Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1912-11-30

THE MOTH AND THE FLAME.

L
want to get burned. With its wing
singsd, and its tiny anatomy fast shrivel
ing up, the moth still persists higher
and higher into the fame. It would
seem that its frst or second costly OK.
perience should make it wiser. But the
glare of the light is too strong and allur.
ing-stronger even than the instinct ol
self-pressrvstion-and 90 1t continues
beating about till it is caught and held
in the grasp OF death. We marvel at its
foolishness, and straitvsy do the same
ourselves. Tho poor moth is not to
blame for its folly; it does not knoy v any
better. Great man somstimes makes as
little use Of his reasoning faculty, as
the moth does of its instinct. He won
ders why 1t is that, in spite of his good
intentions and resolutions, he relapses
again and again into the evil habits
which in his heart he dstests, and 10 in
clined to lay his failings at the door of
fate, heredity, accident, etc. Evidently
he has never brought home to himself
with sufficient force, the truth of Frank
Inns homely but wise old saw, "God
helps those who help them selves" or of
the warning words of far greater than
Franklin. "He who loves danger shall
perish therein"
DR.. Samuel Johnson used to wonder
why he was so frequently unable to
arise before dinner time. With all his
great powers, it never seemed to occur
to him that it was because he did not
get to bed in time. And so with our
selves. We are often surprised at our
lapses, but without ever a thought of
retrenching at the other end, of avoid
ing the occasions ofthese lapses. Young
folks-and older ones, too-frequently
daily and trifie with temptation, in the
fullest self-confidence of being able
to rein in and draw up at the proper
time. At starting, they have not the
slightest intention of going the limit !;
but they rely entirely too much on their
will power, or perhaps on blind chance.
The clerk who begins to dabble in
stocks, and incidentally "borrows" his
employers money to get the wherewith,
rarely foresees where he is likely to
land. The youth who starts betting on
the races, or any other form of gam,
bling, as a pastime or temporary ex-
element, may be at first dead set against
allowing 1t to develop into an over
mastering passion. The man with a
weakness for drink often begins by
assuring himself that he won't 90 too
far-not beyond one or two. The
maiden who permits herself undue
freedom of conduct, may have no
thought of the end to which her frivo-
lousness is apt to lead. But in all these
cases, like the moth and the fame, the
lure of the light prooves too strong.
Singed again and again, without at all
pro6ting by past experiences, they per-
sist in taking chances, till they are
burned hopelessly,-irremsdiably. For,
in spite of our freedom of will, it is not
always possible to stop when and where
We will, on the down grade. Self indul-
gence, or abuse of the will, weakens,
and sometimes almost completely para
lyzes it.
Like the stone rolling down the hill
side, the farther one goes down the
steep declivity of evil, the more velocity
he acquires, and the more difficult it is
to call halt. In fact, there must come
point at which halting is practically
out of question. We have it in our
power to stave off this crisis, but if We
suffer 1t to come, the issue is plain en-
ough. As regards the physical man,
there are serious bodily diseases curable
if taken in their incipiency, but almost
invariably fatal if allowed to develop.
In the moral order, too, it is compare.
lively easy to rid ourselves of evil ten
dencies, if they are taken in time; but
if suffered to strike deep root, to become
habits, the task may prove Herculean
one, and the stronger and older the
habit, the more difficult is the task of
uprooting it.
Should we ever reach the point at
which some particular vice, has become
a sort of second nature to as, it will do
no good to rail at fate or destiny.
There is no fate for use, but such as we
choose for ourselves. We have it in our
power to make, rather than mar, our
selves. If we choose to make, rather
than mar our destiny, We have the
secret. given long ago by one who knew:
Resist beginnings"
FIR. MOONEY.