Ellen G. White — Messenger to the Remnant

At Recreational Gatherings

Of course, we are interested in Mrs. White’s personal attitude toward recreation. The year is 1876, and Mrs. White and the group of workers from her office and others from the Pacific Press spend a day in recreation on San Francisco Bay, at the beach and in a sailboat out through the Golden Gate. It is a beautiful April day. A Seventh-day Adventist captain is piloting the craft. How everyone enjoys the water! As the captain heads the ship out through the Golden Gate to the open ocean, they find that the Pacific is not too peaceful, and some of the ladies are seasick, but not Mrs. White. We will let her tell of it as she does the next day in a letter to her husband: EGWMR 100.9

“The waves ran high, and we were tossed up and down so very grandly. I was highly elevated in my feelings, but had no words to say to any one. It was grand. The spray dashed over us, the watchful captain giving his orders, the ready hands to obey. The wind was strong outside of the Golden Gate, and I never enjoyed anything as much in my life.” EGWMR 100.10

Then she contemplates: God “holds the winds in His hands. He controls the waters. We are mere specks upon the broad, deep waters of the Pacific; yet angels of heaven are sent to guard this little sail-boat as it races over the waves. Oh, the wonderful works of God! So far beyond our understanding! At one glance He beholds the highest heavens and the midst of the sea.”—Letter 5, 1876. EGWMR 100.11

The next day she was to write on the theme of Christ stilling the tempest. “I am glad I went upon the water,” she said. “I can write better than before,“—Ibid. EGWMR 100.12

Mrs. White was often an invited guest at church school picnics. She took delight in such occasions when parents, teachers, and students united in a day of recreation. Forgetting present surroundings, let us join such a group of forty or fifty years ago. We note the time, and discover it is nearly noon. A carriage is driving onto the grounds, and the word is passed along, “Sister White has come.” She alights and joins the group around the bountiful meal spread out on the grass. Everyone enjoys the good lunch provided, and then the company of old and young press a little closer together, and Mrs. White addresses them for about twenty-five minutes. EGWMR 100.13

Her talk over, the company scatters to enjoy the afternoon, but some gather about her to visit a bit. Someone suggests surprise that she should leave her writing and her many duties as the Lord’s messenger to spend a few hours on the picnic grounds. She assures them that she takes pleasure in such wholesome recreation. Perhaps she is reminded of an experience earlier, in 1884. We will let her tell the story which reveals her attitude toward such occasions: EGWMR 101.1

“At the close of my long journey East, I reached my home in time to spend New Year’s eve in Healdsburg. The College hall had been fitted up for a Sabbath-school reunion. Cypress wreaths, autumn leaves, evergreens, and flowers were tastefully arranged; and a large bell of evergreens hung from the arched doorway at the entrance to the room. The tree was well loaded with donations, which were to be used for the benefit of the poor, and to help purchase a bell. Except in a few instances, the names of the donors were not given; but appropriate Bible texts and mottoes were read as the gifts were taken down from the tree. On this occasion nothing was said or done that need burden the conscience of any one. EGWMR 101.2

“Some have said to me, ‘Sister White, what do you think of this? Is it in accordance with our faith?’ “I answer them, ‘It is with my faith.’... EGWMR 101.3

“We have tried earnestly to make the holidays as interesting as possible to the youth and children. Our object has been to keep them away from scenes of amusement among unbelievers.”—The Review and Herald, January 29, 1884. EGWMR 101.4