Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-29


that have all the divine potentialities. like
the acorn having infolded within it all the
possibilities of the towering oak, spirits In
the germ. We are not bodies with souls.
but we are soul-spirits dwelling In our
mortal bodies. And every well-poised per-
son, every developed person, Is master of
the body physical and of the body men,
tal master of his deeds and of his words.
Since the soul-spirt is the man, the i'm
portant part of u.s. 1t is this that should
have full and free expression. We should
do all that expands our inner man. all that
enlarges him, that enables him to grow to
his full stature.
All that is good and great in US should
find Its expression, should be given the op-
portunity to develop and manifest itself;
all the higher and better part of ma
lures should be freed from the lower things
that bind them.
Anything that subordinates the soul and
prevents the man from coming into his true
life which Is high and spiritual, has a
harmful effect on the entire career and
is as far from the normal idea as is self
conceit. II one have the impulse to do
good and suppress it the reaction is certain
to follow. 1t Is better to express the i'm
pulse, in however slight a way. even If one
cannot realize ones deepest and fullest
wishes in philanthropy.
Lack of charity, continued fault finding,
the attempt to do task that is beneath
our esteem narrows the soul and the high
er life. Love of the truer sort, broad think
expand them. 1t is these and all the graces
and all the virtues that we should express.
1t Is Easy
To take everything that comes to hand and
compose the web of our lives with the
things that we happen into, hit or miss,
and neglect the greater vital interests that
would make our lives worth while The
supreme error in our careers sometimes is
that we do not seize upon the vital things
and discard the non-essentials; that we do
not rise to our proper godlike surroundings
and do not grow to our divine statures. We
live in wood and stone and metal. In glossy
silk and the carnal things of the flesh. But
the life is more than meat and the body
than raiment. All these things are of the
body and with the body they perish.
What does 1t profit man il he gain the
whole world and lose all that sustains and
develops his soul, which is himself? 1t Is
as II We In going on journey put our
selves to great pains to gid and betassel
our carriage, but on reaching our destina-
ton stepped out in rags to meet our host.
This feshly carriage wherein We travel
through the world needs its due need Of
attention that 1t may be in thorough trim
and repair for service. But how dis
proportionate Is our sense of values IL we
consecrate all our noble powers of mind in
giving 1t clothing and Shelter and fanci-
full foods.
1t is ourselves. the man, the soul, that is
the immortal pilgrim, who makes his cease
less journeys, and who Is not to be con-
founded with the carriages wherein he
travels. 1t Is we who live forever, and 1t
is therefore the things that become a part
of us and contribute to our growth that
are of US.
We
Must know that our aspirations are in some
respects faulty until they include the rising
OF all others with US. until know we
rise truly as others rise.
We may pile perfection upon perfection
and amass all the virtues in the holy books,
but somewhere in us still testers the sore of
the vilest of our brethren. We are no
stronger or greater than the least of these.
This helps us to give our own personal
success It's proper proportions and place.
Naturally, with our limited self-centered
view, they appear out of all due proper
tlon to the rest We see them under the
near whereby they magnifed And
others are seen under the illusion of the
far whereby they are unduly minimized.
We must not regard our personal mat
ters are thus overweeningly important.
1t is the success of the whole that is mo-
mentous. And our success In all It's de-
tails is important only because IL contrib
utes TO the success of the whole. We must
be particular about our achievements, be-
cause every detail counts in the perfection
of the entire structure.
But the success for which We must work
as the great goal is the success that means
the success of all We must do that which
means a growth of grace In all, that which
elevates and spiritualzes all. We must
lose our lives and their pettinesses In the
life of the whole. And that Is the way
that we shall find them. In the end we
shall see that we grow individually. not by
building up our individual selves so much
as by building up all. That the only way
whereby we can attain our full stature is
by reckoning with the growth of others.
A scholar, for example, may accumulate
much learning. but great faculties lie Who'll
IN dormant until he begins to communl-
cate his erudition to others by speech and
pen This giving In itself Is a marvellous
embodiment of power in many ways
We may take any phase of our develop
ment and we find the rule always the same.
Always we must overhead the small con-
fines of the individual self and expand
freely through the whole, merging into
others, reckoning with others, II we would
reach our perfection.
ADA MAY KRECKER.