which we can get from one locality to another are great 'boons of modern life, but they are sometimes a danger to the due observance of the Sunday. A Sunday journey by rail, road, steamer, carriage or motor, seems in itself 'harmless and innocent, but if it hinders in our fellow men a due observance of the Lord's Day, we cannot justify the act.

That our "man and maid may rest as well as thee" is the plain Scriptural command, and though in what is necessary we may employ their services, we cannot for our pleasure rob them of their day of rest. May we not urge upon our leisured class more self-denial and more self-control for others' good? THE IDEAL SABBATH.

And modern life and the prevailing feeling of this generation have altered very greatly the conscientious opinion of the requirements of Sunday. The rigid Sunday dullness of the Sabbatarians of the eighteenth century has now been changed into a liberty that sometimes verges on neglect. The Sunday observance of our grandparents is not the Sunday observance of to-day : but yet the fact remains that one day out of seven is specially to be kept and to be observed, and that day for every age will still be the Lord's Day. And may not this fact be the rule of life to us on which, our due observance of Sundav mav be based?

If worship is the first feature of that day, let us make kindness the very sunshine of the day—some work of love, some act of mercy, some token of heavenlv mindedness will brighten for oneself and' for others such a Lord's Day. And if, besides this, we seek some recreation and some pleasure on the Lord's Day, let us remember that our great Heavenly Father rejoices in our happiness. so He will never grudge it to us on the Lord's Day, provided that such pleasure is in itself harmless and innocent, and does not entail labor and toil on others at our side, or by, example lead others into sin.