The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1911-05-18
The Center of
Things
By DR.. FRANK CRANE

| have discovered the center OF the
universe II Is very wonderful and
comforting. am the center OF the
universe In minute this morning
this flashed on me. and the puzzle OF
the ages was solved
No more dispute as 10 whether the
earth goes round the sun, or the sun
round the earth. or both round the con-
stellation OF Hercules, for the whole
business revolves about me- am the
axis
When Proctor Knott extoled Du-
luth as the spot where the horizon
comes down at equal distance In every
direction. he spoke the sober, Gods
truth. | write these lines on a ship a
thousand miles at sea; all around is
water and sky; and right I'm the exact
geographical center of everything am
and my ship. Come to think OF II.
this has always been the case all my
life
Ny father and mother existed for
The purpose Of bringing me into the
world my brothers being by-products.
The old Third ward school house I'm
Springfield, H., was built THAT might
attend there, and dt has since been
torn down learn TO spell: indeed. the
entire educational system came into
being In order that | might go to that
school.
Emperors die In China, and kings
are upset in Portugal earthquakes
shake Sicily and panlcs Wall street.
and all simply that the news thereof
may be laid before me at the break
last table.
The big and little dlppers whir1
about the pole star. Antares winks.
and Venus glows, and Halley's comet
comes and goes-for me.
And in all this there is no egotlsm.
For In saying | am the center Of the
cosmos | do not at all imply that you
also are not the center of the cosmos
In fact you are; everybody Is. There
are as many cCnters as there are con-
scious beings The mistake we have
made all along is in supposing there
can be but one csnter. II you look
through a window pane covered with
cain drops or frost crystals at a point
If light, you viii notice that any way
you move your head the light always
remains the center OF innumerable con.
centric rings formed by the gllstening
reflections. It is even so in life, as you
move the center moves
There are as many worlds as there
are creatures. As Zangwill says: The
scent world Of dogs, the eye world OF
birds. the uncanny touch world OF
bats. the earth world of worms, the
water world of fishes and gyroscopic
world Of dancing mice, the flesh world
of parasites. the microscopic world OF |
microbes, interest one another 4ex.
Ticably and with an infinite inter-
facing, yet each is a symmetric sphere
Of being, a rounded whole. and to its |
lenizens the sole and self-sufIcient |
cosmos.
The account of creation as given in |
he Pentateuch is therefore psychology |
Jcally and essentially correct: God did |
make the sun and give man light by |
lay. and the moon and stars to shine
on him by night. as far as man is con-
cerned.
If the Bible had been written for
angels II might have stated the case
When the penltent at the
bench Is told that he will
never find peace until he believes that
he son Of God came to save him per
'onally, he is told the plain truth: the
meaning of which is that he is to move
In from the suburbs into the center OF
creation.
For IL is only when a soul feels the
stars rise and fall about him orderly.
angels and devils tugging at him, and
al creation recognizing his geocentric
supremacy, that he gets polse and
leases to be eccentric. Eccentric means
having the point about which a wheel
evolves at one side Of the center.
There are so many discontented, un,
happy people in the world, simply be-
'ause there are so many eccentric, lop,
ided, bumpy, flat-wheeled, irregular
iouls. Move In Move In! Occupy
'our due place in the spotlight Of des-
my! Worms do It, why not you?
Philosophers have ridiculed this
lomocentric theory Goethe turned
rom II In disgust Pope wrote causti.
ally:
While man exclaims. See all things
for my use'
See man for minen replies the pam-
pered goose"
But the instinct of humanity is
wiser than the wisdom Of the learned.
Homer breathed truth when he repre-.
ented the gods fighting for and
gainst Troy. The Old Testament IS
light when It shows Jehovah actively
Interested in the chosen people. Every
eople is a chosen people, and there is
10 God but our own peculiar Jah or
,lohim.
And Jesus was most right and true
t all when he had us appropriate
ach one of us. the special care Of the
'ather of All There is no Providence
hat is of any mortal use to me but
pecial Providence; II It IS only gen.
raj It had as well not be at all. 1t is
recisely because he clothes the lilies
( the field that he will also clothe
@. o We of little faith Because he
otes the sparrow he will note you.
You have an inalienable right TO
our cenTicity. Occupy It, You can
OF believe in God unless you believe
4, q, vn,tre rho cuf,, rooI C,a L. 49,.