The Red Cloud chief., 1880-01-08
What Shall I Do!

Nrlts--
am a student and must shortly engage I
some particular calling. How can ] be n.
.ured what profession II T. riSht ] .houi
ador,y Am | merely To be guided by IN
conviction that I am adapted 10y nature sn'
training To- iii u~.efuiiy and crediiabiy 4 p8T
tisulaf Unet
the CHriSsIan Union says:
Ia general the well balanced man !
one who finds il most difficult To aseer
tain where he belongs, because he
ike a marble, he viii ron east, west
north or south equally well. Wher'
this j. the case, and the man has no pre-
po~nderating wish or taste, but 4 yagu.
state Of mind 10 which all profession,
are alike attractive or alike Indifferent
he must either adopt the advice o,
others or take the first opening thai
presents itself. The misfi,ing If mcr
To their vacations Is among the mos
m~ournful incidents Of human life. Hun.
drcds and thousands of men 90 through
life doing respectfully well that which
gives them a livelihood without finding
in it once in their whole life opportunity
10 develop that for which God really
sent them into this world. There i,
MANY a man preaching respectfully poor
sermons whom God sent into the world
to be an inventor and mcchanician. lie
has abandoned that for which he was
built, and is a. absurd in that which he
has taken up a a duck waddling along
the grOund-being made Ia swim-OT u
locomotive off the track. There are a
great many men engaged in farm
80. - Sc J.. An 49,
and who are indeed the natural
Judges of the men among
whom they live. aud accepted by them
as such. A great many who are born
for fine art and taste suffer deSolating
hunger ard thirst all their lives long
while steadily, if not ~resignedly, per-
forming some mechanical drudgcry for
which they are i'll fitted, or not 50 well
as an ordinary Immigrant would be.
Notwithstanding this, Il man ought Ia be
sufficiently versatile To follow and bend
10 the law Of necessity. We oncc found
the son Of the Superintendent Of Educa-
ton in Prussia breaking stone on the
road back of Cincinnati. IL ii an hon
orIble thing of him To do-inStead of
begging to 90 ont an carr his dollar or
dollar and il half 10y stonc-hrcaking. We
once met with a hostler and gardener
studying "A geography Of such an alb
strISe type of instruction that we could
not follow il, though we had Il college
diploma, and on questioning him found
he both read and spoke Latin and read
Greek, though he could not speak it.
He was adapted Ia something higher
than the WORK in which he vas engaged
but it was infinitely more credi,ablc to
him Ia take il up and do it well than to
go about the street soliciting charity.
All through society we find men har-
messed To things for which they are un-
fit, and often under the guidance of mis-
judgments of devout friends. \ youth
who is the pet of his family, whose
health is II little feeble, whose passions
are weak and who lacks impetus, his
mother thinks Is apostolic, and lit To be
IA 1t. John of the present time, and must
be a minister. He is a good boy"
and he is coSseted and goes through
school under her sheltering wing. and
goes through college with no great pow
er but with no ~ill-repute, and j. very
piouS, emerging IA sweet, lovely, feeble
man. He slides into Il pulpit. if the
Lord does not take him home by con
sumption. and in a fcH years he gradu-
ally settles down into II feeble preacher
of traditional beliefs or mild m0ralitics.
1t would seem from his moral qualities
that he ought TO be a preacher; but a
preacher requires something else than
moral qualities. Spirituality is excel
leat powder, but if you nave not "A strong
in which its energies can be
concentrated, and 4 weighty ball To be
propelled by them, what good is touch
ing off the powder?
Practically there are only three direc-
tionS To be given Ia a young man. or to
any man, asking this most ~perplcXingo of
questions: What shall L do?
|. Consult your own tastes and iuclin-
il You have any. Go where
your instincts and nature take you: but
not mistake the incidental rewards
of a profession for its real work and
suppose yourself called 10 journalism
because you like to see yourself in print,
or To the ministry because YOU like 20
declaim before m audience.
III. Consult parents, guardians, teach !
ers, anyone who knows you, who knows
life. and in whose practical judgment
regarding the adaptation of men to
work Won can trust. In other words,
first Use your own common sense and
then supplement it by the common sense
of others.
III. In the absence of clear guidance
thesetwo sources, follow the Scrip
motto: Whatever the hand finds To
do, do it with thy might. Ordinarily
the best thing for any man not driven
by instincts into a calling is TO take up
that which lies next him and put into
its performance such judgment and ac-
tivity As shall indicate what he is good
for, and if he can show that he is com
petent for something higher yet he will
be called up to it. In the selection Of
their vocation in life there are MANY
men who sit down at the head of the Ia
bic and when the Master m in he
starts them clear down to the bottom.
II is a great deal better for a man to
take the first seat that offers itself to
him, unless he has a rational conviction
that he belongs somewhere higher.