Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1903-02-11
THE YOUNG MAN-Hls MISSION.
A Review Of the Sermon Delivered by
The Rev. A. c. Geyer Sunday
Morning.


feature of the worlds history In
every department OF human activity
| the young man has been eminently
conspicuous. In the forward march
OF humanity he has stood IN the van.
He has fought the battles of the race
| both as common soldier and as COM
mander in chief. In the fields Of re-
form he has assumed the burdens
| of obligation under which older men
have faltered. The mantle OF states
manship has been worn with grace
and ease and dignity by the young
man. In the crises OF human affairs
he has been relied upon TO step to
| the front and clear the way and lead
humanity forward. How often in
| the career of nations the old ship,
humanity, has been tossed upon the
pillows of a storm swept sea and,
under thick clouds, has been driven
from it's true course. How often in
these perilous times it has been the
young man who has taken advantage
of the first assuagemenJ of the storm,
to take a glance at the sun, 10 dis
cover the ships latitude, to shift the
sails and set the rudder and pilot her
on in the direction OF the haven of
refuge
After referring briefly to the act
ivities of young men in the history
of leading nations, Mr.. Geyer said:
THE student of our own history will
not fail to recognize the important
part assumed by young men in all
our national achievements. Perhaps
no other nation has in an equal per-
iod of time exhibited SO many young
men in prominent positions as the
United States. Careful observation
at the present will reveal their prom
inence in all the affairs of America.
The young men are in the movements
Of today and are directing and shap-
ing human affairs"
In these facts of history and in
the activities of the young man in
public affairs today, we recognize his
mission. Goethe said: The destiny
of any nation, at any given time, de-
pends on the opinions of the young
men who are under twenty-five years
of age Ii this be true, the young
men of America will shape the poll
tics and mould the education and
character of our republic. Their mis-
sion then is to shape the destiny OF
America and therefore the destinies
OF all our grand institutions OF COM
merce, and school, and church, and
state.
The important thing necessary to
the achievement Of this mission is
that each individual shall be willing
to work out his personal destiny. The
mission of the individual is part
of the mission of the whole. The i'm
pOrtant thing to be done, III the out
set of the young mans career, is to
convince him that he has a mission,
that God has stamped upon his soal
St>j s.nS zciI
ing for each individual He has fix
ed a high mark for each. Every
soul goes forth into the universe with
divine idea in trust and is ordain-
ed to develop and unfold that idea.
Mans goal thus diyinely fixed.
To reach it is his mission. To meet
the fullest measure OF divine appro-
baton, is the lOftiest aim toward
which the young man can set his
anecticns and determine his ener-
gies.
In the achievement of his mission
it is Gods will that man should move
along those avenues which afford
him the greatest influences for good.
He achieves his mission most per-
fectly who reaches that position OF
greatest influences for good, to which
his faculties will enable him to at
tain. The man who fails in his call
ing to achieve the distinction which
lies within the range of his posi-
bilities, falls below the mark which
God has set before him.
Hence, in view of the responsi1
bilities which rest upon him and of
the possibilities which lie before
him, the young man requires special
help and encouragement and inspira-
tion. He needs all the advantages
that a Christian community can
throw about him to enable him to
become strong for life's duties. He
should be given all the inducements
possible to persuade him to make his
life take the upward trend lnnum-
cradle avenues are open for his ad-
vancement If he can not work out
his destiny,in the humber yocations,
the way yis open to fields of wider
influence. If the young man does not
observe his destiny unfold while he
splits rails for living, let him seer
,igher positions; let him determine
his energies upward. 1t is a circum-
stance of American freedom that the
blacksmith, the shop boy, the car
penter's son, the plowboy has risen to
distinction as clergyman or journalist,
or statesman, or president.
Now it is the province of the
Young Mems Christian association
to hold up before young men what
is best, to help them to become
strong in body, mind and spirit and
thus prepare them TO grasp the oppor-
tunities and work out the poSsibili-
ties which lie before them. The
Young Mems Christian association is
a monumental declaration to every
young man in the city, that no young
man with health and with faculties
untrammled should tremble before
the demands of the future, or shrink
from his responsibilities. Again the
Young Mems Christians association
stands as a perpetual protest against
the habits of the young man who
turns his back upon his opportunities,
forsakes the road of promise, turns
into the paths of iniquity, and indul-
ges in those vices which must noces-
sarily blight his faculties and ruin
his manhood. The presence of the
institutions building is always a di-
vine invitation to the young man OF
clear faculties and unclouded brain
not to commit the supreme folly Of
yielding to sin and seeking the resorts
and amusements of the fallen.
Again while the republic provides
promising possibilities which invite
our young men upward, it also sur
rounds them with tempting entice-
ments which betray them and invite
them into hell. If it could be demon
strated that majority of our young
men are in the church Of God, honor
Ing and respecting Him in daily 10y
atty and walking according to His
statutes, it would be an easy thing
to predict glorious and unclouded
destiny for the young manhood OF
America and there would be no neces-
sity for the maintenance OF a special
institution for his aid. But it is
clearly demonstrated that the major
itv Of our Young men are not in the