The Washington herald., 1907-07-08
THE OPTIMIST.

Eat, drink, and be merry, for to-
morrow you die"-that, which has a sur
face cheerfulness 10 Il, is after all but
a pessimistic wall. It runs glibly enough
of the tongue, but who Is there that
utters It that stays TO consider how much
truth it contains? Tomorrow you die"
Who is going TO assure you Of that!
The strong probabilities are that instead
of finding rest IN the grave tomorrow
you shall find the day flied with bus
tling cares and anxieties, with strenuous
need for labor and for strife, and that
If to-day has been filed only with eating
and drinking and making merry, you
shall find yourself nightly unfit for the
business you are called upon. by the
eXigencies Of living. 10 perform.
Not all the inspiration that man shall
find IS contained in the living Scriptures;
and on this very subject l find a pas
sage in the Hindu Vedas. written IN
Sanskrlt long before the Scriptures we
accept were known. Hear what the
ancient philosopher cried:
Look 20 the ezh7rtation Of the dawn.
Look to this day,
For il is Life. the ve.y life Of Life.
''In its brief course lie sH the veriiies,
All realities Of y01r existence:
The bliss rf growth,
The glory 0f action,
The sIleud.r NJ beauty.
For yesterday is hHt a dream, and tomorrow is
only a vision; but to-day. weii lived. makes
every yesterday dream Of happiness and every
j.. rHrHHqr vision 10
Look wcll. therefore 20 this dsg
such Is the salurati0n n the daWur'
That IS. I feel. a trumpat-call 10 the
duties that lie near at hand; the duties
that in his public speeches President
Roosevelt IS so fond Of emphasizing
Nor need we deceive ourselves by i'm
agulng that the duties that lie close at
home are easy Of accomplishment. We
all Of MS have dreams OF the things we
should like 10 do; the worlds we could
conquer had we the opportunity; the
Lvcs We could save; the heroic deeds
We could accomplish. But these deeds
are usually the fruit Of that tomorrow
which so seldom comes.
The fact is as it is stated I'm the
Vcdas-to-mOrrow is IN our own hands To-
day. Are we wasting our hours, throw
ing away our golden moments sliding
back instead Of pushing bravely on the
road. then by so much as we fail to-day
that bitter shall be our t0-morr0w's re-
gret Il IS iu our power If We viii. so
20 sow the ripe fields Of to-day that to-
morrow We may reap wOudroUs harvest
Of golden memories
Tomorrow is essential 20 a healthy op-
tim.sm. Il is Tomorrow that the good for
which we fight so hard to-day viii come
70 uS, pcrchauee. The road that now
is toilsome and steep and hard 10 travel.
shall il not he grassy and fair and roll
ing with gentle downward slope-to-mor-
row. To-day we are discouraged and
lonely. and our spirits fail; shall not our
friends cling. our discouragemeuts fee,
our spirits b1unI-t0-m0rr0w, Tomorrow
holds the prize OF hope, tomorrow sees
the phantom Of despair flying in the
distance Voices that we have missed
shall cheer us once again; faces that we
saw yesterday only through a mist Of
tears. tomorrow shall smile encourage
meat on our way.
20. fair tomorrow. uH-' CUT s-1's have missed
Ar- though nor FarrirE for r=. =1ra5rhe--. still!
The tlis rf promise that have never Blown
The tender Hr~ that ve have never ki=ssi-
Tie song whose high sweet strain CirlCs 1rr skill
Tie enc white par. that life hath never known