Adults and Leisure Time

Adults and Leisure Time Abstract of Remarks Made in Convention, Saturday Morning, June 8, 1929, By Dr. Jos. F. Merrill, Church Commissioner of Education DO adults have leisure time — time off from necessary gainful occupations in which they are free to do the things they really like to do? Certainly, answers the Adult Committee of the two M. I. A. boards. Everyone can find leisure hours, par- ticularly if one's time is budgeted, a thing that business efficiency requires shall be done if waste is to be avoided and the most accom- plished. And modern conditions are continually providing more and more "leisure time." How shall the Mutuals help adults to use this time in order that they may have "a more abundant life" — a fuller, richer, and happier life? The answer is, by providing a program that will furnish opportunity for the self-expression of each individual along the lines of his interests that will contribute to his growth and satis- faction. The "wholesome use of leisure time" means much more than being engaged only in amusements or activities for the fun or relaxation found therein. Continual growth is the objective, to reach which work and play are both necessary. But play carries with it the idea of youth. Growth also in- volves the idea of being young. But to please God we must always be growing. And activity — self-expression — is the natural law of growth, the thing upon which growth depends. Hence the M. I. A. program for the Adult Department, like the program for other departments, is essentially an activity program, made up of those activities needful to keep adults growing — a process that should never stop no matter how many years the individual may carry. An interesting research recently made showed, contrary to popular belief, that people of fifty can learn very nearly as fast as people twenty years of age. One never gets too old to learn. And it is not in God's program that one should stop learning. Hence, the M. I. A. appeals to all, "old" and young, the mature and the youthful. It provides the opportunity for work, play, study and recreation, a variety of forms of self-expression in mental, spiritual, and physical fields. Active participation in its programs will contribute effectively to the "abundant life," the living of which will fulfill the purpose of life and bring us nearest to God.