The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1857-12-10
NINE.

Mind incomprehensible and eternal Mind!
Who can for a moment ponder upon this
MIGHTY UNSEEN, and not be struck with its
mystery and ITS pawer2 What is it, whence
il il and whittier its destiny? We acknowl-
edge it a part OF ourselves, Ia part which We
FEEL, but never see--the main spring, the VI.
tality, the qnintessence of our being, in fact,
the soul Is il borr with us? Or in other
words, does il first commence action with the
matter of which we are composed? If so,
then is it the living breath Of Almighty God 1!
II not so, what is it These are questions all
may ask, these are questions none may answer,
Mind may comprehend matter, but Mind caa-
not comprehend Mind-for the power of COM
prehensioa becomes neufralzed by the power
Of mystery. We know we exist; we know we
move and act; we know Mind directs our &C.
tons, yet we know not what directs Mind. 1t
is strange, most strange And the more we
study it the more we are struck with its incom-
prehensibilty. To us it must be a source of
happiness, or source of MISERY'S we use it
for good or evil. What were we without
Mind? Mere walking NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
prehend no joys, aud know vexation,--true
we might feel pain and writhe under its tor
lures, and yet comp ehend no cause, appreci-
ate no relief.
In our view then, that we are placed here
with mind to comprehend, or at least 10 study
whatever is around us, is sufficient proof that
we are placed here as probationary beings
destined for higher, nobler end than that of
mere animal existence. A., the very Mind
itself whispers Of Its eternal destiny--its nom
destroying combinations. We believe it to be
part an atom Of the Deity himself; and that
just in proportion as this Mind is dealt out to
us, just in that proportion can we comprehend
Him and His works.
But leaving its awful mystery for another
state to solve, let us glance, briefly glance, at
its power as we possess 1t. a
That mankind are progressive, none will de-
ny who compare the present with the past, and
that this progression within the last century
has increased at a ratio which gives no prece-
dent. The life of man, at the present day, ex-
hibits to him wonder upon wonder from the
cradle to the grave. God creates man, and
man creates, or, at least sets in motion mattel
which by far, excels IFS maker in strength and
speed of perfo: nance. Man by his own force
of.intellect, or Mind, dyes into, and explores
the bowels of the earth tells its age and form
atioh--points out the different beings that have
inhabited it since the dawn of time, many of
which have long since become extinct-proy-
ing the earth one grand sepulchre. Again
leaving the earth, which swings, but an atom,
comparatively,--the merest atom in space--he
scars, by the strength Of this same immortal
Mind, into the solar world, and there revels
among the starry host--tines the planets to
their meetirg-tells their size and velocity
whether they be suns TO others or have suns to
1hem-whether or not they are capable of
sustaining animal an i Vegetable life. By this
same strength of Mind, man has put the vapor
bf water into harness and obedient to his will,
made ii propel him at the velocity Of the feath-
cred tribe. BY this same strength of Mind
has he called the thunder-boIts of heaven from
the clouds, has used them for play things, and
at last has made them useful as bearers of des-
patches. A few wears hence, -and but few
years at the most-the winds of heaven will be
his horses and the clouds his companions
What, o what can be that Mind, to which
all matter, animate and inanirnate, and all the
elements OF creation bow in submission
Who can comprehend whence it cometh aud
whittier tgoeth! And who so unheedful as
to say it dies with the body, which for brief
period, it inhabits! No! no II cannot die!
Mind cannot die 1t is living creation of
itself! eternal as Eternity-the elementary
substance of Divinity part and parcel of
God himself!