Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1907-01-03
SER M ONETTE.
(Copyright, lvO6. by tie author,
W. s. Edson.J

, religious ncples which Is In
!. volved in this incident In the
; life of the young man Daniel
there are others of moral char
; acter which emphasize lmpor-
tant lessons for young manhood
, of to-day. First of all there is
the lesson of loyalty to God In
, whatever place and whatever
circumstances one finds himself.
, When at Rome to do as the
Romans do may be the most
, polite and the most popular and
pleasant, but 1t brings no such
? reward as comes to the brave
soul who when away from home
and amidst conditions of moral
: chaos, stands firm for clean ilv-
ing and pure thinking.
. Then we find here the lesson
of self-control; the mastery of
: the animal appetites and de-
sres. II is only through such
: conquest that the higher quail
: ties of mind and heart can be
: developed. Plain living makes
for clean thinking. Where the
; stomach holds the scepter,
mind and heart are but vassals,
: never rising above the plane of
the mere sensual and temporal.
: Self-control is marked by
three elements. First that OF
!. di'cernment, the recognition Of
good from bad, wholesome from
the unWhoIesome. Where there
Is lack of moral sense, failure
to draw sharp line between
those things which lift up and
those which lower and degrade,
there can be little of self-con-
troll, for the life exists only for
the whims and desires of the
moment, much as with a child,
that knows no higher law than
those of the physical senses.
The first step then to self-con-
troll is discernment of the right.
The next element of seIf-con.
troll is that of decision; deter
: mination to follow the right
course. Multitudes of young
! men know right from wrong
{ who never reach the second
! stage of self-control, who never
{ decide for the right. They know
! they ought to, and they are al
Z ways going to, but they lack
that positiveness of character
Z which brings them to the place
of willing to do the right. There
Z is no doubt that there were
7 many Jewish youths other than
Z Daniel and his three friends at
: the kings palace who knew the
4 right course for Jew to take,
= but they lacked that decision of
z character which would have
: placed them unwaverinely on
3 the side of Righteousness.
And the third element of self
Z control is contamination. The
7 life is transformed by the will
Z within. Decision becomes crys-
7 tallzed into deeds, and the high
Z ideal becomes the reality. To
7 will and to do become one.
! Many a good intentioned life,
I many an inward purpose to do
\ right never attains because the
I outward conduct has not been
\ conformed thereto.
One other lesson we wish to
Z draw for the young man ct to-
\ day. II is that of influence; the
7 power of one life over that of
= another. We may we'll ques-
7 ton whether Hananiah, Mish-
= asi and Azariah would ever have
! taken the stand they did had
7 not Daniel bravely stood forth
and declared his purpose. "No
I man liveth to himself alone" II
I is simply impossible for one to
Z go through life without exerting
an influence either for good or
= III. And your decision upon an
! important line of conduct may
= lead others to right choice.