Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1900-12-21
THE ONE-SIDEDNESS OF HUMAN

IVA
The mind may be regarded as a
force, the result of nervous action.
and characterized by the ability to
perceive sensations, to be conscious.
to understand, to express emotions
ana to Will in accordance Herewith"
we see from this how great the
mind is. Upon the mind depends the
doing of all deeds, be they good or
evil. All thoughts must originate in
the mind. and the will to put them
INTO action must begin there.
1t is gift of God, second only to
the soul. While the soul is immortal
and our spiritual life, the mind is
the great power back of it which
gives the man the desire to care for
ms soul. The soul is the gift of God
which entities the man to eternal
existence with his Creator, but if
the mind does not will to obey the
Divinity. the soul is powerless to
save him.
This fact that the mind is the mas
ter OF man so far as his habits are
concerned--controlling all of his
actions and thoughts--is too often
not appreciated. We too often think
that when we have trained our mind
III all the learning of the ancients and
the sciences and philosophers of our
own time, we have completely mas
tered ourselves and are able to go
out INTO the world and be true men.
But II our minds have not been train
ed to grasp both sides of a question
we have seriously erred-we are not
ready Tor complete living
The mind in many cases has been
mlsused, ii has been developed only
IN part. In certain functions it has
been allowed to attain Il growth
which is. in comparison with its
growth in other functionsc, abnor-
NAL. Psychology teaches us that
one function of the brain, which is
the physical instrument of the mind.
may be so greatly developed that all
others Will seem insignificant. and
almost useless. and that the PERSONS
character win be greatly 2modified.
The mind was, intended to bring forth
lofty Ideas, to have high thoughts
and aspirations. Adam, in the gar
den, was to exercise his mind by
thinking on the glory and purity of
his God. His mind was to dwell on
the beauty and grandeur of all ma
ture around him and to see God in
all things. The heavens were to de-
clare, unto him, the glory of God and
the armament to show his 'handi-
work.
Adam was no more than a man
an experimental man-and showed
only human abilities. He soon be-
gan to worry because he had no one
like himself with whom he could con-
verse. 1t is true that all animals
and birds were friendly to him: it
is true that all nature bloomed for
his benefit, but his weak nature saw
only his own loneliness. And so in
stead of having lofty thoughts his
mind was filled with discomfort and
even harshness towards his Creator.
God gave him a companion, but then
he aspired to become like God, and
was still not contented.
The mind has been debased by
many things and is often unable to
see more than one phase of a ques-
ton. War has been a pawerful fac
tor in this mind debasement. Even
before the declaration of war there
grows up between the two nations
a feeling of envy and hatred which
is always debasing to the mind. Both
on the field of battle and in the
camp life there are many evil deeds
done, all of which tend naturally to
lower the soldier.
AL debasing forces, working
through centuries, have caused the
mind to be narrow. Even scholars
are, III many respects, narow-minded.
There is a tendency to think that
there is no good in man simply be-
cause we do not like him, or we think
that there is no good in a church or
a society or a race with which we are
not connected.
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