The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1906-01-04

~~~> ~-AOAASAAc
and each day the stream of life throws
up the battered hulls Of those who only
few short years since were in the full
cry OF lusty manhood or beautiful, pure
Womanhood as fair as those who launch
their craft today.
Fortunate is he who realizes in time.
the emptiness of an unbridled life, and
learns for all earthly time that real
satisfaction with life lies in living the
life that needs no explanation.
1t is far cry from Judea to Still
water, but the conditions which pre-
vailed in Christ's time were exactly the
same as those which prevail today, and
the instincts of the prodigal of Still
water are exactly the same as those
which prevailed in the breasts of the
prodigal of St. Luke; hence, as 1 said
before, the story of the man who went
wrong in days Of old, of how he decided
to ''cut it out" and after deciding, did
so, never fails to interest any man, no ].
matter how low or depraved he may
know himself to be.
l like the young man of old, because
he had the grit to follow up his deter
mination. 1t was easy to say, 81 will
arise and 60 to my father" but the do
Ing was quite another matter. Just
imagine, if you can, the picture of his
home. There was the elder brother:
he had always lived an exemplary life;
he had already made good, here; on the
other hand was the outcast, bearing the
mark of intemperance, and the brand
of the cyprian, weakened by hunger,
cold and disease; then the old servants
who would covertly sneer at his rags
and wretchedness; perhaps also there
Gwelt near blooming, black -eyed Jew
ish damsel who had once been all the
world to him, but who through his
cruelty and neglect, had lost faith in
him. In word, just imagine for your
self the picture of home. But the
young man was up against the real
thing, and up against it good and hard.
He was broke, and the friends who
slapped him on the back and jovially
called him "MOse" when he was flush.
have failed to make good for him when
the winds of adversely blow. They
were warm indeed so long as the roll
lasted, but when he was broke they
fitted to pastures new.
Thof bind nf FrionAc Fonn~r1l 49,
course nineteen hundred years ago and
they following it today. The young
man was sick, hungry and cold; the
friends of his dissipation had deserted,
and after an agonizing battle with his
weakened and perverted will, he at last
reached the only sane conclusion poss-
ible and arose and went to his father.
Practically, we ourselves, have so far
wasted our lives. Let us be honest
with ourselves, at least. Take your
self out behind the woodshed and fight
it out. Take good hard brace. Cut
out all that has gone before and firmly
resolve that from this day on that old
things have passed away. You re-
member the sequel of the story, how
the father ran to meet his wayward boy
and finally killed the fatted calf for
him. Yours and my fatted calf may
perhaps be out in the vague, misty
future, but it is there and somewhere
have faith to believe there is a hand
that will be outstretched to aid us when
we fully show a determination to be
men. Cut out your ambition tn he a
sport. 1t doesn't pay to SOW any more
wild oats. The prodigal son danced
and he paid the fiddler. You and I
danced, but we are still somewhat in
debt to the fiddler. Let us make
it the last bill we pay him.
Let us right now take warning by
the wreck which has overwhelmed us
and begin today to make good. Just
as have said to you before in my
weekly talks in another column, re-
peat, that character is formed in the
torrents of life, and while the world
owes no man living, yet it does owe
and furnishes an opportunity for him
to make that living for himself and
his loved ones if he will but embrace
it. Quit kicking yourself for your folly,
quit planning to get even with the man
whom you think ditched you, and arise
and go to your father. The meeting
will not be pleasant, but If you are to
make good you must break the ice first,
it is the only thing to do, and then by
sobrietv, honesty, industry and careful
habits of life, show the elder brothers
out in the world that you have in you
the stuff OF which men are made, and
that despite YOUR early vices and trans-,
urAHsiOns yOu are man among man