The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-11-27


workman's skill. We bring into The
world with us different gifts: one has
received gold, another granite. a third
marble, most OF US wood or clay Our
task is 10 fashion these Substances
Every one knows that the most pre-
cious material may be spoiled. and he
knows. too. that out of the least costly
an immortal work may be shaped. Art
Is the realization Of a permanent idea
in an ephemeral form, True life is the
realization of the higher virtues-ius-
tiee. love. truth, liberty, moral power
In our daily activities, whatever they
may be. And this life is possible In
social conditions the most diverse, and
with natural gifts the most unequal
1t is not fortune or personal advantage.
but our turning them to account that
constitutes the value OF life. Fame adds
no more than does length of days;
quality Is the thing.
Need we say that one Goes not rise to
this point Of view without a struggle
Teh spirit of simplicity is not an inner
tied gilt, bat the result of laborious
conquest. Plain living, Ike high think
ing, Is simplification. We know that
science is the handful of ultimate prin
ciples gathered out of the tufted mass
Of facts; but what groupings TO discoy-
or them Centuries of research are Of
ten condensed into d principle that a
line may state Here the moral life
presents strong analogy with the sell
entliC. II, too. begins i'm a certain con-
fusion. makes trial of itself, seeks to
understand itself. and otter mistakes.
But by dint Of action, and exactins
from himself strict account OF his deeds
man arrives at better knowledge Of
life. It's Law appears TO him, and the
law is this; Work out your mission. He
who applies himself 10 aught else than
the realization Of this end. loses n liy--
ing the raison d'etre Of life. The ego
ist does so, the pleasure seeker. the am
bilious; he consumes existence es one
eating the full corn in the blade-lTe
prevents 1t from bearing its fruit: his
life is lost. Whoever, on the contrary,
makes mis- life serve a good higher than
itself, saves ii IN giving il. Moral pre-
cepts, which to Il superficial view APP
pear arbitrary and seem made to spoil
our Zest for life have really but one
object-to preserve US from the evil
OF having lived In vain. That is why
they are constantly leading US back
into the same paths; that is why they
all have the same meaning: Do not
waste your life. make il bear fruit:
learn how 10 give il, in order that it
may not consume itself Herein is
summed up the experience of humanity.
and this experience. which each man
must remake for himself, is more pre-
cious in proportion as It costs more
dear. Illumined by its light. he makes
moral advance more and more sure.
Now he has his means of orientation,
his internal norm to which he may
lead everything back; and from the
vacillatng, confused and complex be-
ing that he was. be becomes simple.
BY the ceaseless influence of the same
law, which expands within him, and is
day by day verified in fact, his opin-
ions and habits become transformed.
Once captivated by the beauty and
sublimity of the true life by what is
sacred and pathetic in this strife of hu-
mainly for truth, justice, and brotherly
love. his heart holds the fascination of
IT. Gradually everything su5Ordinates
itself to this powerful and persistent
charm. The necessary hierarchy of
powers'is organized within him: the es-
sential commands, the secondary obeys,
and order is born of simplicity. We
may compare this organization Of the
interior life TO that of an army An
army is strong by its discipline,
and its discipline consists in re-
spect of the inferior for the supe-
rior, and the concentration of all
its energies toward single end;
discipline once relaxed, the army suf-
fers. 1t will not do to let the corporal
command the general. Examine care
fully your life and the lives of others
Whenever something halts or jars. and
and disorder follow, il
Is because the corporal has issued or
1ers TO the general. Where the natu-
-al law rules in the heart, disorder
vanishes.
I despair of ever describing simple
ty i'm any worthy fashion All the
strength of the world and all its beau
y. all true joy. everything that con-
;Oles, that feeds hope, or throws a ray
If light along our dark paths every
hing that makes us see across our
Door lives a splendid goal and a bound
eSS future, comes to us from people
# simplicity, those who have made an
'ther object Of their desires than the
passing satisfaction of selhshness and
-anity, and have understood that the
irt of living is to know how to give
me 5 life.