Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1905-02-02
By CHARLES WAGNER

So, too, mankind lives by confidence.
From the simple fact that he is, man
has within him the sufficient reason for
his bclng--a pledge Of assurance. Eo
repOscs in the power which has willed
that lie should he. 70 safeguard, this
confidence, 10 see that nothing discOn
CcrtS 1t, to cultivate II, render it more
personal, more evident toward this
should tend the first effort of our
thought. All that uugments confidence
within us is good. for from confidence
is born the life without haste tranquil
energy, calm action, the love of life
and its fruitful labor. Deep seated con.
ildencc il the mysterious spring that
sets in motion the energy within us. It
is our nulrimcnt BY 1t man lives much
more than by the bread lie eats. And
50 everything that shakes this conf
dcnce is cyil-polson, not food.
Dangerous IS every system of thought
that attacks tho very fact Of life. de-
llaring ii to he an evil. Life has been
too often wrongly estimated in this
century. What wonder that tho tree
withCrs when its roots are wateicd
with currosiycs. And there IL an cx-
trcmcly simple reflection that might
be made in the face Of all this mega
tion. Hou say life is an evil. Well,
what remedy for II do you affcr2 Can
you combat it, suppress It? do not
ask You 10 suppress your own life, 10
commit suicide-of what advantage
gould that he to us?-'but to suppress
life, not merely human life, but life
Mt its deep and hidden origin, all this
upsprngiug OF existence that pushes
toward the light and. to your mind, is
rushing TO misfortune; / ask you 20
suppress the will to live that trCmblcs
through the immeustcs Of space, TO
suppress, in short, the source of life.
Can You do it? No. Then leave us in
peace. Since no one can hold life in
check is it not Letter To respect iC
and Use it than 10 70 about making
other people disgustcd with it? When
one knows that certain food is danger
GUS To health lac does not eat it, and
when Il certain fashion Of thinking
IObS lis Of confidence, chCcrfulness and
strength we should reject that. certain
not only that IL is Il nutrimcnt noNiOus to
the mind, but also that it is false There
is no truth for man but in thoughts
that are human, and pcsSmSm is in
human. BESIDES. il wants rs much in
modcSty as in logic. 10 permit one
self TO count as evil this prodigious
thing that we call life one needs have
seen its very foundation, almost TO
have made Il. What a strange atti-
tudc is that Of certain great thinkers
of our times! They act as if they had
created the world very long ago, in
their youth. but decidedly IL was mis-
take, ana they had well repcnted II.
Let MS nOurish ourselves from other
meat, strengthen our souls with cheer
ing thoughts. What Is tucst for man
is what best fortihcs him
If mankind lives by confidence, it
lives also by hOpe-that form of conf
dencc which turns toward the future
All life Is Il result ANA 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 infnitude
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
or which brought us into being urges
us to go up higher What is the mean-
ing Of this persistent instinct which
pushes us on? The true meaning is
that something is TO result from life,
that out of 1t is being wrought good
greater than itself, toward which it
slowly moves, and that this painful
sower called man needs, like every
sower, to count on the morrow. The
history Of humanity is the history of
indomltable hope; otherwise everything
would have been over long ago. To
press forward under his burdens, 70
guide himself IN the night, to retrieve
his falls ana his failures, 10 escape de-
spair even i'm death, man has need Of
hoping always, and sometimes against
all hope. Here Is the cordial that sus-
tains him. Had we only logic we
should have long ago drawn the con-
elusion, Death has everywhere the last
word, and we should be dead Of the
idea. But we have hope, and that Is
why We live ana believe IN life.
gYteo fhp nrpaf monk aud mystic