The Madisonian. (Richmond, Ky.) 1913-1914, 1914-08-06
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The WATERS OF LETHEI

Text Forgetting those things which
IRE behind. Phil. iii. L.
Once had the memory training
germ in my system. I read the ads.
In newspaper and magazine. Wouldn't
!. I like to remember the name of evesy
one meet on my lecture trips? To go
back ten years from now and address
all the folks in the hall by their cor
rect title? When man comes up aft
er church, You don't remember me,
doctor" "Oh, yes; you are Jack Bone
head, student / met at the State
Normal school two years agoi How
did you make out in your exam. in al
gebra?" Wouldn't l like to roll off
dates of battles, names of kings and
all the vice presidents of the United
States to groups of admiring friends?
Surel So got every memory training
system then on the market. On that
third shelf from the top before me are
fourteen volumns ON the various arts
of never forgetting. In the lower right
hand drawer Of my desk are lessons"
galore. / can condenSe the whole
thing that cost me over hundred dol
lars in money, much midnight oil and
mental sweat into one sentence and let
you have it for what it cost you, gen.
tie reader, to buy this newspaper. The
great secret is--now, listen, the only
way to remember is to remember! Got
it? Jot it down in your mental note
book really mean it. Now let me
give you another great secret-a phrase
containing a deep philosophy put SEN
tentiously into a term of everyday
speech. 1t is this-forget it! 1t is the
password into the Don't Worry club"
The DEVILS Pack Horse.
We pray for powers Of memory. We
might do well to ask also for increas-
ed ability to forget. No memory ought
to hold at all times everything it has
received. To be able to forget that
which one had better not remember is
of equal Importance to remembering
matters one would better not forget.
To permit every plant in the thickly
seeded row brings poor crop. Over
crowding is as fatal as weeds. FL i
ure to forget has caused many an en-
FILTERED life and crowded the insane
asylums Brooding over mistakes, mis-
fortunes, disappointments. is like car
rying unforgiven sins. Forgive and for
get; then let the other fellow carry the
load if he wants to. Such remem-
brances are exasperating beyond ex-
preston They rub sore spots into
frenzied agony. Under unhealthful
stress of morbid memory all reasoning
gives way. Things lose their proper
ton. In the Christians school Of
Christ ones hardest task may some
times tax the memory, but more often
they simply bid him forget We should
drop from mind anything in the past
that may be a clog preventing highest
epeed in life's race. There is too
much possibility of good in each new
az to weigh it down with the wrongs
3f yesterday.
IA Forget Personal Mistakes.
H1fl's yesterday held one chapGer he
Hwished to forget. 1t was a black mark
across the page Of his life's book.
Tradition says Paul always observed
the anniversary of Stephens murder.
That past brought distress and tor
ment Instead Of place Of refuge,
a tower, it became tomb, hideous
and horrid. Is your memory a tor
ment, a hindrance? Have you in
youth betrayed honor, soiled a good
name, lost a golden opportunity? Did
you refuse knowledge, "bull headed"
make blunders that cannot be retriev-
ed? Have you sinned against the
body, drained away precious nerve
force and now find life's reservoir dry,
bringing days Of bitterness and nights
of anguish? Poor Heinrich Heine on
his. mattress grave" hears OF a Ger
man city celebrating his birthday,
maiden crowning his marble bust with
laurels. Goods mockery weighs heavy
on me. Would were dead! o sor-
row, thy name is Heinrich Heinew
With all his brilliant geniEz ne could
not forget. Try to forget past attain
ments-God has noticed them. Forget
past sorrows-God has at least permit
ted them. Forget past mistakes-God
has used them. Forget past sins-God
has forgiven them. Leave to the past
all that belongs there Even God can
not turn back the universe and give
ybu yesterday.
Forget Your Neighbor's Wrongs.
Erase the sins of your neighbor
against you. Possibly you have exag-
gerated it anyhow Our memory Of
our neighbours wrongs is often more
vivid than that of our own. Forget
the wrongs, the sights, the insults.
Hell never have the chance to do it
again Good! One way is to avoid
him and forget it; the other is to meet
him and remember-and make him
your friend. Better to have love in
your heart than hatred. Emerson said
of one he loved, His heart was as
great as the world, but there was no
room in it to hold the memory of a
wrong" Small souls remember; great
souls forgive and forget. Forgiveness
is the odor of a trampled flower. For
getting is the flower rising in new
strength TO perfume and glorify its
Surroundings. God Almighty can bring
good out of evil. In Greek mythology
Lethe was the stream of oblivion in
the lower world from which souls
drank before passing to Elysium that
they might forget all earthly sorrow.
The Christians fountain of Lethe is
the grace of God There the healing
waters flow. For "earth has no sor-
sew that heaven cannot heal"
--oo--
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