The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1893-03-02
A LETTER FROM MRS. HENRY

A LETTER FROM MRS. HENRY.
Toronto. Ontario. DEAR FELLOW CHAUTAU-
QUANs:-This Sunday finds me at a hotel in this
city simply waiting for the day to pass that
may continue my journey; and so am afforded
the time to write you.
have kept sight of you and your work through
THE MIRROR and the letters that have been
sent by individual members, and have not failed
to think of you in your little assembly one Sun
day afternoon since was with yOu-and always
with hope for your future.
To-morro,u is wonderful day! No crime was
ever committed tomorrow no evil or unhOly
thing ever came into it. 1t is clean-full of OPP
pOrtunity, of expectation, of possibilities. 1t
may become anything that any yesterday has
been-it may be infinitely more. Tomorrow in
a prison may be better. sweeter, than the past
days out in the broad world ever were. All de-
ponds upon you men-each individual man and
your own deliberate choice to-day. To-day
makes the tO-mOrrow-that is. determines large
ly what it shall be. what you think or do to-day
what you choose to-day.
suppose this will be read to you on Sunday
the 1Sth-a good many days in the future-would
that l could fling it over to you for this very
afternoon. But what ! was going to say is this:
To-day, this Sunday, as you are gathered in your
circle with the appearance at least of free men
with actual freedom to elect what your to NOR
rows shall be, as far as the real life of the man
gOeS-let me urge you to the earnest cOnsidera-
ton of those things that shall eXalt your ideals
of life and duty, and to that choice which shall
make all things new for you. In your readings
you get glimpseS of great and good men, of high
and heroic Deeds of arts and ScenceS-all of
which seem to belong to a world with which you
have nothing to do from which some of you can
but feel that you are cut Off forever, and. as one
has expressed himself to me. it may seem like
looking at the heavens from the bottom of
mne,' to try to bring these things really into
your own ives-but with the broad outlook of
the great future which is before yOu it will pay to
look steadily up to just the narrow bit of heaven
that is brought within your range of vision in the
G. l.. S. c. readings, and try the wings of your
thought, the aspirations of soul and spirit and
with all the power you can command, rise, be it
ever so little, and at whatever cost. Everything
depends first on what you have before you to
think abOut-whO and what your ideal is No
man ever yet quite reached his ideal. If you
take Washington in American history you can
never be quite Washington. If you take sci
ence as your ideal of truth you will find your life
and power shortened to material limits. But if
you take to-day. as Chautauquan. the Man
Christine Savior Christ as your ideal charac-
ter his truth your truth. his life as your life,
while you can never become quite like him. the
Sinless One. yet you will become more as a man
than could ever be accomplished with any other
standard before you. o, my dear friends, my
prayers go earnestly up to God for you that this
may be true of you, that in choosing what you
study, think about and follow. you will not stop
10,
of manhood centre-whO is in Himself the Truth
and the Life. Learn to see Him. or something
borrowed from Him in the good men and women
of history to find the lack of Him in their fail
ures. well as in the crime and evil of all times
and all lives. 1t is the lack of Christ likeness
that has made all the wars of all nations all the
oppression of all peoples. 1t is the reaching out
after Him. the thoughts about Him, the follow
ing His truth that has made Peace anywhere,
that has relieved oppression and misfortune,
that has aleviated in some little degree the con-
ditiOn of those who are in prison. You are
Chautauquans because Christ lived and died and
arose again; and because the truth that he
taught has been working in the hearts of men.
You are indebted to Him for many things that
you have perhaps not yet discovered by which
you are in a better estate than you would have
been if His truth had never been taught and be-
lieved. Will you not try. each man of you, to
find out what this means in your case? Every
thing in your tO-mOrrOwS depends upon how you
receive this Christ. 1t will be better for YOU to
think about good men than bad Ones noble, pa
triotic benevolent lives titan criminal ones; but
better to think about this man Christ and His
life than any other to take Him as the stand
ard by which all others shall be measured-yOur
own included. Some of you will soon be going
out free. Thank God for that. Do you 90 to-
morrow? Then take care of that tomorrow.
Keep Christ before you-think about him. Ask
yourself. "What would He do now if he were
me?" If you do that, which you have reason to