The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-02
THE IDEAL IN DAILY LIFE
A Tale by Dr. Charles Wagner.
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 And whereforef Because they put l their spirit Into life, they breathed | their soul Into things. they set flaming | in the darkness the sacred fire which
 burned within them. The most miser-
 able objects. lighted by that fire of
 beauty. strength, love, reflected its flame: and. similar to the extinguished
 stars. which the light of the sun trans- forms Into torches of the night. their very affiictions, because in them their
 soul was reflected, become beacon lights of the future.
 If woman says (and the sort who does is not altogether unlxnown) T am not fond Of house-work; the soup
 kettle Is a dreadful bore; 1t is not in- | teresting; 1t is not spiritualw I am | at once aware that she is thinking of | the superficial thing-turnips without
 wings, work-roughened hands. Never | can a soup-kettle be poeticai. never which the Oriental woman of the Bible carried upon their shoulders or their heads.
 But how can the soup-kettle help it7 Is 1t the soup-kettle's part to become Q poet, have an ideal? It is you, ma dame, who must put ideal into the soup-kettle. And when I say soup | kettle. am thinking of all humble occupations. in themselves devoid of spirituality. Let us suppose I am blacking my boots: well, I must black them with a crumb of ideal. I shall do my work more cheerfully and they will shine with a finer polish. If. let us say. I am brushing my clothes q still do sometimes). what Is to pre- vent my brushing them with feeling? We must put ideal into our occupa- tions. Every act admits of an admix- ture of ideal, exactly as all meats ad- init of seasoning. We must put salt into our soup, ideal Into life. Review your memories. Remember the people who cannot be seen at work without the impulse seizing you to 1 snatch the broom out of their hands, or the hammer, or the spade and show ing them how to use 1t. There are sorry workers of the sort among in- tellectual as well as manual workers. Their attitude might discourage one from ever attempting to work. They appear all the time to be saying: What a stupid trade! My son shall certainly learn a different one! Whereas oth- CTS. Oh. in their case just the opposite is seen. You watch them at work practicing trades you would not have chosen. with so much punctu- ality, devotion. good humor, energy, with such a sense of "the useful fight of days" that they impress you as great, and the desire arises to Initiate them.
 There you have the great, the divine
 secret of a rich, and even a happy 1ifes When you see some one doing thing in such a way that you wish at once to be doing the same, halt. The op- portunity is a rare one: do not miss 1t when 1t comes.
 sometimes go and sit with women of the people, to learn of them, It Is much harder to practice the ideal on the outskirts. than in the central DOT tiops, of the city. More courage is needed to bring about a little beauty. a little charm, In common room, Q room which Is used for every purpose. than in more favorable surroundings and with several persons to assist by their services.
 TO sustain and strengthen the fibre of the ideal, let 1t be recalled to our
 minds by a whole series of witnesses Let our road. however hard it be, have as mile stons all along it, encourag- ing. signs, marks which shall call us back to order, reminders. remem- brances. When we are fainting and ready to relinquish the quest let some signal restore our strength, saying Courage! Forget not"
 Let us put ideal into our manner of dressing, of arranging our house. Nothing more interesting, more artis- tic than that sort of sculpture prac- tIced upon the frequently unwieldly
 block of ordinary existence. And
 where 1t is not possible in ones dwell ing to raise more than a very small
 monument indeed to the ideal. flower
 in a glass of water. a beloved portrait.
 a picture embodying a comforting
 thought-that is still something, 9
 protest, an affirmation of the will that
 life should become more beautiful.
 more righteous than it now is. Never
 say. One must be rich to make ones
 life beautiful"
 There is no need to buy at price of
 gold widely quoted works.
 The smallest twig serves as a perch
 for the bird. and the ideal needs only
 point to fasten upon.
 You know that the authors of the
 plays which most rouse our admiration
 for their greatness of soul, of action
 their imperishable beauty. had very
 often no stage-setting for them. Their
 plays were performed upon bare
 blanks. But those who listened were
 not troubled by the poverty of decUra-
 tion, or the smoky lamps: they lived.
 suffered, hoped with the heroes in the
 play.
 The human soul Is always equal to
 itself. The least sign can awaken ir
 1t a world. There are days when 9
 simple knot of faded flowers can re-
 store to life the whole past; when g.
 tattered banner calls up the native
 land complete; when a word. a verse.
 opens a sunny breach into the upper
 world. That is what we must keep
 in mind.
 One can hardly encourage a man suf-
 ficiently to fortify himself with num-
 erous helps to cultivate and increase
 his provision of ideal. Song. for in-
 stance, Is an astonishing vehicle
 There are songs one must know. Sing
 one must.
 "Oh." you say. T have no voice"
 am not speaking of voice, I am
 speaking of song. Even if you could
 not listen to yourself, sing inside. If
 ones voice refuses, one can repeat
 Beautiful songs. hearing their melody
 in the mind, while saying over the
 words. Yes one must often sing in-
 side. when the life outside would soon
 CT incline one to weep
 Decidedly. there Is one salvation
 only for man in the battle of life, 1t Is
 to have a soul. Otherwise nothing