Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1914-03-12

I 1ld1SluS MSl uSdIlS AIO4 " LIS
| age and country than raising wheat
| or building railroads and cities. A
nation is judged by the people it turns
| out of its homes, schools and churches.
| That is the best institution which
| fashions the best men and women.
Many obstacles are in the way Of the
man who would make the most of him
self, but what help he has! We know
more about the reefs and rocks along
| the coast than ever before; there are
more lighthouses than ever.
The perfect man was the inspiration
| of Greek sculptors and of the philo-
sophical poets Of the Anglo-Saxon race
for hundreds of years. The psalmist
placed him a little below the angels,
while Paul waited for the manifesto
| ton of the sons of God that is, good
men.
All institutionalism, laws, govern
ments, systems are but the scaffold-
ing around the rising walls of man
| hood. They are temporary. The I'm
| ished product of character is perma-
nent For this the world waits as the
actual fuIfillment Of the divine dreams
of men who have seen the race at. its
best.
In the making Of manhood the ele-
ment of time must be considered.
One may buy a hat. he cannot buy
character. He may go to the market
place and deal in stocks, but he can
not buy or sell manhood. This is not
for sale. 1t is won by struggle and
| sacrifice. Somebody said it took 800
years to make a Gladstone. The mush-
room that springs up in the night is
in singular contrast to the giant red
woods of the Sierras, which have
stood since the days of Moses. A man
cannot drop into a revival meeting
and get a character while he waits.
He may get a new motive, but what
follows comes slowly as the tree
| grows.
Environment and heredity determine
what we are, but they are not masters
of destiny It would be poor world
did man not have something in him
| stronger than environment or hered-
ity. Strawberries will not grow on
the Matterhorn, and the polar bear
dies in the tropics, but environment
is not everything. Adam fell in a
garden, not in a SUM Blood may be
| thicker than water, and there is a
reason why the Adams family gave
statesmen to the world, the Beechers
preachers, and the Kembles TRACE.
dams, but man is greater than these
laws and capable of rising above en-
vironment, heredity and eugenics. He
is neither a plant nor a beast. His
| glory is his freedom under the divine
direction.
A study of the man of today will
show that the emphasis should not be
placed on what he thinks.
The world is full of great and good
thoughts. Every man has, for the
most part, a good creed. The ruling
thoughts of the world are in harmony
with the highest ideals. Most men
are better in thought than in conduct
in motive than in character. Thoughts
are deeds in the egg. No man can
separate what he is from what he
| IuluhS, DuI, even So, Iu6T0 IS some
thing more important in this man
making process than right thinking
Religion is more than theology. Life
means more than orthodoxy. Neither
should the emphasis be placed on feel
ing. A mans character should not be
tested by his emotions. Our emo
lions are ideal, as rule. Our tears
are purer than our deeds. True re
ligion is more than mysticism. The
place of emphasis, then, should be on
the will. Nobody knows precisely
what the will is. Let us call it back,
bone, purpose, power. The weak spot
in the man of today is not in his head,
nor his heart, but his backbone. Here
is where he breaks. And there is no
telling when the break may come
More wills are broken in the forties
probably, than the tWenties. Middle
life has its dangers not less than
youth. The top of society is as peril
GUS as the bottom. Luxury needs as
much attention from the church as
! poverty. The idle rich Young woman