SUNDAY TENNIS

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21718, 27 February 1936, Page 15

SUNDAY TENNIS

TO- THE EDITOR Of THB PRESS, , Sir,—Your correspondence columns reveal that In a certain Canterbury township the Salvation Amy hall is on one side of the street, whereas the domain, where they . want t 6 play Sunday tennis, is on the other side. The contrast presented by the possibility of two radically different Sunday activities being carried on in one and the same locality at the same time has apparently led a section at least of the residents to the very sane conclusion that Sunday tennis is not in the high--eSt interests of the rising generation in that town. It would appear that appropriate circumstances are all that are needed sometimes to bring people to right conclusions concerning any ; ethical problem. - No one questions the fact that religious worship, evangelism, and teaching, as carried on on the one side of the street, are in keeping with,

the character of the day which the New Testament calls “the Lords Day. lt is only the Sunday tennis on the other side that is in The question on which side the truth ties is, happens, easier to decide in this case owing to the close proximity of the two contrasts in Sunday •_ This learning by moral contrastsis surely a fact in human history. Young Isaiah, according to chapter VL,-never knew the truth about hunself until he had caught a vision of something very different, the Divine majesty and. holiness. It was not until the Galilean fisherman had seen his Master s miracle of the breaking nets thatjhe declared himself to be a siniul man It was not until the gaoler of Philippi had heard bound, helpless, recentlyflogged prisoners singing in the night for sheer joy that he reached the, conclusion that his own life was not,exactly in tune with the Infinite. Yes, we certainly learn by contrasts. The seer of Patinos suggested a right method of settling .the question when he wrote, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.” Religious, worship and teaching are certainly in 3C" cord with the spirit of that day, but what we want to decide is whether Sunday tennis is in such accord, ims recent Oxford case would suggest that our answer must be in the negative. It takes the clack to show up the white, and vice versa. But the black would still'be black if the white were not there; and Sunday tennis would remain exactly the same in character if religious worship were not bemg carried on over the way. Those who are in doubt concerning this moral question would do well to note it. f Vours, etc.. ft B JORDAN. Addington, February 24, 1936. TO THE EDITOE OF THE PBESS. Sir,—l note in your letters about Sunday tennis to my surprise orxe signed “Christian.” Yet can you wonder when writers, thinking it to oe ft loop-hole, trade on the name of Christian? , I would like to ask Christian where he found his God. Was it through playing tennis on Sundays? My word, it must have been a really warm heart-change, but ah, how soon the winter comes with all its cooling temperatures. _ Does “Christian” read his Bible every day to be called a Christian? If so, I would like to know where in the Bible he is taught to play any sport on Sunday. Ah, yes, where is his God ? Must I say, with a firm assurance of heart, that anyone cannot be a Christian and indulge in Sunday sport? For a Christian is one of Christs led by Christ, and does He lead people to Sunday desecration? No. Concerning the Oxford petition, against Sunday tennis, one was not invited to sign it; it was voluntary. Yours, etc., SINCERE. Oxford, February 25, 1936, [Subject to the right of reply of Edward H. G. Lassen, this correspondence is now closed—Ed., “The Press.”]