Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1913-06-26
THE LARGER VISION.

Text: and Elisha prayed ana said,
Lord, I pray Thee open his eyes that he
NAV see. And the Lord opened the eyes
Of the young man; and he saw; and be-
hold the mountain was full OF horses and
chariots of fire round about Elisha"
Second Kings VIII.
Solitude is always impressive It may
ne Oppressive 1t is often oXhilerative.
Lonely times are bound to come to every
soul. They may come in the silence Of
isolation; they may come in the tumult
of the crowd. Robinson Cruesoe on his
sepuestered island was not more dis
heartened by conscious loneliness than IS
the stranger tostled by the rushing
throngs Of great city There are times
whom one is thoroughly contented, SUI
premely happy to he alone with himself,
Usually. though, solitude is awful. Lone
illness to most people means sadness, mel
ancholy, fear, despair.
Just n $ in later history it costs England
many regiments Of soldiers and two mil
lion dollars a year to keep one man, the
menace of Europe, a prisoner at ST
Helena, so in earlier times the King of
SYRIA sent an entire army to capture ono
minister of religion, the God-fearing
Prophet Elisha. During the night the
armies of Syria surrounded the village of
Dothan where the prophet was staying
At early daybreak his manservant rushed
In exclaiming: "What shall we do?
"a whole army has come to destroy you,
We must die, alas, we must die" Blu,
Elisha was not in despair, He looked M
md saw that the mountains were filled
with supernatural forces and he knew
that though there might be fifty thousand
svrlans against him, there were an hun
dred thousand angels for him. In answer
10 the prophets prayer for his affrighted
servant he also saw, for the Lord open
cd the eyes Of tho young man; and he
saw; and behold the mountains were ful
of horses and chariots Of fire round about
Elisha"
ct Is doubtful If a feeling Of more OPP
pressive loneliness ever comes into the
experience Of any individual than thai
which comes to the student at irregular
intervals throughout his college course
lie is not producer; he is consumer
lie sees his hard-earned accumulatons
lis allowance or his patrmony slipping
away and nothing of the like comes t.
I'll the void. lie knows he Is acquirnl
the skill or the culture or the discipline
that is supposed to he the equivalent fol
the money, time and energy sacrificed
but this is an invisible capital and h'
questions whether it is WORTH the cost
At times the struggles are SO severe, the
discouragements so overwhelming, the
uncertainties so depressing, and the hope
Of ultimate success so vague, that h'
fain would find refuge in surrender. H'
wonders what he is best fitted for in life
He worries about his calling, He long.
to have some one put the seal of APP
prevail on his aspirations, lie hopes FOL
O. career Of success or honor. He tremble.
lest tho fates may have written failure
opposite his name, AS the day Of gradua
ton approaches, his fears increase, hi.
anXieties multiply and his sol!citude fo
his own welfare bears harder
He has overcome the difficulties o
freshman, the sophomore and the junior
The senior year and his entire college
course are about to fade into sweet mem
Org. lie is At the threshold of human
activity. The day OF his individual respon
nlbllty Is al hand, What viii he do will
life How will he use his intellectual ac'
cumlatons2 VIII he win or loso In the
race that every man must run and can run
but once. To these questions he himself
R''-t give answer no enc can answer