St. Landry democrat., 1892-01-09
NEW YEAR THOUGHTS.
For the DEMOCRAT.

For the DEMOCRAT.
1.-THE whirring loom of Time has woven an.
other twelve-months into the web OF Lie; let
ms pause a moment and consider, ere rushing
hreathlessly forward in the worlds din and
battle. ., ., e.
us worn with work or with play, are apt TO
leave us thoughtful. There were many loose
ends to be knotted together, many dropped
stitches to be picked up; and affairs, neglected
till the last moment crowd past n rpo ea ar
gains and our losses. Another year has ltlst
been ushered in, another fair white leaf to be
smrched over and soiled, another circle OF DAYS
to "perish and go down to our account AS
we cast backward glance over the length OF
the past twelve months, 1T is not tue
abasement Of crowned heads i'll the dust, or
the passing away of the celebrated mon from
their tolls and triumphS, or the brave Cceds
and great inventions which have urged onward
the resistleSs sweep OF Progress, that crowd
upon our minds. Our own personal Suefs
draw near to us" tits time for memory and
for tears The "jargon of the Holidays
seems to have the hollow ring OF the counter
felt III our busy, work-a-day existence; anu our
hearts, pTith a hOmesick pang,
- Like aychild fain to rest after rowing,
Seeks comfort Ill retrospection, yet hndS none.
ALI. ye know what life means now, as we
iook back over the years. There was work
that we set ABOUT so gladly, so eagerly, and yet
heen. promises ,unfultilled, hopes that had been
Frustrated, goOtt intentions that had come to
an untimeiY end; of those who loved us and
whom we Ryed, some have parsed within IN inc
we expected to find consolation we have found
only vacancy. For, every loved one VINO van
ishSs. a part of our own life has died. :" 1t is Il
dumb note that shall sound never more again.
There are graves outside i'll the lonely
darkness, where the rain beats upon the sod
den earth, where the wind blows mournfully,
aud the dead leaves are driven and whlrled.
Graves, not for the physical being only, but for
o,Ir hores. our dreams, our ideals. We sigh re-
..retfuily for the buoyancy of other days, when
there was Q glory upon the earth, ana we, we,
both song and and a sermon. But alas, for
the disillusiOns that come with the years J!
High hopes that burned like stars sublime,
have gone down dreariy behind the cold, grey
clouds of the commonplace.
We may sheer at /" sentiment as much as we
choose and quote Ouidas" creed-a good din
somehow, as we stand on the threshold of a new
wear, L think, deep down in our hearts we des-
Diss ourselves, and our banished ideal is aveng-
ed However tile aea e.; are de III, anu .s
before us, has infinite possibilities whose reali-
zation lies largely within our own power.
Faith in ones self is very good quality with
which we enter on an untried year. Faith is
a belief in what is true, and our faith in our
selves can only extend to the better part of our
nature, not the worse; and this better part
truth and energy, Justice and gener0sity-is
stimulated by our conviction that we can live
ii i'm the outward life, REFRESHING that which is
faIse and unworthy. As DIR. Phillips Brooks so
admirably expresses it: 3" Be not afraid Of the
NOT the highest moral responsibility to hold
ones self receptive to the higher infiuences-to
cling to that which is elevating? Those OBJ
stacIes and entanglements which we can not
combat, let us live above, strong In the con-
scieneiO,lsness that we are ourselves in spite of
our environment, and that no one can be wholly
defeated unless he defeat himself. Let us not
carry as the burden of to-day our failure OF
Yesterday or of last year; since we can not
reach or touch it, why worry over Iii There
is nothing so vain or go useless as regret eg
in no mistake that can not be rectified,
there is no evil that may not be out
lived there is no difficulty that can not be solv-
ed or put under our feet. A. NJ. II.