Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1906-05-18
-, WILL POWER.
~ Rev. Charles E. Jefferson.

&C w ILL IN " GA''
~ Rev. Charles E. Jefferson.
,or man willeth.-JOhn 1911.
nes the custom of Jesus of Naz-
~ Mace tremendous emphasis on
ill His first question was:
vfIt thou?'' and His last word
aRe if done unto thee even as
wilt,
arg in danger to-day of overlook
IN, mower of the individual will.
no inst now fascinated by aggre-
consultations and declarations.
y .,dfridual becomes less and less,
,rnoratfOn and the union become
md more. We explain life by
,.nca to heredity, complex of
in the blood, Or to environment,
.uIov of forces known as society.
nsp these words until they take
.,on ont of us and we sink down,
,c that we are the victims of
O. which cannot be controlled,
unpets manipulated by powers
IL arc irresistible. How frequent
70 talk about our dispositions and
circumstances. our nature and our
and how seldom we think about
disabilities of our will.
This day. when much is said Of
,t world powers, it is we'll to remind
olives that the greatest of all these
rsrs is that of the human will. 1t
memorable day when the little
n saws for the first time, Il Will
II will not" The mothers heart
wed bv it. The child has always
and sometimes thought. but now
rprsonality for the first time stands
81 and registers itself in decision.
new will has been introduced into
home and the home will never be
rp the same again. 1t will be better
worse The danger and glory Of
ne life lies in the play and inter
Of free and independent wills.
HE world is changed by the action
rman wills. What is a great man
human will incarnate? The
lprS and c0nquerors and redeemers
history have all been men of gi-
ic tpnacity of will. They made
ain choices. decided that definite
rs should come to pass, and the
am of history was thereupon turn
s INTO a new channel.
NE are amazed at the prodigiOus
4q of radium; an ounce OF 1T is
science says. to lift 10000 tons of
her a mile. But what Is the force
adum compared with the power OF
soul? Has not Washington lifted
republic and John Wesley a king
b. and Martin Luther half a con-
Fnt, and is not Jesus of Nazareth
81lg the world?
4 What great man have done they
#yp done through their wills, and
s2tpyer We shall accomplish must
Ct from the decisive acts of our own
#L
Eve create our own world. We
Pose our food, our books and COM
slionS. We do more than this; we
pose our thoughts and our feelings,
Y memories and our hopes. By de-
slDg the kind of thought we will en-
#Tain and the sort OF feelings we will
n and cherish, we determine our dis
32ton and character and the whole
FL and tendency of our life. We may
s& morbid feelings or StarVe them.
may brood over dark memories or
PUSH them we may enthrone Chris
II forms of thought and emotion, or
may strange these and hand the
sdom over to moods which are SOM
1 and to ideals which are pagan.
natter what our innate tendencies
~ be, we can curb them if we will,
no matter how turbulent and adj
" our circumstances. we can con-
/" them by the forthputting of the
l@ses of the soul.
p
man has not learned how to live
.,1 he can say:
am the master of my fate.
am the captain of my soul"
40 bring the human will into har-
.@ with Supreme will is the task
%>leG rs all. Freedom and joy be-
.~T ours in proportion as our will
.~eS at one with the divine will
'"Soout the circle of our life. Look
|, axe the face Of Jesus we say:
\" wills are ours we know not how.
PCS wills are ours to make them
Thine"
',>NG TO HIMSELF.
y New. Russell H. Conwell, D. D.
'S1'-'lf any man among you seem
vt religious. but deceiveth his own
.@'" this mans religion is vain. =
'~e> 20.