Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1886-07-02

az, Tho ,,utirn nriuriplp uf splf-usSprt ion
- o,.,. 81, M y,,rrnnIIrcd hnt like if be-
ion',s f., tbo ni,i,nitivr st,pr of develop
,WnTS, ~ Gnn,,nr ,ttonds Iinon its abnnd
nn,no,,t stiII 'trenter danger waits upou
its undue pn1nbasis Human life on its
inteilertnaI and snirituni side ms well as
its nhvsir"i. has a cornorute not an indi-
vidri,ni nnitv lie ,vhn hrsuks away from
the Sniritral community in arrogant self.
assertion. cuts himself of from the chan
nels thrnugh which truth and life flow
A heretir il one who has an oyerweeuing
sense of individual rights in matters of
oninion TLe first lesson of Christianity
~ thosa WIN vnuId he discinles is BLESS
ed are the moor in shirt" The church
thrnws wide omen its doors to the ignorant,
the wenli the doubtinu. the erring, but
shuts them rcsolutelv against the man
who is self-sutlicient in his opinion. There
is n kind of Individuality begotten of self
nssnrtinn There is n dppDer and truer
Individuality bcpotten of faith.
But the association of this principle
most pertinent to the present occ tsion has
reference to the determination of a career
i'm life. "Let this mind be III you says
the apostle. undressing us one by one, and
espncially those who. as we say, are "mak-
inp nm their mind for life, let this
mind he in YOU which was also in Christ
Jesus Let us try to cOuceiVe-l am
sure we may do il without rreVerenCc-Of
the career, of Jesus. Like others, through
ont his Youth and young manhood, he
Urew i'm wisdom and in all human Capa-
bilities. He came by degrees, slowly but
at last fully, to the consciousness of his
mowers Like other men he had to decide
and this is always the great decision
what he would do with those powers. In
the strange and mysterious story of the
termination i'm the wilderness we have
dimiv outlined to'us the soul searchings
through which he came to his decision
and determined his career. There was,
ON the one side the career of one to whom
vast possibilities ,Of power of grandeur,
of earthly dominion, were open, If he
Wollld use hi. powers for these ends.
There was ON the other hand, a career Of
obscurty of loWly service, OF the com
pauiouship of the poor aud ignorant, and
of final iniamv and death but resulting
in unreasonable good to other beings and
to the interest of righteousness in God 5
universe There was in short, the satan
ic and the divine view of life set before
him, and he made his cboice-reallirmed
the same choice in his human career
which he had before made when he chose
to foregO his divine dignity. He reuOunc-
ed the career of self-assertion and chose
that of service Now, in humble way,
each Young person to whom Providence
has committed the trust of power has to
20 through the same process. Power may
come in various ways, in wealth, talents,
social position, education, or in that most
potent ana charming OF all opportunities,
the mere being young and having all the
world before one. Every young person
has powers within him unknown to him
self unknown to the world. What viii
he do with these powers, is the great ques-
ton of lite. Now mere natural instinct
within him says to HIM assert these
powers to the utmost for your own ad-
vancemcut. enjoyment, glory \ more
sober and more common policy bids him
DAY some Difference to the rights of others,
and by mingling persuasion with selfas-
sertion win the favor and help of his fell
lOw-mrn-but after all make self-realiza-
ton the main thing. But the example Of
Christ commends to us a wholly different
policy Of life different in its source and
inspiration and different in its outflow
He saws to us: "Use power for the sake
of blessing subordinate your rights to
the benefit of Others He does not bid
Won despise power. or uudervalue rights
or fling away ambition. That were really
ana truly to commit ''the great refusal. :"
to choose baselv and irdolently the less i'm
character and attainment when YOU might
have had the greater Christianity eX-