help toward its solution. We cannot today hold the ideal of our grandfather's day and delude ourselves with the thought that we can restore that. New conditions demand new treatment and conditions social, industrial and religious, as complex as ours, make the discussion of the Sabbath one of the most involved of all social and religious questions.

There are at least three angles from which to consider the Sabbath in its relation to social uplift and the first is as a day of rest, the "common, weekly, rest-day," as expressed in the definition of the word. The wealth of subjects on this program referring to the industrial side of the question, indicate the realization of its importance. The complexity of the question is also indicated,-that the complex life of the present makes unavoidable certain forms of work on the Sabbath. But in the conception of work that is absolutely necessary, the stoic doctrine of "preferables" must not be overlooked, that a "good" must often be sacrificed for a "better." Certain work may seem necessary, difficult to do without, until it is viewed in the light of the "better" which is sacrificed, a finer quality of work for a larger quantity, a higher standard of community life for larger production, opportunities of social betterment for individual aggrandize

ment.

It must not be forgotten that the injurious effects of over-exertion and fatigue are to be measured not alone in the physical scales, but also in the mental. The close connection between a sound body and a sane mind was never more clearly apprehended than it is today. Sometimes the reminder is pressed home with tragic

force by accidents due to the overstrain of continuous work on the part of an engineer or other public servant, responsible for the public safety; constantly we can see, if we but open our eyes, the way in which the mental processes "slow down" when the body is fagged or overstrained. Considered purely from the point of view of policy, more or less selfish, seven days' work is a penny-wise, poundfoolish policy, meaning a loss in capacity for work, as well as in its quality, sacrificing the alertness and clearness of judgment, without which even the labor of the hands is not at its best.

It is hardly necessary to add that a moral issue is also involved. Physical exhaustion weakens the will power, the capacity for resistance to moral disease as well as to physical. Body and mind crave stimulants, something to keep them going, and the craving is often satisfied not only by alcohol and habit-forming drugs, but also by amusements quite as fatal.

The consideration of the Sabbath and Social Uplift must include the question of rest, it must also include that of recreation. In our thought of the Sabbath as a day of re-creation, we have travelled far from the old New England ideal, and in some respects to advantage. No one of us would have a return to a day whose coming was dreaded and whose departure was welcomed. But the pendulum was swung too far in the other direction, and much of the so-called recreation does not re-create. To condemn existing conditions is not enough; we must face our responsibility,-see clearly wherein we have failed and how we may retrieve, the failures.

t

As landlords-what kinds of homes are we providing for the poor in which to spend the Sabbath, and find possible any sort of attractive home life?

As communities-are we furnishing the right kind of amusement, musical, pictorial, parks, and recreation with some sort of worshipful service?

Finally, as churches-are we making possible pleasant Sunday afternoons and evenings, some place where young people can have a home. atmosphere, at least a good imitation, if not the "real thing"?

It may be objected that many young people will not be drawn to the churches-whatever the attractionswhich is perfectly true. But some will be attracted and others will be held who now are slipping away from their hold. To give happiness, not mere pleasure, is a large part of the work in social uplift and interest, real interest, not a veneer, is a more powerful agent than we are sometimes disposed to think.

We cannot eliminate, if we would, the desire for sociability on the part of young people, and although this side of church life should not be given right-of-way, it must be realized that it is a phase. Not an easy thing to do? Very few things in the world that are worth the acomplishment are easy; we might as well face that fact in the beginning. But if social uplift is worth while, it is worth while trying every possible means of accomplishment. If a business project is to be put through, obstacles are not considered insuperable,-some way of overcoming the obstacles is found. If the church thinks it worth while not only to hold its young people but to

attract other young people, it must use its wits, must apply its best thought to the problem. No uniform way can be laid down. A church in the heart of a boarding-house district where the young men and women are largely drawn from church-going classes or from classes that are not repelled by the thought of a church, where they are lonely for a welcome and a home-like atmosphere, the problem is not a hard one to solve, given the right people to do the solving! More essential even than the methods used are the people who use them. The kindly heart, the impulse to do and then the fine perception of the right thing to do; a friendly atmosphere, an attractive room, music, pictures, a magnetic talk, a sandwich and a cup of tea, something to give to the church the "home-Sunday" atmosphere, the knowledge that it is a friendly "Sunday afternoon at home," with no hint of condescension-who can fathom the good that might be done in these simple ways?

It must be remembered: (1) That different conditions demand different treatment that what might be a great success in one church with a certain environment, might be a dismal failure in another. (2) That not all the responsibility should rest upon a limited group of people, as too often happens in church work. (3) That not everyone will be reached in this way. There must also be extrachurch activities, Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations, community centers, boys' and girls' clubs, and last, but by no means. least, a friendly welcome to individual homes.

In a recent pamphlet issued by the "American Institute of Social Serv

ice," the President, Doctor Josiah Strong, who has a gift of saying the right thing in the right way, writes:

"Education, philanthropy, charity, religion, business, manufactures, commerce, transportation, and agriculture have all radically changed their methods in order to adapt themselves to the changed conditions.

"The readjustment of society to the new civilization is what we call the great social problem; and this problem can be solved only so fast as the practical wisdom which is distilled from the world's experiences can be made generally available.

"The process of readjustment is one of experiment. Each experiment, whether successful or otherwise, throws a ray of light on the problem-how to do it, or how not to do it."

These words concerning the social problem in general, apply also to our particular problem. The children of this world must not be allowed to be wiser than the children of light. Adhering rigidly to the "former things," is not always indicative of spirituality, it may be indicative only of spiritual laziness. The man who is really interested in his business, is constantly on the lookout to see how he can improve methods, insure a larger market, meet the changing needs of his customers. Men and women in philanthropy are engaged in the business of philanthropy on a scale and according to methods of which their grandfathers never dreamed. They have not been afraid to attempt readjustment to the new civilization, realizing that the life of the work itself depended upon such readjustment.

In all such work, it must be remembered that the "process of readjust

ment is one of experiment," and that "each experiment, whether successful or otherwise, throws a ray of light on the problem, how to do it or how not to do it." In all forms of social and religious work, no characteristic is more needed than "staying power" on the part of the workers, that power which enables one to keep on in the midst of discouragement, to discard cheerfully the method that will not work and attempt courageously another that may.

A permanent social uplift,-in the case of the individual, of the community or of the nation, cannot be accomplished without the religious element. In the light of the realization of the close connection between physical and mental and spiritual, it is apparent that the physical and mental conditions have an influence upon the religious or spiritual nature. But on the other hand, it is not less apparent that a social betterment which rests only on a material basis cannot endure. Today, if ever in the history of the world, it is being proved that a civilization based on materialism and intellectuality alone cannot stand the test. It is important that there should be good living conditions for every human being, a decent place and, so far as possible, an attractive place in which to live, proper food and clothing, a chance for mental development, for the enjoyment of life, but that is not sufficient. It is only when "spirit with spirit meets" that the life of the individual or of the community can be really "uplifted." The Sabbath must be a day of inspiration as well as a day of rest and re-creation.

The changed conditions of modern life, making necessary the readjustment of society to the new civiliza

tion, increase the importance of emphasis upon the religious, the inspirational. How may this day be made day of inspiration, whatever the religious faith of the individual? It is hardly necessary to add that this is the most difficult phase of the problem, but unless it is solved, the social problem itself can be only half answered. No problem is solved without thought and much of the difficulty in this has been that hard thought has not been given to its solution. Men think all around a subject when it is connected with their business, give the best of themselves to it; how often do the strongest men and women in a community devote a day or even a few hours to the consideration of the question how to reach and hold the people in a service of worship in the churches of all faiths, such as are represented in this Congress, Protestant and Roman Catholic, the Greek Church and the Jewish Synagogue. And not alone in the places definitely set apart as houses of worship, but also through other channels, going out to the people and compelling them to come in,-through the Christian Association, the club, the civic center, the school house, the out-door gathering, even through their places of amusement.

It can be done, but in the doing a great fact must be faced: that thousands "need our religion but do not want it." How can they be made to want it? Doctor Strong quotes Doctor Grenfell of Labrador as saying: "When you set out to commend your Gospel to men who don't want it, there is only one way to go about it,— to do something for them that they'll understand." A recent thoughtful article on Billy Sunday gives as one

explanation of his success in reaching men, his power of giving them something that they understand. There are many different types of people, differing in nationality and race, in education and social position, in mental and moral capacity and training, in opportunity and ability to make use of opportunity, and it is a mistake to suppose that all can be reached by the same methods, the same form of service. "I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some," said the Great Apostle. It ought not to be necessary even to remind ourselves that a service of worship can be made to attract men and women, made beautiful by music and ritual and thoughtful interpretation for some, simple and direct and less formal for others, speaking to them in their own "language" so that they may "understand." That is one step. and a long one, in the direction of making men and women feel the need of having the Sabbath mean something more even than rest and recreation.

And another step-from many points of view, the first,-is to secure the best material as religious leaders, preachers, teachers, the interpreters of the Sabbath. It is significant that some of our foremost Theological Seminaries are not only filling their chairs of Homiletics with men who are strong personalities, as well as strong preachers, but are also sending them out to preach in our schools and colleges that they may attract the strongest of our young men into the ministry.

The best in the pulpit, and the best also in the pews! No man, however gifted mentally and spiritually, can meet the demand of the twentieth cen

tury church and ministry unsupported by the men and women of his congregation. One source of weakOne source of weakness in the effort of the church to help in social uplift has been the overburden upon the shoulders of the preacher, making undue inroads upon time and strength and leaving far too little of both for the preparation of the preaching. It is a mistake to suppose that God's message is less needed today than in a preceding generation. Never was the need more real or the responsibility of interpreting it to men, greater.

Jesus was moved with compassion when He saw the people, "because they were as sheep not having a shepherd; and he began to teach them. many things." Imagine the Master among men today, men like sheep, driven blindly, they know not whither, by passion and greed and envy and hatred. Never was there such need of Him and of His Spirit, never so great inspiration to try to follow in His footsteps and make real His interpretation of life. In the light of His teaching, social uplift and spiritual awakening became not widely separated but closely connected, and the Sabbath a day in which to help God's children to realize the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.

deliberately use the whole day on Sunday in such a way as to practically destroy its usefulness. To substitute a half day's rest for a whole day's rest, is not indicative of wisdom. God's way is to provide a whole day each week for the benefit of the whole man. The trend of labor to-day is to provide a half day for the benefit of man's lower nature alone, and at the same time drag down the whole day to the same level or lower level than the half day. Perhaps the wisest thing to do would be to use a half or the whole of Saturday, as the case may be, for sports, games, amusements and different forms of recreation, as these things. are needed in the life of every human. being, including every toiler. This rest and pleasure day will become a safety-valve, and followed on Sunday by a day devoted especially to the higher nature of man, a day sanctified and hallowed, man will be developed and enlarged on every side of his nature. This double-day program was suggested at the Lord's Day Congress in connection with the Panama. Exposition, and received, we understand, quite a hearty endorsement on the part of many at the Congress. Our fear connected with it is, that unless the day for pleasure is the same, among all classes and groups, that both days will become pleasurized. If a part play on Saturday,

DAY

We find that a good many communities are exercised in behalf of a weekly rest day or half-holiday, but they seem to have little regard for the holy-day. Some working men are agitated lest they lose their half holiday on Saturday, and yet they will

while the Jews play on Sunday, together with the Seventh Day people, and others who are indifferent as to the particular day, then present conditions will become worse rather than better. Let us define carefully which day shall be the rest and pleasure day, and which day the holy-day and then