Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1903-09-30
THE ROAD TO TRUTH.
Failure to Act According to Our Ii bit
Results i'm Inability to Reason
Rightly.

'The end of man." says Carlyle, is an
action, not thought" That is not say
ing that thought is not necessary part
of all high action, of course. But
thought that stops in itself is stopping
on the road to truth. Action and action
alone, says Philadelphia Young People,
takes it forward. Prof James, the noted
psychologist, has we'll represented
thought as "Only place of transit, the
bottom of loop, both Of whose ends
have their point of application in the
outer world" All that our eyes, our
ears, our daily connection with the world
and with others bring to us, must pass
through our minds and souls, and return
to the outside world again transmitted
into action. I'm plain English, percep-
ton and thinking are only there for be-
havior's sake says the professor, and
long before modern psychology came to
this conclusion the Bible summed up the
same truth, Faith, if it hath not works,
is dead, being alone"
For this reason truth can never be
learned by mere argument. We do not
really possess a truth until we have
acted on it, and it takes continual action
on it to make it part of the fiber of our
minds and souls. We can fail to make
progress toward truth by refusing to act
upon it. The young man who holds the
Gospel message in his mind, but de-
termines not to take any action on It at
present, is losing clear perception of 1t.
and power of clear thought about it,
daily. He may not think so, he may
think instead that he is gaining an in
tellectual perception of it's difficulties.
But the fact is, that he is losing power
to act by not acting-that is all. He has
checked the advance of truth half way,
shutting it up in thought when it ought
to be set free in act. IF any man will
do His will he shall know of the doctrine
whether it be OF God" Thought alone
is powerless to know God; feeling alone
is powerless to love God. We must keep
Gods commandments, putting our emo
lions and thoughts into acts of obedience
before we can abide in His love, and
know Him whom to know Alright is life
eternal.
1t is very simple road after all. To
perceive, to think, to act-surely anyone
can reach truth without trouble. But
that third step is where many young
people pause. It is easy to see the
beauty of holiness, and easy to think
about it. Those two steps are unnoticed,
create no antagonism, make no costly
demands. But to act-that means
great deal Better wait for little more
knowledge, little more consideration
Of the matter, whispers the enemy Of
souls, and many souls yield to the whis-
per. And then, having blocked the road
to truth, they lose themselves in mazes
Of doubt, and never get anywhere. Per-
haps, like Plate, who knew the right
but refused to act upon it, they end by
falling back upon the philosophical re-
mark: What is TRUTH" Alas! the rea
son Plate never reached any further
acquaintance with truth was that he
would not act on the knowledge OF
Christ he had already. The dying thief
had not had half Pilates opportunities,
but he was man of action, and it saved
him. For many of us to-day salvation
hangs upon action. Shall we act, then
or shall we pause in the barrenness OF
thought and never reach saving truth!