Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1903-08-20
DECENTRALIZATION OF SPIRIT.
Nv Rev. Joseph 4. hflburs-

1t may seem strange to say, and
hardly consent with the surface OF
facts of life, that the spirit Of our
modsrn civilization 10 largely interior
and subjective And yet this 10 the
exact truth The PHILOSOPHERS that
dominate the modern mind are the
1dealistic philosophers the spiritual In
corporations 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 system of belief it is strong and
virile and continuous. Its weakness
Is that as a system it lacks objectivity.
Calvin never stopped to ask himself
If his system co-ordinated with the
facts Of life. If he had done so Cal
vinism would not have been so pre-
ponderatingly forensic. This is also
the weakness of modern latitudinarian
theology that has its source very large
ly In the dogmatic system of Schleier-
macher This system of belief Is
broad and tolerant and tender, but 1t
also errs in the fact that it starts with
q postulate and derives itself PROPOSE
ton after proposition 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 subjectivity 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. judge this from the many
new systems of therapeutics that are
springing up on every side, such as
Christian Science, Mental Science,
New Thought, and l believe the last
is named Mental Poise.
Now, of course, 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
great wealth he may surround 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
nome.
But what are they to him apart from
the sensitiveness and artistic respon-
siveness of his own personality? They
are mel o<ymbols of his wealth, not
at all vehicles of culture and of beau
~. 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
mis- bookcases the philosophers, the
poets, the historians, the scientists,
the essayists of every nation and Of
all the ages; but apart from intellect
lal 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 man 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
loye-life and more of the soul-life.
And earth's greatest benefactors have
been earth's deepest thinkers, earths
kindliest and sweetest spirits.
Now magnitude and wealth of per-
sonality is not a thing we inherit. Ii
IS not thing that our fathers and our
mothers can bestow upon us. Neither
Is it thing that is adventurous. the
product of circumstance. 1t is each
mans own creation. The potency OF
personality is gift to us, but its
magnitude and its fullness are deter
mined by the measure and the degree
with which we objectivize the forces
of our spirit by the measure in which
we live in the external world.
Take, for instance, the intellectual
element of personality. We speak OF
man as being marked by intellectual
power; that is, that he thinks coher
emily, that he sees things clearly, thar
his thought moves within large ant
wide circumference. Now what i!
intellectually? 1t is a genius, you
say, talent.
Yes, but 1t is much more; 1t Is a &c