Evening star., 1906-03-11
Sunday Morning Talk.
The Steady Pull.

He can't buckle down to steady work"
How often in the course of a year we hear
this or that person thus characterized. The
employer says it of his employe. and pos
sibly the employe has reason to say 1t OF
his employer. The mistress says 1t concern
ing her maid. and like as not the maid says
1t under her breath concerning her mistress.
The mother says il concerning her growing
lad and wonders If she is to blame. The
teacher says 1t concerning his pupil and
struggles away at the problem of securing
steadiness.
And the notable fact In connection with
such cases Is that 1t is frequently possible
TO say any number of pleasant things about
these same undisciplined, Embarrassed, un-
stable people. They are often blest with
charming manners; they are good company:
they are sometimes brilliant; they can oc-
casionally do single piece of work more
effectively and more captivatingly than can
the steady puler. But even then, the re-
mark which the darkey applied to his old
horse fits them. In view OF the fact that
when he was whipped he would bound for
ward at vigorous pace for few rods and
then NOPE along until the lash was again
piled. Sambo sasaciously declared that the
horse had a thin skin but very short
memory.
There was a man of this type In Old Tes-
lament times whose father the patriarch ia
cob is declared to be as unstable as water.
Just what is the force of the comDarison7
Well water to serve the various needs OF
men has to be pent up within artificial bar
riers; otherwise 1t will all run away. You
must keep it within the bounds Of the pitch
er IL you would relieve your thirst. You
must restrain II behind the dam II you
would have 1t turn your mill wheel. So
the unstable man requires artificial props,
the ringing of the O'Clock bell In the
morning, the laying down OF minute rules,
the sharp compusion of the goad, the spur
of an iron. external law to make MIN count
for something In the world He has no
root in himself" as the New Testament
parable says of a certain type OF man.
None Of his friends or neighbors Will ever
call him "Old Reliable. He Will always
be an uncertain factor. He VIII fail you
just at the moment when you Will De most
relying on him.
But need he be so unsteady? Not IL he
discerns the fact that this universe Is OF
dered on the principle of the steady pull.
What II the earth should take notion not
to reyolve any more about the sun. giving
as an excuse that 1t was tired of doing
what It has been doing so monotonousiy
for thousands of years? What IL the seeds
in the spring time should suddenly go on q
simultaneous strike and refuse to expand
and growf What II your mother, Reluctant
School-Boy should decline any longer to
prepare your breakfast In season to get you
off to sehooi7 Don't we see what a disar-
ranging of this universe and of all the af-
fairs of men would take place X the steady
pull became suddenly unfashsonable?
But, thank heaven. the powers around us
and above us and the gracious human pres
ences that minister so regularly to us find
their highest joy in the steady pull. The
morning stars shout together as they full
MI their courses and your mother would In
finitely rather get your breakfast than lie
abed and have you go hungry.