The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-08-26
The Receptive Mind.

Perhaps there In no better measure
OF the reality Of human life or the
worth OF II thar receptivlty. There Is
q deadening OF mental and moral and
spiritual freshness that corresponds to
paralysis In the muscles. IT Is the
human point OF saturation; and when
II has been reached death ensues. no
matter II the vital organs continue 10
perform their functions unimpaired. In
10 many ways do we retain our like
ness to the world about US. which lives
only as II assimIlates. and turns TO dust
or fossil when II ceases TO receive.
In receptivity are contained all joys
and all possibilities. II is the window
through which We hold communion
with the eternal element In things. In
and out OF II flies our dove with her
olive branch. About US there is uni
verse OF facts and forces untried. To
be awake and sensitive to all OF them IL
70 live keeniy. mayhap TO live nobly.
To the child the world OF physical SEN
sation 10 one sparkling novelty. one
piQue to curiosity With tireless eager
ness he piunges into Il, always receiv-
Ing. acquiring. learning the parts and
nature OF things And II Is because
Of this. more than through ignorance
OF care or absence OF responsibility, that
childhood Is the golden age.
To be 'the imperishable child" is TO
hold the key to life's treasure house.
Manhood and old age find the limits OF
knowledge unshrunken, the museum OF
cariosities undiminlshed by single
case. the range OF speculation and OF
certainty so Infinitely extended that the
Increased capacity for assimilation can
not keep pace New facts. new laws,
swing Into comprehension like stars IN
the armament within the sweep OF the
fmt telescope. Each day brings It's
suggestion. its hint Of beauty and Its
glimpse OF power. Always there IL some
breath stirring among the currents Of
human thought and aspiration. and al
ways these winds watt 60 the waiting
q renewed vitality. The unexplered ex-
panses Of intelligence and Of spiritual
activity challenge curiosity. bust
ness and delight, invite a growth ANA
an uplifting that multiply and intensity
Infinitely the magic world OF infancy.
SO may we always be young. but with
the youth OF the gods.
Near his home in New Jersey Mr..
Edison has established a great fac
tory for extracting from the rocks Of
the region the Fea ore that Is con-
talned 10 them, dihased In inanitcsimai
particles throughout their substance
The stone = crushed and ground 60
powder Down long pipes studded
throughout their interiors with power
fAsi magnets this rna sand Is allowed 10
fan The magnets draw to them the
sron dust aaa save II. while the refuse
passes cut u sight Ia something os
the same way docs the uHceaslng
ssream os ilfe pass hy the individual
who 10 ersn 60 It's meanings and its
influences Readily IN The 6ua-colored
tide he solEes upon and claims Tor his
ewn each iassans something that be-
comes an eternal possession and Joy.
Il may he the color gianclng from the
wins es an insect in the sunlight. the
shifting nghss OF sunrise or sunset on
sea and maantain, the apprehension Of
scientific law that win Be famed Tor
centuries, the translation into sub
timer ether where spiritual forces pre-.
vail and are duly manifest. An Is food
for iite-growth and "there Is no last
or frst"
The truth Is that We are not so much
plungsd in sea OF everlasting nys-
ssrtes as one Of truths waiting 60 he
knosn. The Receptive mind absorbs