The Advocate and news., 1899-04-12

a building up Of honest, useful lives 10
means the conservation Of the energies OF
mind and body to high and noble work. IL
means q thorough preparatiOnfOrtheVarled
duties and emergencies of life. 1t means
the realization Of our highest hopes and
fulfllment of Gods great purpose IN our
lives and in the lives of our fellow men.
Self-education means the upbuilding OF use
full lives-lives that will add to the com
munity, honor to our institutions and
strength and dignity to state and nation.
i
Another problem that cOnfrOnts our
young men is this: Every individual has a
particular work to do and the great problem
of life is to find out what this work is and
to do it. You have place to fill which no
one else can fill You have a work to do
which no one else can do and if you do not
do it, it will be left undOne, and the purpose
for which you were created will be repeated
lust to that extent. The very fact that you
exist is an expression of the still broader
fact that you exist for a purpose. Carlyle
uttered great truth when he said, "Grad-
ually sec what kind of work you individl-
ually can do; it is the first of all problems
for man to find out what kind of work
he is to do in this universe. For that is the
thing man is born to- in all epochs. He
is born to expend every particle of strength
that God Almighty has given him, in doing
the work he finds he is fit for; to stand up
TO it to the last breath of life and to do his
best" Carlyle has stated the problem
clearly. We must become conscious of our
possibilities, we must find our proper place
in life before we can realize what life has in
store for us. The moment we realize what
we may become, that moment our useful
ness as members of society begins. Every
thing in the universe becomes great to us in
proportion as we understand the real worth
of ourselves. Man is great not because of
what he has been, not because of what he
is, but because of what he may become. 1t
is the consciousness that we may become
greater and more useful than we are that
adds strength and dignity to life. Tt is
this that puts the stamp of nobility upon
ambition and the seal of honor upon every
worthy deed. It is this that makes life full
Of hope and inspiration and power
It seems to me that the great truth that
we should impress on the awakened mind
of the young man is that he, as all individ-
nal, has a particular work to do, and that
he will contribute his respective share to
the sum total of human wealth and happi-
ness, only when he does that work for which
nature intended him. It has been earnestly
said that "To know ones self, to accept
ones limitations, to cultivate ones talent.
is to live life of peace, of growth toward
the divine" Why so much misery in life ?
Why so much dissatisfaction Why pOv.
erty's woes here and wealth's merry laugh
ter there? In short, why so much inequal-
ity in society? Simply because too many
people have gotten into the wrong place in
life. They are doing work for which they
have no love, no abilities and no ambition.
Those who are consumers ought perhaps to
be producers and vice versa. Mrs. Humph-
cry Ward has well said, "It is the vain en-.
deavOr to make ourselves what we are not
that has strewn history with so MANY
broken purposes and lives left in the rut .
Alas! Mrs. Wards analysis is altogether
too true. Young men cannot afford to mis-
direct their energies and to grow up dis.
satisfied with themselves and with their
environments. They owe duty to society
and society in turn owes them duty. we
owe the young men duty. The important
problem confronting us today is, not simply
to give men employment, but so to train
the minds and characters of the young men
OF to-day that every man who wants ia
work will be in position to do that work
which he can do best This is the great
problem of education and social reform.
"The successful man is the man whose Cd.
pOrtunities are those which permit the
natural development of the talents given
him."
But what are the conditions that confront
us in actual life? 1t is a sad and pathetic
fact that many young men start out in life
without giving the question of self.prepara-
tion adequate attention. Many of these
young men fail to do the work for which
they were by nature intended.
What follOwsp ThoHy do v,oL 4bo,, a,..- "A