The Honolulu republican. [volume] (Honolulu, T.H.) 1900-1902, 1901-11-29
THlHEfuLK.s,
RARE BLESSING
Cc0rfa.es frou Frs. iass.,

did not seek IL As I came I'D into
the world. beyond the care Of home
which enabled NE 20 get on ms feet
have had no reason to be grateful
have fought my Own battles I mare
never received q dclar from any
body, nor particle OF help, for which
/ did not give an equivalent in service
have wrought out the results OF nv
life myself | only am responSE5 le
for NY destiny, good IL it be gid. and
had IL il be bad" II is not strange
when men think and speak thus. thar
they should say as did King Nebu-
chadneZzar when he walked upon the
roo. CT his palace and looked out over
the city: Il cot this the Great Baby
lon that | have built: The world a.
full OF sO-called self-made men.-who
re that they owe tEauks rC L0j7GY
t.; Mnat they are. This is the way
il iCoAs TO the thinking MI II first,
When Ii is confronted v h tire N 3D.
ern < LCepticn Of the world. and VIXEN
he locks out over human society aud
sees esc7 man struggling FOR bimse H.
me. II you should come deJ SD IN
nv Office and see the kind or men [
deal With. see their attempts 20 ever
reach me in bargaining. VITA net a
tIGce Of bCnevolence in them. each
one looking out for himself. you would
have less optimistic yiay Of life
What do owe these who come II me
10 do business only when it is to thar
advantage TO do so, who offer Tie
bargain only when they can make
something out of il, seeking always
their own welfare, not once think ug
ca mine?" II is not strange that men
look at the world in this way Yet
listen to me. and see If there is not
another side to this question. just as
practical as business is supposed TO
be, just as comprehensive as the null
tiplication table. just as real as any
fact which you are accustomed to deal
with in your lives.
Not thankful TO man. Consider Tor
a moment, and tell me if there is any.
one thing that you have and enjoy to-
day that you do not owe in the first
place to other men and women? Is
there anything of which you can say:
See. this is mine, | have wrought it
out, l have achieved il alone. | am
not under obligations to anybody"
Take, for instance. the business man.
who says that. by his own arm and
the power of his own thought, the ex-
ercise OF his own industry and skill,
he has amassed his fortune. How
6nnc If 70 Thaf
modern world exists as an opportuni-
ty in which he can do business, and
thus work out this individual fortune?
Did he himself create this great sys-
tenn of interchange of commodities?
Did he create the human wants that
are met in this interchange? Did he
build the cities? Did ne construct
the ships and invent the iron ways?
This magnificent result, this oppor-
tunity, has come as the last Towering
and fruitage of thousands Of years OF
human effort. toll, struggle. warfare
and invention. See, men needing some
medium OF exchange, experimenting
over the invention of money, until
now we have this great. system of
banking that enables us to deal so
easily with the most distant parts of
the earth. Then see men inventing
the alphabet. learning to write. and
discovering printing, building up
along all these avenues Of advance
the total structure of that great mass
Of results that we cover with the one
word civilization.-the opportunity in
which a man can live and think and |
labor and reap the results of his toll. |
How much of all this did you do?
And yet, without it. YOU would have
been as powerless as though bereft !
Of hand and foot, and ear and tongue
and eye. You have inherited these
rs the last magnificent result of ages
Of toll and struggle and effort on the |
part of man. They are to you an out |
tight gift from humanity. Everything |
rou have around you as a possession,
everything you have as an oppor |
unity, everything you have within !
rou as capacity for dealing with the I
external conditions of life, has come |
o you as a gift of all the past. Shall |
-ou not then bow your head before /
his wonderful race in reverent rec
ignition and devout thankfulness for |
he free gift Of all you have and of all /
Tou are? / have not the time to dea. 1
With the achievements of the race /
yrander than any which I have men
ioned,-the morality, the religious
SEPARATION and hope of the world that
lave been wrought through so much
# fear. of superstition, of eerror. of
ears. Of heartache. of prayer. of out
eaching and onreaching- What mag
ificent hopes and achievements are
ERE. And how much we owe. not
My to the great names that are Ike
tars in the armament of the past
ut even TO the common. toilers. and
he common prayers that have con-
ributed to the grand result. Per
APPS we hold it as a little thiag.-this
rec and simple and trustful service
I ours this morning. But if Won will
eckon up its cost you win find that
o gem in all the earth is half so rich
nd rare; and if you estimate its sig
ificance as il looks out toward the
lture, no kingdom OF all the earth
ere rich enough 10 buv it from YOU
hink. then how much in this direc-
on you have received.
But is this all3 Shall we be thank
II simply to man? | want to hint