The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1908-12-24

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the rules Of perfect balance and perfect
Justice which govern the universe in all
else are broken here. II surely were q
denial of that Justice if those whose
every day Of their stay on earth is but
time in which to bear the agonizing tor.
ments Of bitter cross, were to be de-
MED the euualizing compensation of an
equivalent reward And finally to those
of US who believe in revelation, based
assuredly upon faith without proof con
elusive to the skeptic, there comes evi.
depce viii IN admits no cavil.
And yet when all has been said, when
the testimony is all in do we not believe
merely because we believe, by instinct,
by inspiration. by faith alone where
we can not prove? Why was this long,
ing implanted in our being? Why do
we shrink back from the fate of obi
Won? Our thoughts 60 ont in this high
quest for more perfect life, with an in
tense longing planted in our hearts by
that Intelligence which created matter
and enacted the infinitely balancing
laws that govern it, and the voice with
in, scorning the pigmy rules Of logic.
assures us that all will be well, and it is
incopceivable that the great Power that
supplies that voice could taunt us with
lie. And having arrived at the point
where, with total acceptance. we en-
brace the comforting assurance that
what is here apparently An end is in
reality but the beginning of an eternity,
our intelligence instnctively asks,
what them Does the condition now
of those who have gone before depend
upon the manner of their life here? Are
we to be held to an accountability for
what we 40 and what we areY The
whole plan has no significance If this be
not its contamination and yet how utter
" erroneous to attempt to Judge with fl
mite understanding the play of infinite
forces.
Two mighty powers. heredity and en-
vironment, grip us at our birth, limit
our possibilities. and control in some
measure our destiny here.
What measure then Of shame and
blame. or honor and reward does the
individual deserve for being what he ia?
We DO not know, it might not be well
for us to know. just how important
are these two factors, it is impossible TO
guage or even estimate. Human gov
ornamental agencies must perforce hold
each individual to a responsibility for
weighing the force of heredity or en-.
vironment but the infinite has no limits
to its understanding. And this doctrine
is not fraught with danger. 1t need not
lead to blind fatalism. Man can know
these things and still believe that in
spite Of encompassing environment, in
spite Of the almost irresistible impulses
implanted in his being by the nourish-
ment of centuries, that he is still mast.
er of his ultimate fate
We are no longer deuded by the play
of the inevitable forces into the thought
that we are in no measure responsible
for our faith or works of commissions.
Poetic Justice" is fundamental truth
of the universe Haman choking high
upon the gibbet he had prepared for
Mordecai pictures forth that subtle law
by which the whole creation makes re-
spouse to human life and human action.
Ours is wonderful universe, not 20
much with respect to the grandeur of
its sunsets and splendor of the stars as
for the perfect balance Of its forces.
Haman, hoist with his own petar, bad
Justly earned his fate Not bud ire
mors but in some delicate degree the
stars are affected Not a withered leaf
floats across summer meadow, but all
nature is sympathetic with its Grand
And with this knowledge, in spite of the
play of blind immensursble forces a.
factors in shaping the temporary human
destiny, we can still TEST in abiding con.
viction that the scales of Justice. tine
tured with Divine mercy, will be bal.
anced with an infinite precision; that
the causes beyond human reckoning will
receive their exact credit. and that ap
infinite wisdom will be justified
If we come to see those laws Of ma
tnre we do not cease to believe in and
to trust Him who is that law and cause
rather does believe in Him become q con-
viction. \
Bnt it is apparent that these exterior
forces are not entirely beyond our con.
troll. 1t has been said of genius that it
creates its opportunities. Men sipgly.
and in vastly greater degree men en
masse, when actnated by a common
purpose, can in some measure control
their environment; by taking thought
and moving in concert, in the spirit of
COT operation, they can move mountains
in recognizing the mutual interdepen
dence of all by voluntary association in
to help pledged bodies they soften and
snbdue the strangling force of bitter
events which must come to some of their
units. And so we feel that the mem
bers of this order need make no apology |
for banding themselves together in
brotherly union Modern fraterpalism
,v han npra in DurpOse and not q ,uiser