Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-03-19

low through lire ] want you TO THOR !
oughly consecrate yourselves to the
Master, for If you do not you may
receive n jolt that you will never get
over. What God wants that boy to do
and what you want him to do may be
as far apart as the North star Is dis
tant from the equator. God may want
that boy to enter the ministry. God
may want that girl to go to foreign
lands as a missionary. God may want
Your son to be Il reformer with his pen.
What God wants and you, the parent,
wants may bitterly clash unless you
are ready to surrender your will to his
will.
The story is told that when James
Russell Lowell was class poet u friend
sent his father, DR.. Lowell, an ac-
count of the commencement ut Ilar-
ward at which the son bad achieved
such a brilliant success. The old gen.
tleman Mt the time was staying In
| Rome. When he received the account.
instead of being pleased. he was very
angry and said: well, well! Look at
| this. | am very sorry and disappoint-
! ed. James promised me when ! left
home that he would give up poetry
and stick to his books. | hoped he had
become less hghty." Yet 1t was as
poet that Lowell was destined to
achieve fame. Thus what God wants
your boy 10 do and what you would
like to have him do may be entirely
different. And yet my brother, all the
happiness and the usefulness of your
| 10. Jn,tlo1 wit thin 40
few months. Better pray, and pray
earnestly. that God will help him to
choose Alright in the selection Of his
life vocation. Better not let your will
run counter to Gods Will.
But after we have asked God to Sc
lect our childrcn's work in life we
must not stop here in our divine plead
ings The school or the college III
which our children prepare for their
ifc's work is important Now you had
better make praycrful selection of
the institutions TO which you send your
children during the critical formative
periods of their lives. You need Gods
help here as YOU need him in other
vital matters. You need to plead to
him for guidance just as much as the
disciples needed to pray for wisdom TO
make right selection for the vacancy
in the apostolate.
Going to College.
The older | grow the more l am
amazed to see how blindly and in what
Il don't care spirit most parents allow
their children to select the school or
college at which they are TO be edu-
Gated. Very slight and trivial reasons
weigh with the boy. Do YOU want TO
know how / went to a certain military
school? There was a boy who lived on
our block who went there. He came
home for his vacations dressed in a
beautiful uniform. That uniform, with
its silver buttons and shining chevrons,
was the envy of all the neighborhOod
Like most of the boys on our street, /
wanted to go to n school which would
let boys dress mp in uniform like that.
And, though that school Mt the time
was not what it ought to be In many
respects, yet the infnitesimal thing of
little silver button took me to that
school. where passed four long years
of the most important part of my edu-
catlonal life. Hundreds and thousands
of young folks go to q school because
friend goes there or because that COL
lege has n fine football team or because
that institution is the largest university
in the state or because that college Is
situated in the east. And the great es-
sentials of the moral and spiritual
characteristics of that educational in
stitution are passed over as though
they did not amount to anything.
Did You ever realize that a univer-
( sity or college has an atmosphere or
l soul? Are you not aware that just
!. as You have certain special character
D istics that in your life stand for some
5 thing so an educational institution has
: Its distinct personality and stands for
; something and that something Is For
[ the benefit or injury of the students
= who live within its walls? | received
[ some time ago a letter from an old and
e very dear classmate. He was writing
:. about some of the weaknesses of the
o college we both love. Then he wrote
5 this sentence, which l have often pom
e dered over, because it presented q
= truth in way that l had never had
I it driven into my mind before: "Edu
J. cational institutions are controlled by
J. Individuals who are merely human
and human actions are vital there, as
u Elsewhere" DO you grasp that ire
u mendous fact? Who are the men a
+ The head of those institutions to which
: you intend to send your boys? VIVA
+ Is the moral and spiritual status of thu
u members Of those faculties? Are the!
II noted for their Christian principles
% Are they professors who will instil
IT reverent ideas of God and of the high
u ar life? These are questions which
l. you should ponder we'll before you lie
l. that boy leave your tlreside for Soho
IS lastic halls. Better pray over that fac
lc earnestly and long. God alone can di
Al Nct you so that you will make n
'r mistake.
70 Mey Make or Break.
o. But we cannot always remain n
- school. We cannot always be prepar
-, Ing for the b tie Of life After awhi
N we must do netting besides talking
,s about what We intend to do. SO from
~ scholastic v-1lle we step forth into tn
a struggle of lif' Then we must entc
NJ into certain rasiness partnerships an
professional affiliations. Whom sha
m We trust? With whom shall we &C