THE MINISTER'S SABBATH by Dudley Marvin Canright

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 4, 1867

THE MINISTER'S SABBATH.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

Does not the minister need a Sabbath, a day of rest, as well as other people? The farmer cannot work seven days in a week continually without breaking down. The mechanic needs one day of rest in every seven. The lawyer must also have his Sabbath. Without it he soon wears out and fails. In short, all who work mentally or physically, need at least one day in every seven of complete rest and recreation from their labors. The mind needs it, and the body needs it. Simply a change of work, or resting now and then an hour, will not do it. It needs a whole day's rest together. This gives the system time to regain the strength it has spent during the week.

Sometimes business men, lawyers, and even farmers, get in a hurry and think that they cannot lose time to rest, and so labor on for weeks without rest. But have they really gained any time by so doing? No; experience shows that they have actually lost time by such a course. Either a severe fit of sickness, seated disease, or premature old age is the result.

The God who made man knew that he needed a day in which to rest, and hence gave the Sabbath. Now is the minister an exception to all these cases? Can he labor continually and not feel the bad effects of it as others do? Certainly he cannot. Yet but very few ministers have a rest day once a week. Many labor on their farms, or about their secular affairs six days and then work in the pulpit on seventh. Many others read, or write, or study six days and labor in the house of God on the seventh. Now where is their rest-day? They have none. The consequence is that they as a class, wear out sooner and break down earlier than most any other class of people. They generally excuse this by saying that they are working for the Lord; but God requires no such thing at their hand. They only cripple their power to do good and shorten their days. I have repeatedly seen this illustrated among our own people within the last few years. Whilst others are reforming should not they reform in this respect? I think they should. Their health and usefulness require it, and God requires it.

I will state my own experience on this point. I have now been preaching about three years. It has been my custom to preach from one to three times on the seventh-day and as many on the first-day. Monday would generally be employed in writing letters, reports, &c. Then the four remaining days I must do my visiting, reading, studying, &c. As this left me but few hours for close study I felt as though I must improve every moment.

Every day I would take more or less exercise, and occasionally two or three hours at a time. This I thought to be all-sufficient, as I worked no day at hard labor with my hands. For the last two years of this time I have been trying to live out the Health Reform in every respect; yet at the same time I felt my strength gradually growing less. The last year I began to apply my mind a little closer to study than I had done before. I soon felt this severely. My brain often became confused and I would have a severe headache. I could neither study nor do any thing else. It required from one to three days of entire rest before I felt well again. These spells came oftener and oftener, until I concluded that something must be wrong in my habits of living. I could think of nothing that I was eating that was not healthful. I at length thought that I, as well as others, needed a day of rest from care. This I did not have on the Sabbath day as that was about the hardest day's work for me out of the seven, and during the other six I labored more or less as I felt able.

I therefore chose the day before the Sabbath for a day of rest and recreation. I solemnly promised myself that when that day came I would throw aside all study and cares of every kind and enjoy myself as best I could. I have practiced this now for several months, and I find that it pays far beyond my expectations. Both my mind and my body have seemed to gain new strength and vigor. My headache has nearly disappeared. I can now study and labor hard during six days without seeming to overtax my strength. I verily believe that I can now accomplish more mental labor in six days than I did before in seven. So I think it pays for the ministers to have a day of rest as well as others. I would recommend my brethren to try this.

D. M. CANRIGHT.