Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1913-08-26
THE LAST TWO DAYS
At THE CHAUTAUQUA.

but isn't it a good thing that Da-
vid paid no attention to these OBJ
jections, or to those of his other rel
atives and neighbors, but went right
on practicing with the sling shot.
When the supreme moment came he
was prepared to meet it. Little at
tention had been paid to the boy,
who absolutely unabashed walked
up to Goliath, fired that little stone
where it would do it's deadly work,
and gave Mr.. Giant the biggest sur
prise of his life.
Now David had an idea. There
are some skulls so thick you can't
get an idea into them if you throw
the man down on the sidewalk and
try to pound it in with sledge
hammer. In the great crises of the
world, however, there are always a
few men prepared to meet the emer-
gency, ready if need be to dip their
swords in blood, mark out the out
lines of a new empire, and change
the course of affairs on this old
earth.
This shepherd boy missed the
tragedy of the unprepared, and the
challenge of the giant placed David
on the throne, and reversed the fort
unes of the world. 1t would have
been an individual tragedy had Da-
vid failed to be prepared. That
stone should have been set as one of
the jewels in his crown.
The preparedness of men for their
life work must be physical, mental
and manhood preparedness. The
man who does things must first be a
good animal, then possess we'll
trained mind and his manhood must
be unimpeachable. Why, today do
you know, we are commercializing
character. 1t works out in dollars
and cents. The great man of the
future is the boy of today-he has
a vision of something he means to
be, in gettine all ready and when
the chance, like the one that came
to David comes to him, he'll be pre-
pared to meet it, and the sneers Of
scorn that have perhaps marked his
pathway will be changed to the can
non boom of congratulation.
Parents, do not be alarmed if
some times the boys break away
from home restraint. The spirit Of
discomfort is the spirit that does,
things. Have you never heard par
ents or teachers talk about breaking
the will of children? Mark this
down, that when you break the will
power of little child you have de-
formed a soul. Boys often run away
from home because their parents are
trying to force them to be what God
never intended them to be-for ex-
ample, Edwin Markham left home be-
cause his parents wished to make
him a sheep herder, and he became
a poet.
But the tragedy of the unprepar
ed, sad as it is, does not compare
with the tragedy of the prepared,
who, with God given talents, because
of economic conditions, have no
chance to be other than machines in
the hands of some great corporation,
and when they are no longer useful
are thrown upon the junk heap. The
pity Of it is. that millions of men
never realize the profits of their own
Too few of us are inter
ested in the other mans tragedies.
My sympathy is with the one who is
and has no chance
And yet poverty is a blessing af-
ter all. The making of Jesus of
Nazareth pass through calvary was
necessary in order that we may have
a Savior of the world. Tragedies
will be minimized only when we
practice the divine principle that we
are our brothers keeper. We are
beginning to recognize that the
Kingdom. Of Heaven is within us,
and conditions will be vastly better
when every man realizes that every
day is judgment day and every
morning resurrection. And re-
member this, you can never get out
If lecture any more than you have
put into it.
A large audience listened with
great interest Sunday night to the
losing lecture of the Chautauqua
Martyrdom OF Fools,"1
~ Thomas Brooks Fletcher. The
peaker began with the claim that it {
vas all right to make plumbers and
IL We only profit by them.
1t is no use for us to get mad for !
Z we could see ourselves as others |
zee US, we'd not have much to say
ho,1t othar fools Wa cnrta;p1v ora