Signs
of the Times
[From
Christian Work, New York City, New
York]
How
can man really get the most good out of Sunday? How can the
children spend it most profitably, not only for their own
lives but for the common good? . . . Most of us, including
the children, are not getting enough time for solid thought
and solid reading, for learning about men and women of
devotion, the kind who have not counted their lives dear
unto themselves but have been ready to give them up for the
sake of something bigger. The children are not likely to
read "Pilgrim's Progress" . . . or Bible stories on other
days. They have all Saturday to play and the ends of the
afternoons of the rest of the week. They are far more in
need of regularly coming in touch with noble men and women
and with the noblest ideas, by way of books, than they are
of a few more hours at play. They need to strike their roots
deep into the best of the past. Also, a Sunday that is
different from other days adds zest and worth to the week
and to childhood. Let us not teach our children that it is a
sin to throw a ball on Sunday; but let us make the program
of our Sunday afternoon so worthwhile, through its quiet
reading, its special games, its singing —
as well as its pleasant
walks —
that, whatever the
children may think of it at the time —
and they will probably
like it —
when they are in college
and all through their lives they will be thankful that
father and mother worked out this sort of Sunday for them in
their childhood. Let us not be afraid to make the children's
Sunday the best possible for the long run of life even
though it be different from the Sunday that the neighbors
make.
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