1915-03-14sh

The craze had been going too long, and the minister preaching at St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church on March 14, 1915 wanted to see it ended.

The craze was the dancing craze, and the visiting minister, Rev. Dr. Eakin, of Toronto, felt that the craze was indicative of a larger issue:

“He referred to the indifference in serious matters of the rising generation, and urged all in his audience to think more of the future. He stated that Jesus referred to the condition of indifferent men and women as folly, and as a stumbling block in the way of progress.”¹

¹ “Dancing Craze : Dr. Eakin Alluded to It in St. Paul’s Pulpit Yesterday”

Hamilton Times.   March 15, 1915.

A reporter for the Hamilton Times was in attendance at the large church on James street south and was able to capture a key portion of the sermon for the paper’s readers :

“ ‘The care of your soul,’ said the speaker. ‘ should be your first consideration. If you do not care whether you are damned or not, it is not only yourself that you are sending down, but others. It is awesome when we think of man’s dependency on one another. Your every action bears fruit and may have a big influence on the lives of others.

“ ‘I want all young people to bear this in mind. You may think you are merely individuals, and that what you do does not concern anyone but yourself. You are not mere atoms, separated from everybody else. Others depend on you and your actions, especially if they are bad, go out from you until at last they are seen at the great white throne and in outer darkness.

“ ‘In a book I have just read, a man is giving his attention to children, and he states that he wants to show them that they are not mere individuals, but have their places in the great procession of progress, and that should they go wrong, they block and choke up this procession more than they know. Men are the dynamos in God’s history, and they either make it or mar it.

“ ‘A minister in Toronto, referring to the dance craze, compares the devotees of it as a silly and giddy race. I am not here to condemn dancing, although I believe that he is right. I do not wish to condemn laughter or anything that is joyful for that is good, but I will say that pleasure with some people is a drug or bad habit. In the city where I live, which I believe is no worse than any other city of its size, and I do not wish to condemn it, I have seen young men and women going into places of amusement at 2 o’clock in the morning.

“ ‘They are intoxicated with it. If we see a man drunk with intoxicating liquors in the morning, we say that man is near the end of his rope, and yet, is he any worse than these others? Life is not a round of pleasure, and the young people should think more of Him, who suffered so much for this world. Until the time when people become more serious-minded, the world will be no better, but when the time comes that they pay more attention to their actions, then will the Kingdom of Christ of this earth be close at hand.

“ ‘We should remember that we are immortal, not mortals. Our life does not end when we shuffle off this mortal coil. Yet this should not be our only reason for following the teachings of the great Master. If we are unselfish, we should be good if only for the example we show to others, to help the weaker brother in the stern battle of life. And it is a stern battle, and when the people begin to realize the serious side of this, the world will be brighter and better than ever.’ ”