The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-06-08
There Is a Necessity for Liv-
ing at the Present, Says e.
bert Russell in BaCcaIaur-
cate Sermon.
WORLD SEEMS DARK AND
DEAD TO THE FOOL.
Feasts His Mind on IIIusionary
Beauties and Cannot Be
Reconci|ed to Those of
Today.

Prof Ebert Russell. head of the
Biblical department at ECrlham college
delivered the annual baccalaureate ser
mon Sunday forenoon and the chapel
in Lindley hall was crowded with stu
dents and their friends and relatives.
The Wisdom of Spiritual Insight"
was the theme of Professor Russel's
discourse, and it was a most instruct
i've and enjoyable address.
The necessity of living in the pres
ent and believing that now" is the
time to do good. rather than believing
that all things good lie in the dim.
hazy future, or are buried in the for
gotten past. was the subject of Prof.
Russell's sermon. In part, Prof
Russell said:
The victim of the illusion of dis
tance is one who never is, but always
to be blessed. He feels the enchant-
ment in the blue of the distant hills.
He is greatly stirred by the mystery of
the stars and he sees in them beings
free from the earth's imperfectiOns.
He believes in the efficacy of foreign
remedies and the superiority of foreign
wares. To him every stranger IS a
hero or a demi-gOd Distant time
holds the fools attention no less than
far away lands and spheres. He rev.
are unlike life today. He wOrGhips
heroes dead and knighthoOd lost, while
he builds in the far future his utOpias
and fills them with righteousness of
which he has despaired here. Ee
looks forward in confidence to glory
and peace which he is NOT earning now
and here The fools folly lies not so
much in admiring the heroism of by
gone days, nor in his OPTIMISM as to
the future, nor in seeing in other lands
riches of hope and opportunity, as in
his inability to see these things before
his face. He lacks spiritual percep-
ton and is troubled with farsightcd-
ness of heart. Even when the artist
interprets life to him he finds no re-
semblance to the artists work in
things at hand. Children only annoy
him and birds fret him out of his
morning sleep, but he is enthused by
the clever imitation by reader or sing
er on the stage. Whittiers Barefoot
Roy." gives him rapture. but he draws
aside his skirts from the r2gmuffn of
the streets. Herein lies his lack of
wisdom. He exalts the inspiration of
the fathers. but like the child Samuel.
he hears the same voice and knows
that it is jehovah To such
characters a close knowledge of reality
brings a shock of disillusionment. 1t
pains them to learn that tie great men
of the past were men of like passions
as ourselves-that Fox could not spell,
Washington held slaves. Luther was
intolerant. that Abraham lied to Phar-
aOh, that Socrates was prOfligate.
MIR. kipling'S "Muvaney - stripped of
its strange setting. turns out just to
be the heroes of factory and mine do
ing common place duty patiently. and
helping those in danger bravely. The
solar spectrum reveals there the
earth's elements; meteariteS prove to
be commonplace ores; life on Mars
follows the disruption of water and
the changes of the seasons as life does
here Facts like these bring dispai~
TO the visionary. He feels robbed of
riches. Having lost these sweet illu-
sions of the brain, the world seems
dark and dead The perception OF
the essential sameness Of life consti-
tutes the wisdom and consolation Of
the wise man. He sees not only the
failings and limitations of things near
at hand in the distance, but he also
sees the virtues and excellencies OF the
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