Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1904-01-06

E.
pS~ It meass new chance to do better,
another year in which 70 redeem the past or add to
its accomplishments, s'e ssf go las
It means continued opportunity to be worthy Of
the mothers that GueFed 10 bring into the world,
that worried aDd struggled to develop us properly
The thought which We want to discuss today is
one which, half indistinct perhaps, dgellsin every
mind. se.ssr. isss loat
And that thought is-the absolute loneliness and
isolation OF the Individual soul.
Each Of us is q walking lump Of bone and iat and
muscle, OF animal Instincts selfish impulses guided
mainly by instinct Of seli-PssservatiOn. faia' r
But deep down inside Of each brain, inside Of the
scalp inside the bOny skull, inside the thin brown
layer that covers The brain and receives the nerve
sensationin the deepest part Of our nature, dwells
that mysterious, feeble half conscious spark which
we call the human soul.
All that there is of each one of us is that flicker
ing spark whose residence in our bodies, short at
best, depends on the heart upon the temperature,
upon a thousand material conditions
Outside Of that spark, that atom Of compound
force, everything else is matter clay that msst
go back into the ground whence it came,
You who read this-man or woman, old OF young
must be cOncious very often Of feeling Of isOla
tion.
Each human soul is as much a seperate organism
as any one OF the great planets suns. And it is
eternal and immortal and capable OF infnant devel-
Opment.
Each Of as must do his work alone, conquer him
self alone, fight out his fights alone.
at birth we come into the world alone, not under
standing and not understood by others.
At death 60 ont alone and back alone to the
mysterious source whence came.
We have our friendship, our Affections our inter-
ests in each other. But our real lives, OF work. we
must live by Ourseli.
Have you never felt this isolation in yourself,
hn q n
the rest of the wOrdi
Certainly you will feel it II any great grief comes
upon you, il any great problem outside the Ordlna
~ run Of life cOnfronts you.
This isolation of the individual is not a theory
but fact Like all great facts in life it works III
timatey for our general good.
Constantly our minds struggle to get in touch
with others, to share the interests and, II need be-
the burdens and sorrows Of the rest Of the world.
Sympathy for ourselves is changed into sympathy
for others. sense OF our own loneliness inclines
us to relieve the loneliness Of other human beings
feeling OF mental isolation is strongest undOubt
edly among the minds most highly developed. And
It Is among these superior minds that there is found
the greatest desire and the greatest effort to be Of
service to others.
The poor sympathize with the poor, as all know.
The wreck mariner feels wonderful sympathy and
affection for the other solitary human being cnging
to the spar with aim.
Each Of us, in his small, dull way, feels the isOla
tiOn Of the individual
Great souls feel this isolation keenly. It impels
them to the wonderful work, the great selisacridce
with which they devote themselves to others.
Each Of us should learn to accept loneliness Of the
spirit as part Of life. he should make up bis
mind to counteraot It and make up for Il, not by
selfinduleence by false excitement aud sellf0rget
fulness, as many do but By working to bring about
happiness in the lot Of the other lonely, struggling
beings fastened to this earth With us.