Smyrna times., 1885-07-08
FOr me smyrna Tunes.
THE TRUE PHILOSOPHY OF
LIFE,

LIFE.
What is our life? What is it for {?
What is its great end? Instead ofreso-
lutely prosecuting these inquiries and
arriving at some plan of life which
shall commend itself to our best Judge
ment as rational, too many of us snatch
at whatever prizes glitter most and lie
nearest, to find them bubbles or at best
babies, and then querulously wonder
what life is for.
Is happiness the great end of life g?
To casual observer there are many
things which make it seem so: But
when sought as the chief end, it clogs
the appetite which it tries to satisfy
Who hear the most songs of birds
the huntsman or the plOw boy? Even
so pleasurers fly from those who
seek them, and hover about the path Of
him who goes steadily forward in the
way of duty.
Is work the great end Of life? Pur-
sue achievement as ultimate, and it is
open to these grave objections: 1t
clogs, it fails of its own end, and 50 is
suicidal, and it throws the soul back
upon itself in agonizing remOrse. The
saddest pictures in the galleries of his
tory demonstrate these propositions.
There is but one possible explanation
Of this strange life of ours; it is train
ing school for character The Christian
philosophy of life is the only tenable
philosophy. Our catechism utters pro-
fOundest truth when it tells us, THE
chief end Of man is to glorify God and
enjoy him forever"
Life then must be seeking for true
glory and honor and Immortality. ="
The mightiest force in the production
of character, next to divine grace, is
the reactiOnary power Of well-dOing.
No fitful and spasmOdic activity, but
patient continuance" in we'll doing, in
spite of WEAKNESS and obstacles and
apparent failure, even when the strug-
gle seems utterly hopeless. This is
the one road to character, /, e, to the
true glory of man. Now comes the
question, INTERVIEWING itself in all our
thoughts. What of Smyrna's boys fast
growing into manhood What Of those
just entering manhood? Leaving our
homes but not our hearts, will those
whom we love find life bitter Jest d?
or a thing of earnestness, of beauty,
peace and JOY. Having watched from
their bOyhOOd those who have but
just entered manhood, we cannot
but appreciate the feelings of that faith
er who sees his boy for the first time
going ont to do battle with the world.
For however we'll prepared for the con-
flict, we tremble for the result. Now
you are your own sole friend and cOun-
sellOr; and here a single false step is
followed often by years Of anxiety and
disaster.
You are now in a field where every
man is his own general and soldier,
fighting his own individual battles lit
tie needing and little caring whom he
mains or slays, so he come off himself
with a victOr's bays, and more, a vie
tors spOils. What wonder then if our
hearts be shaken. For though the
world be bright, its brightness is not
real; though it have wisdom its wis
dom is most pitiful Though it have
its pleasures, they are fleeting as the
wind there is no substance in its joys,
no permanence in its glOries, no hon
esty in its smiles, no stability in its
riches. The world will say, IF you
wish to prosper, you must drop down
to the level'Of other men, swim with the
current, drift along with the great
human tide, become one of the world
since you are in it. But would advise
you, seek counsel from Him who un-
derstOOd the world better than all in it,
and bow first to the beauty, the grand
ure and humane spirit which beams in
the language of the cross. For in this
path alone is safety. You who are
thrown upon the world remember it
will be unwise on your part to give up
any doctrine or principie which helps
in the path of morality, honor, integ-
rity and prosperity. There are dan
gers in the world of which you are prac-
tically ignorant; and it can hardly be
wise to surrender any principle that
tends to the formation of honorable
character. You may depend upon it
that the purity of the christian doctrine
and the self denial it imposes upon its
recipients, have not little to do with
the hostility of the human heart
against it.
Nothing so much as christian firm
ness gives beauty to manhood and re-
pose to old age. How hollow life
would seem to-day but for the better
life to which it is meant 10 lead The
curriculum of time will soon be behind
you. May your career, as did Norman
Mcleod, fully illustrate the true phil
OsOphy of life and the divine prescrip-
tiOn by which alone that philosophy
may be made splendid realization.
Let us see to it that our life fail not
of such magnificent outcome.
\. Y. W.