The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1905-06-02

| WlInOul preparation ne repneu,
whole life has been a preparation for
that speech. felt as If everything /
had ever seen or read or heard was
noating before me in one grand pano-
rama" This man who in infancy was
q weak sickly babe doomed to an early
grave by the wise heads of his time had
thus risen to manhood and command
ed the attention of the whole nation
simply because he had made sure his
preparation and was ready when the
opportunity came.
! The ready man is the man who has
| tolled long and hard to be ready. The
| genius reaps only where he has soWn.
Let us turn our attention for the re-
mainder Of our time to the preparation
which we all need to make in order to
meet life's opportunities and make the
most of them. This is an age of
| specialization. But so closely related
are all of natures laws that the special
ist must have a broad and comprehen-
sive knowledge in order to best inter
pref his own special line of investiga-
| ton. The merchant need not be a
| psychologist but he must study the
mind and temperament of his customer.
The farmer need not be scientist but
he must know the properties of soil
and the nature Of plants.
The broad preparation is the best
preparation for complete living. The
first element in this preparation should
be close acquaintance with nature.
/ mention this first because it is the
element to which we are earliest intro
duced. 1t is free to poor as well as
rich. The prattling babe soon learns
to welcome the music of the birds and
to drink in the beauty and fragrance of
the flowers. IL has been said that the
laws of nature are the thoughts of God.
Hence in the study of His creation we
are enabled to think His thoughts after
Him. "TO him who in the love of
nature holds communion with her visi-
bic forms she speaks varied Ian
guage."
The boy who takes time to observe
the patience, perseverance and skill of
the birds as they build their nest and
care for their young will not only swear
lifelong friendship for the birds but he
will go to his own tasks with renewed
patience and determination. He has
been reading the thoughts of God and
did not know it. The girl who wit
nesses the transformation of the ugly
worm into the beautiful moth, has UNI
Willingly caught glimpse of new
beauty in the lOwly and humble tasks
of life. The study of nature has open
ed her eyes toward heaven.
Nature gives us lessons of justice.
Longfellow once said, perhaps it
would be well for our race if the pun
ishment of crimes against the laws of
man were as inevitable as the punish
ment OF crimes against the laws OF
nature,-WeTe man as unerring in his
judgment as nature" Nature gives
us lessons of truth, for God is truth.
Nature lends coloring to the events OF
every day and every season and because
of this no man is fully prepared to
meet life squarely, face TO face, until
he has drunk from the fountains Of
nature, the essence of justice and
mercy, of love and fortitude. a close
acquaintance with nature then shall be
the first element in our preparation for
life.
The second element in the prepare
ton for q successful life is an acquain-
lance with the best literature. Chas.
ID. Warner says that "good literature
is as necessary to the growth of the
soul as good air to the growth of the
body, and it is just as bad to put weak
it up in an unventilated room. Since
we form our literary tastes and habits
Of reading almost wholly in our youth,
the burden of responsibility in the
choice of material rests heavily upon
the parents. And what responsible
ity! The market is flooded with litera-
ture New books are appearing every
day. We cannot read them all and
how can we choose? In the first place |
let it be said that there are thousands |
of books put out every year the reading !
of which would be a useless waste of |
valuable time TO say the least. In the |
second place let it be borne in mind |
that there are among the books which |
have been tested throughout the years,
more good, wholesome and helpful |
books than the ordinary person could |
find time to read. Let us not make |
the mistake of thinking that the child
cannot apprehend a story that has
depth of meaning; let us not think that
immortal books are for the scholar
only, and hence we must make book
fit for the child. The book which gives
the child an unconscious love for truth,
which leads him to form correct moral
which fills his mind with
lofty ideals of human life is the book
that he ought to read.
1t is not my purpose at this time to
outline course of reading but rather
to emphasize its importance. 1 have
not time to say here what should be
read but / do want to sound the warn
ing that our young people land older
ones too are wasting time and energy,
will and judgment, and
Incidence and immortality in
Lhe kind of reading they are doing.
With DR.. VIM. Claiming / say,-"God
be thanked for books. They are the
voices of the distant and the dead and
make us heirs to the spiritual life of
past ages. No matter how poor l am,
no matter though the prosperous of my
own time will not enter my obscure
lwelling-if Milton will cross my
threshold to sing TO me Of Paradise,
md Shakespeare open to me the worlds
If imagination and the workings of
he human heart and Franklin enrich
ne with his practical wisdom shall
lot pine for want of intellectual COM
)anionship and / may become a cul-
waited man thouOh pYpludpd from fha |