Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1905-02-16

/ in the dark, feel oneself torn between
the contrary solicitations of conflicting
calls. or. again, to face a duty gigantic.
I Overwhelming, beyond our strength
/ what IL harder! And such things hap
| pen. We would neither deny nor con
test the tragedy in certain situations or
the anguish Of certain lives. And yet
duty RARELY has TO make itself plain
across such conflicting circumstances
or to be struck out from the tortured
mind ike lightning from storm
cloud. Such formidable shocks are OK
. ceptiOual. We'll for Us If We stand
stanCh when they come. But If 40 one
is astOnishcd that oaks are UUrUDtud
: by the Whirlwind. that wayfarJr
stumbles at night on IN unknown rOad
or that a soldier caught between two
fires is vanQuIshCd. 10 more should he
condemn without appeal those who
have been worstcd in almost supcrhu-
man moral conflicts. To succumb an.
der the force Of numbers or obstacles
las never been counted a disgrace
So my wslpOns are at the service Of
those who ntrcnch themselves behind
the imprcgunble rampant Of duty i'll
defined. complicated ur contradictory.
But IL is not that which occupies me
today; it is of plain-I had almost said
easy--duty that I wish 10 speak.
We have yearly three or four high
feast days ami many ordinary ones.
There are likewise some very great and
dark combats to wage. but beside these
is the multitude Of plain and simple
duties. Now. while in the great en-
counters our equipment is generally
adequate. il is precisely in the little
emergencies that we are found want
Ing. without fear Of being mi;lod 10y
purudOXical form Of thought, ! gr-
firm. then. that tie essential thing is
to fulfill our simple duties ana exercise
elementary justice. In general. those
who lose their souls do 50 not because
they fail 10 rise 10 difficult duty. but
because they neglect 10 perform that
which is simple. Let us illustrate this
truth.
lie who tries 10 penetrate into the
humble underworld Of society is not
slow to discover great misery, physical
and moral. And the closer he looks
the greater number of unfurtunatcS
does he discover, till in the end this
assembly of the wrctchcd appears to
him like great black world. in whose
presence the individual and his means
Of relief are reduced TO hclplCSsncss.
1t is true that he feels ilupcllCd to run
to the suucOr Of these unfurtunutuS.
but ut the same time he asks himself,
"Whut is the usc?" The case is GER
I tainly hcartrcnding. Some, in despair.
/ end by doing nothing. They lack
, neither pity nor good intention, but
these bear no fruit. They are wrong.
. Often Il man has not the means to do
5 good on Il large scale, but that is not
: n reason for failing TO do it at all. 50
L many people absOlve Themselves from
5 any action on the ground that there is
/. too much to do! They should be re-
; called to simple duty, and this duty
' in the case Of which we speak is that
) each one, according u his resources,
I leisure and capacity, should create re-
latiOnS for himself among the world s
: disinheritcd There are people who by
$ the exercise Of little good will have
I succeeded in enrolling themselves
+ among the followers Of ministers and
. have iugratiatCd themselves with
!. princes Why should YOU not succeed
10 in forming relations with the poor and
q i'm making aCQuaimtanCpS among thg
I workers who lGcl; somewhat the no
$ cCsSitics Of life: When a fcw families
Il are known. with their histories. THEN
t mtcccdcntS and their difficulties, You
t may he of the gr2atost Use to them hy
8 acting the part Of brother will
- the moral ana material aid that is
j. yours To give II Is true you viii have
attacked only one little coruc". hui
e you will have done what you coulj
o and perhaps have led another on L
:, follow you. Instead Of stopping al
t the knowledge that much wrctched
Y ness. hatred. diSuniOn and vice cyis
e in society yen will have introduced {
70 little good among these evils. And by
n however slow degrees such Kindness as
g yours is cmulated the good viii sensi
Il bly, increase ana the evil diminish
+ Even were You 10 remain alone in this
r undertaking yOu would have the rs
Surancc that in fulfilling the duty
t. plain as a child's which offered itsel
It Won were doing the only reasonable
# thing. If YOU have felt it so, you hav,
IS found out one OF the secrets Of RICH
Y living
e In its dreams mans ambition EN-
o braces vast limits, but it is rarely civ
r en- us to achieve great things. and eve,
n then quick and sure success Away
p rests on Il groundwork Of patient prep
e aration Fidelity in small things is q
Il the base Of every great achievement
It We too often forget this, and yet n
y truth needs more to be kept in mind
. particularly in the troubled eras Of his
p tory and in the crises of individual life
IS In shipwrecll n splintercd beam. a
l. oar, any scrap of wreckage, saves us
n On the tumblng waves OF life, whe
N everything seems shattered TO frae
re ments let us not forget that n singl
1t one of these poor bits may become on
il plank Of safety. To dcspise the rem
D; nants is Generalization
2. You are ruined man, or you N
Is stricken by great bereavement, o.
II again. you sec the fruit of tOilsom
j. years perish before your eyes. 70
cannot rebuild your fortune raise th
dead, recover your lost toll, and in tn
10 face of the inevitable your arms drOI
10 Then you neglect to care for your pc
20 son, TO Keep your house. to guide yoJ
III children. All this is pardonable, IN
'e how easy to understand! But it is e!