of the one who attends it. The theater deals with the spectacular.
This appeals to the eye, to the ear, and to all of the outer senses.
Spirituality depends upon a cultivation of the spiritual senses that
Grace has opened up within the soul. Hence, the spectacular is
directly opposed to the spiritual. The deep, contemplative, spiritual
soul could find little or no food in the false, clap-trap representations
of the modern stage. And to find an increased interest here is
evidence that one lacks spiritual life, at least deep-seated spiritual
life. This is why so many professing Christians are so eager to go to
the card-party, to the dancing-party, and to the theater. The inner-
sense life of the soul is dead, and one must have something upon
which to feed, hence he feeds upon the husks of "imprudent and
un-Christian amusements." And let one who has a measure of
spiritual life, instead of increasing it, seek to satisfy his soul-
longing by means of the spectacular, of false representations in
any form, soon he will lose the spiritual life that he has. And this
loss will be marked by an increased demand for the spectacular.
The surest proof to-day that the spiritual life of the Church is waning
in certain sections, is not so much that her membership-roll is not
on the increase, but that professing Christian people are running
wild after cards and dancing and the theater. Evangelist Sayles
declares: "The people of our so-called best society, and Christian
people, many that have been looked upon as active workers, sit
now and gaze upon scenes in our theaters, without a blush, that
twenty-five years ago would not have been countenanced..The
moral and spiritual life of many a Christian has been weakened by
the eyes gazing upon the scenes of the theater." Says he, "The
Christian, through attendance upon the playhouse, creates a relish
for worldly things, and so spiritual things become distasteful."