The record-union., 1896-08-02
SOME RAMBLING THOUGHTS.
BY MEMO.
(Copvrighted !

(Penned by a layman in the spare
moments of a busy career and dedi-
Gated to g. better understanding of life
and It's varied opportunities)
The Surest way to be miserable Is to
yearn for what we cannot have: the
surest way to some degree Of satisfac-
ton in life is TO do the duty nearest at
hand and do 1t well. Many OF us are too
much like the naughty child who cried
for the moons reflection in the bath
tub; We set our affections on things
above our reach and then drop back
peeVlshly to be a burden to ourselves
and a nuisance to those who deserve
our smiles rather than our grumblings.
We beat our hands to pieces and break
our hearts against the adamantine
walls OF the unattainable: we look at
some distant pinnacle of ambition and
we shrek out in anxious agony, Mount
ain,b thou brought night" and 1t moves
not; we neglect the glorious opportuni-
ties OF the present and dream of some
golden future that is to come TO US
somehow eve do not stop TO think how)
and we awake to find the present gone
ana the future good as much in the
clouds as ever. Then turns the milk of
and we amount to nothing, the salt has
lost its SAVIOR, the fire OF purpose dies
out; we are thenceforth fit for naught
but to associate with bats and blind
men, for we are blind, and. worse yet,
we know 1t not.
You with discontented heart, for there
needs must be such among the thou
sands who read these lines, bear with
the words of one who has suffered and
has learned. Look to the traveller and
be wise. After long journeyings the
peak of his search is outlined against
the sky and he rejoices, but he does not
sit down and say to his heart, ''I am
there! 1 am there!" He knows better;
1t Is yet fifty miles away.
and between these two, the
man and the mountain, there
stretch woods and valleys and toilsome
paths His way must be your way.
Moment by moment ne takes the next
step, and the next and the next. Some
times in depressions he even loses sight
OF that sky-piercing summit, but he
knows that it is still towering above
and he plods till he gets there.
by ali means hold on to noble ambi-
uons; set them so high, if you will. that
the base Of them is at your feet and the
apex is in the zenith, but do not unne-
cessarily discourage yourself by at
tempting a sudden assault upon name
and fame and success. To reach Lake
Erie from Lake Ontario only a fool
would attempt to row UP the Falls of
Niagara; the wise man with similar in
tent would go through the Welland Ca
nal and reap the reward of his wisdom.
There are certain sequences of nature
which you cannot abbreviate. The egg
antedates the hen lin our day at leas).
the acorn grows into the oak by un-
noticed transitions. a good foundation is
an absolute necessity TO stately build
ing, patient effort goes before success.
You cannot be a great lawyer unless you
are willing to be thorough student. nor
great musician unless you will be a
patient practiser; nor a good minister
without going through deep and humili-
ating soul experiences; nor, in fact, a
great anything. unless great is your
faith, and unless your works overtop
in volume even your faith.
In short there is no laudable ambition
of any noteworthy hight that can be
reached at one leap; to wish it so is to be
lazy and out of sorts with this work-a-
day world. Furthermore, nights that are
unattainable by sudden assault are at
tainable by the strategy of patient and
well-directed effort, which in itself ds a
solace as you go your patient way.