The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1905-02-09

plantations, our beliefs, are everywhere
confronted by facts, and these facts,
prodlgious, irrefutable, call us to order
when we would deduce life from our
reasonlngs and would wait to act until
we have ended philosophlzing. 1t Is
this happy necessity that prevents the
world from stopping while man ques-
tions his route. Travellers of a day,
we are carried along in vast move
ment to which we are called upon to
contribute, but which we have not fore
seen nor embraced in Its entirety nor
penetrated as to Its ultimate aims.
Our part is to fill faithfully the role OF
private, which has deyolyed upon us,
and our thought should adapt itself to
the situation. Do not say that we live
In more trying times than our ances-
| tors for things seen from afar are Of
ten seen imperfectly. 1t is, moreover,
scarcely gracious to complain of not
having been born in the days Of ones
grandfather.
What we may believe least contesta-
BILE on the subject Is this From the be-
ginning Of the world II has been hard
to see clearly; right thinking has been
difficult everywhere and always. In
the matter the anclents were In no
wise privileged above the moderns, and
1t might be added that there Is no diff
ference between men when they are
considered from this point Of view.
Master and servant, teacher and learn
er, writer and artisan, discern truth at
the same cost The light that humanity
acquires in advancing is no doubt of
the greatest use, but 1t also multiplles
the number and extent Of human prob
lens. The difficulty is never removed;
the mind always encounters Its obsta-
Gle. The unknown controls us and
hens us In on oil sides. But just as
ono need not exhaust a spring to
Quench his thirst, so we need not know
everything to live. Humanity lives and
always has lived on certain elemental
provisions.
We will try to point them out. First
of all, humanity lives by confidence. In
SO doing 1t but reflects, commensurate
with its conscious thought, that which
is the hidden source Of all beings. An
imperturbable faith In the stability Of
the universe and its intelligent order
Ing sleeps in everything that exists.
The flowers, the trees, the beasts Of the
field, live in calm strength, in entire Sc
curlty. There is confidence In the fall
ing rain, In dawning day, In the brook
running to the sea. Everything that
Is seems to say: II am, therefore |
should be. There are good reasons for
this, rest assured"
So, too, mankind lives by confidence.
From the simple fact that he is, man
has within him the sufficient reason for
his belng--a pledge Of assurance, He
reposes In the power which has willed
that he should be- To safeguard this
confidence, to see that nothing discon-
certs 1t, to cultivate 1t, render 1t more
personal, more evident-toward this
should tend the first effort of our
thought. All that augments confidence
within us is good, for from confidence
Is born the life without haste-tranqull
energy, calm action, the love of life
and its fruitful labor. Deep seated con
fdenee is the mysterious spring that
sets in motion tho energy within us. 1t
is our nutriment, BY 1t man lives much
more than by the bread he eats. And
30 everything that shakes this conf
dence Is evll-polson, not food
Dangerous Is every system Of thought
that attacks the very fact of life, de-
claring 1t to be an evil, Life has been
too often wrongly estimated in this
century. What wonder that the tree
withers when Its roots are watered
with corroslves. And there Is an ex-
tremely simple reflection that might
be made IN the face Of all this mega
tion. You say life Is an evil Well
what remedy for 1t do you offer2 Can
you combat 1t, suppress it2 | do not
nsk you to suppress your own life, to
commit suicide--of what advantage
would that be to us?-but to suppress
life, not merely human life, but life
at its deep and hidden origin, all this
upspripglng of existence that pushes
toward the light and, to your mind, is
rushing to mlsfortune | ask you to
suppre the will to live that trembles
througl the immensitles of space, to
supprt ss, In short, the source Of life.
Can You do it2 No. Then leave us in
peace. Since no one can hold life In
check is 1t not better to respect it
and use II than to go about making
other people disgusted with it2 When
one knows that certain food Is danger
Gus to health he does not eat II, and
when certain fashion of thinking
robs us of confidence, cheerfulneSs and
strength we should reject that, certain
not only that 1t is a nutriment noxious to
the mind, but also that It is false, There
is no truth for man but in thoughts
that are human, and pesslmism is in
human. Besides, 1t wants as much in
modesty as in logic. TO permit one
self to count as evil this prodlglous
thing that we call life one needs have
seen its very foundation, almost to
have made 1t, What a strange attl-
tude is that of certain great thinkers
of our timesl They act as II they had
created the world very long ago, In
their youth, but decidedly 1t was mis-
take, and they had we'll repented 1t,
Let us nourlsh ourselves from other
meat, strengthen our souls with cheer
ing thoughts. What Is truest for man
is what best fortlhes him.
If mankind lives by confidence, It
lives also by hope-that form of conf
dence which turns toward the future
Ali life is result and an aspiration;
all that exists suppOses an origin and
tends toward an end. Life is progress
sion; progression is aspiration. The
progress Of the future is an indnltude
of hope. Hope Is at the root Of things
and must be reflected in the heart of
man; no hope, no life, The same pow
er which brought us into being urges
us to go up higher. What is the mean
ing of this persistent instinct which