Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1903-08-05
ExrERNALlzATIoN OF sPlRfT.


exact truth. The PHILOSOPHERS that
dominate the modern mind are the
idealistic PHILOSOPHERS. the spiritual in
terpretations of life that come to US
through such philosophers as Kant
and Hegel and Green and Royce. This,
too. is the tendency Of theology. Near
ly all our theologies err by being too
exclusively interior and logical. This
the error of Calvinism.
As a system OF belief it is strong and
virile and continuous. Its weakness
is that as a system it lacks ~objectiyity.
Calvin never stopped to ask himself
IL his system co-ordinated with the
facts of life. If he had done so Cal
vinism would not have been SO pre-
p~onderatingly forensic. This is also
the weakness OF rodern latitudinarian
theology that has its source very large
ly In the dognatic system of Schleier-
macher. This system of belief is
broad and tolerant and tender, but it
also errs in the fact that 1t starts with
a ~postulate and derives itself PROPOSE
ton after propogition and dogma after
dogma without ever looking out to
confirm these dogmas with the actual
facts as we find them in nature and
the history Of humanity.
This excessive SUFFICIENTLY is also
clearly seen in our modern life in its
lack Of poise, serenity and calm. Our
age, however. capable and interesting
it may be, is certainly lamentably self
conscious touching its body. The air
is full of maladies, full of ailments,
full of imaginary ~distresses; our
nerves are in a state of deplorable in
conference. l judge this from the many
new systems Of therapeutics that are
springing NJ on every side. such as
Christian Science, Mental Science.
New Thought, and : believe the last
is named Mental Poise.
Now, Of course, a man must live the
interior life. 1t is his business to find
himself, to know himself. But If he
is going to live the whole OF life, a
life large, salubrious and beautiful, he
must learn to externalize.
1t is the external life that makes for
magnitude and wealth Of personality.
And this is mans chief end, the en-
largement and enrichment Of his own
soul. For just in the measure that his
personality becomes full and opulent,
just in that measure does the world
become interesting to him. A man
may have great wealth. and with this
typ-at Vrynal4h ha = y rrtvrNtYud him
self with many things; he may buy.
for If we have money enough we can
buy almost anything, the greatest
works Of the immortal artists of the
world. And he may hang these
works of art upon the walls of his
home.
But what are they to him apart from
the sensitiyeness and artistic respon-
siyeness of his WI personality? They
are mere symbols of his wealth, not
at all vehicles of culture and of beau
ty. So, too, he may surround himself
with the great literatures of the
world. He may build up a vast Ii
brary and place upon the shelves Of
his bookcases the philosophers, the
poets, the historians, the scientists,
the essayists of every nation and of
all the ages; but apart from intellect
ual passion these books have no mes
sage. no illumination. no refinement.
Personality is the measure of our liv-
ing power. the measure of our enjoy
ment of life.
1t is also the Measure of our eff
cheney; for after all, the greatest thing
that a ma can give to the world is
his own spirit. The world needs
many things in the way of physical
amelioration; but its great need is the
need of Inspiration; its great need is
more of the thought-life, more of the
love4Iife and more of the soul-life.
And earth's greatest benefactors have
been earth's deepest thinkers, earth's
kindliest and sweetest spirits.
Now, magnitude and wealth OF per-
sGnality is not a thing we inherit. 1t
is o a thing that our fathers and our
mothers can bestow upon us. Neither
Is it a thing that is adyentitious. the
product of circumstance. 1t is each
mans own creation. The potency of
personality. is a gift to us, but its
magnitude and its fullness are deter
mined by the measure and the degree
with which we objectiyizc the forces
Of our spirit, by the measure in which
we live in the external world.
i Take, for instance, the intellectual
element of personality. We speak of
a man as being marked by intellectual
power; that is, that be thinks coher4
emily, that he sees things clearly. that
his thought moves within large and
wide circumferences. Now what is
intellectually? 1t is a genius. you
say, a talent.
Yes, but it is much more; it is a ge-
MUS, a talent, plus content. shak-
speare is a genius. Byron q genius;
! h-t Shakespeare and Byron would not
be read, they would never have given
to the world the great dramas and
odes and sennets they have given 10
the world If genius had been their sole
possession. intellectually is the pow
er of seeing things steadily and Of
seeing them whole"
IL we want to live the intellectual
life we ahsH find It not IN dreams and
in fancIes but by externalizing D vi
sion: and the more we externalIze our