The Lynden tribune. [volume] (Lynden, Wash.) 1908-current, 1910-11-24
THIS PAPER REPRESENTED FOR FOREIGN
ADVERTISING BY THE

BRANCHES IN ALL THE PRINCIPAL CITIES
When a man wakes up to himself
If ever he does in this world-it Is u
the fact that he is an individual Will
individual responsibilities. He has al
ready learned that he has individual
rights. He cried about that before IN
could talk. He has discovered that ne
has individual powers. He exercised
them on some other baby or on me
cat before he could walk. But his In
diyJ,al responsibilities ne was not an
anxious to assume before he woke
up, as long as someone else wouio
ASSUME them. lie was willing for ex-
ample that his mother should nave
the responsibility Of remembering Una
the wood and water had to Do
brought in and the chickens fed reg
ularly. This Individual found himself
only a small fragment of the mass OF
human society, hedged in, and borne a
long by the whole. so being In a me
sure compelled to do as others do, ne
shifted the responsibility for his own
misdeeds and shortcomings upon the
rest OF the mass and let it 60 at tina
In his way he was fairly comfortable
dntil he awOke.
Then 1t occurred to him to ask HIM
self seriously the questions: what am
l here for? How did come here!
Who gave me my powers? What am
l doi,.g with them? Is the Being re-
sponsible for my being. watching to
see what am doing with my endow-
ment? Where am l going when l so
hence? Will my work here affect my
welfare hereafter? When a man has
ser'"usly asked himself these quest
ions f. the first time. he has come t.
the parting Of the ways. Henceforth
he will be moral drlfte,. or he Will
be a man Of moral force 1t is q great
thing to have walked up and to have
taken up willingly ones responsible
ties. LifG fits up with meaning.
with purpose. 1t fairly tingles with
life at every nerves end.A man NOR
ally wide awake grows more in q
minute than the other man does in a
month lie forgets more in months
than the other man ever learns. Grow
ing thus in grace and in knowledge
It is presumable that he keeps up the
same pace beyond the bounds Of this
world We cannot think otherwise.
What the moral sleepyhead does be-
yond the door Of death is not guess
able. Let us speculate on things more
profitable.
Dodging responsibility is like dodg-
ing dollars thrown at you. One can't
get much solid satisfaction out Of life
unless it comes through some respon.
sibilitv willingly and assumed. l know
tramp who thinks he has the art VI
living down to a fine point He foot.
free and care-free, he says. He comes
and goes at his own sweet will. He h,
and goes at his own sweet will. FL
has seen more Of the world than mau
men Of wealth. But he has looked onl!
into the worlds back door as al
outsider and an Outcast. He may b.
foot-free, but he Is also foot-sOre ant
foot-cold. He does not have to chol
his winters wood ; but neither has b
the funof burning 1t. have a neigh
Dor who has not married because h
doesn't want the bother of having
woman about the place. He live
in a womanless abin. He eats cold,
womanless lunches. He has all the un
laundered marks Of a wOmanless mar
He may have something in the wa
OF care-freedom to be thankful fol
But who would live in c0mmunit
up of such householders? Like tn
tramp he Is a social shirk.
l know q man who so wanted t
make money by ways that his cor
science would not approve, that he II
corporated himself. Under cover Of hi
corporation he sat down smugly t
devour widows houses and TAX
bread out Of orphans mouths. HI
responsibility went only to the lin
where he cut OFF the coupons. The so,
less corporation took the rest an
of course nobody was damned for 1
because nobody can damn thing
without a soul. A man Of this type Il
a social sneak. He can never have tn
keen enjoyment Of life given tn
man who works his fingers sore
pay a debt OF honor.
No man, by shutting his eyes, b
lodging duty, by SHINING under cove
can beat out the game Of life. Life
strictly IAN exchange Of equivalent
You get what you pay for. whats,
everla man soweth, that shall he ais
reap" ~ |.