The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-12-18
SALT OF THE EARTH
Rev. Moses H. Harris Speaks at
All Souls on Individuality

Rev. Moses H. Harris spoke yester-
day morr!ng-at All Souls church on
the subject of Individuality" taking
his text from Matthew Wis, THE salt
of the earth He said in substance
1--WE are born into world of feelings,
opinions. beliefs, institutions, customs,
regulations, laws: all made without
consulting our convenience or need.
For hundreds of years before we We're
born, all men and all women were busy
unconsciously or consciously, making
the order of things as we find 1t. What
that order is we do not know until we
have lived under it a score of years and
have been already moulded by it. Be
fore we can criticise it, it has made us
its own and so disarmed our criticism
Our very minds are the products of the
ages that went before U.S. Our will
force is anticipated. We are pushed
and dragged by countless hands along
the beaten track and our entire train
ing can be summed up in the word
suppression" and this Is so from ne
cessity. Not by continuance, but by law
1T could not be otherwise, for other
wise continuity would be impossible,
development a thing inconceivable and
the accumulation of experiences forever
out of the question. If the order of
things had to be reconstructed day by
day, no order of things would ever get
established. Harvests do not grow by
frequent pulling up Of the stalks Par
ents must impart qualities to their chill
dren, whether they will or not. Though
to a certain degree. they can consult
their children's individuality in the nur-
ture anu education they give or with
hold, they cannot entirely refrain from
communicating their own mental i'm
pressiohs and beliefs.
What would individuality be worth,
what value would character possess,
what would be the Significance of man
Illness and womanliness' if these quail
ties came without difficulty? In the
economics OF nature, man here is no
exception. The tender plant makes
what for it is a prodigous effort in
pushing its way through the sod to
reach the upper air; the shrub strains
the capacity of every leaf1et in the en-
deavor to keep at bay the grasses that
are noxious to its constitution. The
tree owes its firmness of structure to
the resistance it makes against wind
and storm. 1t would be as reasonable
to ask that all natural growth should
be perfectly easy and unthwarted as
that human growth should be- Char
acter is no doubt an expensive prod
uct, but 1t costs no more than 1t is
worth.
Religion that in times past threw
the heaviest obstacles in the path of
elf-assertion, now throws none of any
weight. The churches have lost power
to persecute; the creeds are present
barriers that are still vaulted over. One
need not be a very brave. man to allow
his opinions on theological and eccle-
siastical matter to be known One
sacrifices little, whatever position he
takes. Church going, believing, wor-
Shipping, are matters of convenience
not of principle. If a church is in the
neighborhood, if it is handsome, and
comfortable, if friends attend it. If
business acquaintance are made there
If the music is attractive, the preach
ing entertaining, doctrine and form are
Of small account. 1t is all the same
where you go, where you like, 1t will
make little difference. Such a state of
things, however, desirable in other re-
spects, is not favorable to the de-
velopment of character. Formerly. IL
men exhibited character nowhere else.
they exhibited it in their religion. Now
Wherever else they may exhibit 1t. very