Evening journal., 1912-01-01
SOME new YEAR THOUGHTS

moaning the fact that he on his own
property could not do as he pleased.
Such an idea is indicative of de-
plorable ignorance. The man thought
only of his own rights; he was blind
to those of the neighbor whom he
hated. II did not occur to him that
duties are as essential as rights; that
while all are to demand the latter,
they must as zealously do the former.
The Pennsylvania German also
had no regard either for law. or for
the authority which stands pledged to
enforce IT, What is still worse he, If
he ever went to school or belonged to
church, in either was he taught that
there Is nothing more sacred than
human life; that the birth OF a child
is one of the most momentous events;
that a soul then begins a career that
will outlast the remotcst age.
Il recently met with an allegory OF
human life that is popular with the
Scandinavians. They IN IL, as another
expresses It, represent human life as
the tree OF existence whose koots
grow deep down In the soil Of mys-
terry; the trunk reaches above the
clouds; Its branches spread out over
the globe. At the foot of It sit the Past,
the Present and the Future, watering
the roots. Its boughs with their un-
leafng spread out through all lands
and all times; every leaf of the tree
is biography. every fibre a word. a
thought. or a deed its branches are
the histories Of nations the rustic
of 1t is the noise Of human existence
onward from Of old; it grows amid
the bowling of the hurricane; il is
the great tree of humanity.
Nation Needs AllegOries.
I'VE as a nation. need allegories
liks that Of the old Norsemen. t.uch-
ing human life Once their concep-
ton isiour conception; once we from
the pulpit. from the forum, from the
chair in the classroom, and from the
pen which edits the chapters that en-
ter our homes and reading circles.
teach that life is a grand. a transcen-
dent thing; that since IL comes from
God Who gives Il for a sublime pur-
pose no hand must mar it or arrest II
in its career here. until II reaches
the exalted end and aim for which its
author endows it--onca We as ma
tion think thoughts like these, and in
sist upon il that It is unforgivable not
to think them-once We are sane
wise, just and courageous enough to
do as much as that, will the horrible
charge that We are wasteful of hu-
man life cease to be true.
There, to-, is time. This Is tho
last day in the year 1911 We are
about to pass another milestone i'm
the career which began at the cradle
lin the hour when our mothers re-
Joiced over our birth.
While no nation perhaps is buster
than ours; while the most of us in
the past year, frequently It may be.
were footsore and conscious that our
tasks were exacting; while some of
us may be able TO say in all candor
4 that our achievements have been
worth while-while all that may be
perfectly true. 1t by no means is GER
tain that we at every step have so
used our time as not to waste large
segments OF IT, One may always be
doing something. and yet play part
but little above that of the splendid
animal. The year Is practically
! squandered unless the purpose which
we pursue Is the purpose for which
human life is given. II is not enough
10 seek auA Adncemenl m the eartn. 4
person may start i'm the obscure plac,
and rise step by step to eminence IN
his calling. He by and by cay say
that he has found happiness.
Only a little sober thinking, how.
ever. sufiices to make II plain that
living like that is not the momentous
living II ought 10 be. The responsi.
bility in such a career Is not the
overwhelming responsibility which is
worthy in the transcendent sense
both of him who leads t. and in the
Creator who has a profound interest
in H.
"If the Bible IS not fable: II
Christ is the Son OF God; If what He
says is the acme Of wisdom. II fol
lows as day follows night that no one
truly lives until the great thing with
him is not happiness but duty; not
exaltation in honor or power but the
aim to know and to do the will Of
| his Maker. to go up and down the
fields of time, visiting the sources OF
revenue not for his own praise OF
glory but for the enrichment Of the
kingdom which will survive the wreck
of worlds. Such a life grips. as with
hooks of steel. our citizenship in the
kingdom which will stand unshaken,
when this earth and these heavens
are rolled together as a scroll"