Norwich bulletin., 1910-10-29
SUNDAY MORNING TALK
THE CRAVING FOR THE LIME
LIGHT.

The splendor falls on castle walls
sings the poet, but it is not rosy
fingered Aurora or the flush of sun
set that seems to count so much in
this practical and materalistic age,
as the piercing artificial rays from
some handmade instrument And this
is but a symptom of the very preVa-
lent desire to have our own deeds and
personalities made conspicuous by the
manufactured glamor of the moment.
We are not only eager to see the
people in the band wagon as the pro-
cession goes by, to read all the little
details pertaining to Mrs. Moneybags
personal life, the number of trunks
she brought home from Europe and
the size of her staff of domestics, but
we are also not averse TO being talked
about and looked at ourselves, to be
put little apart from the rank and
file because Of our possession OF .
little more money or influence or tall
ent or position. and to have other
people say as we go by, There goes
Mr.: So and So. Such and such a
thing has just happened to him. He
is worth looking att
| once asked minister of wide ex-
perience what spirit his .parishioners
showed when death visited their.
homes. Did it make them more ten
der? Did it unnerve them? And his
reply was to the effect that as rule
the inmates of the house of mourn
ing are under those circumstances,
about what they are when life goes on
normally. Indeed" he went on to
say, L find that a good many people
rather liked the littft prominence af-
forded by the fact that for a time they
are the objects of special interest and
attention. 1t helps them through the
funeral and the mourning to think that
other peoples eyes are for the moment
on them, perhaps in sympathy, posi-
bly, only in curiosity But they are
themselves looked at and talked about"
This may seem a rather brutal way
of describing the results of an expe-
rienca which is constantly Detailing
this or that home, but it serves to IL
lustrate the point that human nature,
when allowed to indulge it's baser ten
denotes, easily succumbs to the temp
| tation TO seek notoriaty, to be differ
| entiated from and in way exalted
| above others.
| But how reprehensibly is this atti
| tudei We ought to fight ii with all our
| might and conquer it at any cost In
| the first place, limelight notoriety is
| transient. Popular favor is often as
| tickle as it is iniudiciously bestowed.
! How few people who get into the cen
| ter of the stage by fair means or foul
OCCUPY long their post of vantage.
| Who remembers who was the governor
| of Nevada five years ago, or who was
| the class orator at Erudition college
| year before last. or who was president
| of the woman's club before the pres
| ent regime? The limelight serves to
| irTadiate a personality a little while,
/ but it comes and goes, and he WHO
| looks to it as the source of his per-
/ manent happiness is likely to be dis
appointed.
! Another reason why this passion in
us should he stihed lies in the fact
| that the limelight can secure only
| relatively slight distinction above
ones fellows. You may have this or
| that SPECIALIZED honor, but unless you
| are among the few great persons of
| the world you can outshin.e the aver
| age person only a little. and probably
| somebody not far away. is more bril-
/ liontly illuminated than you ever pos
| sibly could be- Why, then cherish or
coyet these petty notorieties? In all
probability. if compared with the at
| tention more gifted and fortunate peo-
! pie are having, your badges and para
phernalia, your little pomp and cir
/ cum stance of office would be quite
| oVerSha doWed.
| Moreover, the desire to be in the
i front ranks, to have the limelights
| streaming over you, your clothes, your
| attachments, your offices, is so thor
ougfly unchristian that one who cher
| ishes it can hardly be called consist
| ent disciple of him who said. Il am
! in the midst of you as he that serv-
eth Least of all can professional
/ religious workers love the limelight.
| the chief seats in the synagogues, the
| chairmanships of committees the in
| Huential trusteeships. For by SO do
ing they run entirely counter to New
| TIES tanlent teaching and the example
| and practice of the best Christians of
| all the ages. For all their works they
do to be seen of men," He that
humbleth himself shall be exalted
''F.xcent We be converted and become
as little children" With such words
as these. set in the midst of the book
which Christians profess to reverence.
! how can they love the limelight and
labor to have it's rays turned upon
them? Better look IN to the stars and
emulate the/ serenity and modesty.