Norwich bulletin., 1914-09-05
SUNDAY MORNING TALK
CALL OUT THE RESERVES.

A nations army on a war footing is far different from that of the same country in time of peace. In war the fighting force is gradually increased through the call to the colorS of one class of citizens after another, till the usual strength Is tripled or quadrupled. A German assured me the other day that the Kaiser could draft reservists of all classes till the Fatherland had at least 5000, 900 men under arms. Let us pray that so colossal host of fighting men may never be gathered. It were better for the ,reservists and for the world that they stay on their farms and in their shops.
 But nothing Is more desirable for the individual than to call out the re- serves of his own nature To set latent powers at work, to arouse sleeping energies is the privilege and the duty of every man. It is doubtless true. as Prof. James reminded us from the viewpoint of psychology, that "As a rule men habitually use only a small part of the powers which they actually possess and which they might use un- der appropriate conditions" Not one man in fifty realizes what he could accomplish were every power of his nature evoked.
 One of the most interesting things in life is the sudden. unexpected de- 
 CTS that have lain dormant Some emergency reveals strength in the<na- ture that was wholly unsuspected. Under stress of peril the bedridden will walk, the slender woman will stop a runaway horse or save someone from a burning building, the madcap boy will display heroism and endur- ance of a high order. T didn't know he had it in him. is our. comment. Neither did he know he had it in him. till the occasion called. It IS evident that the human organism has stored up reserves of energy that are ordf- nariIy not employed, but that may be called upon when the crisis or the great occasion reveals us to ourselves
 Conservation is a, master word of. to- day. We try to make the most of ev- erything. We utilize what was for merly wasted. The dump heaps of our grandfathers become our mines. We rake them over and pick out gold, uranium and radiun. Through ig- norance our grandfathers and grand mothers allowed scores of chemicals, essences and useful ingredients to go to waste. Today the industrial chem ist is teaching us to save much that was thrown away, and to gain the profit of scores of by-products.
 Just so should we make the most of our human personalities. Men do not begin their careers on the earth fully developed physically, mentally or spiritually; and what is more pathet- ie, they frequently end them as bum dies of unrealized possibilities. They are like the slothful man in our Lords parable, who had to report merely q went and hid thy talent in the earth!" They are like an army that has never gathered anything like its full strength.
 How may one call out his personal rserves, develop his own life, to ca pacity? That alone is success and any thing less than that is failure. The answer must be in terms both of res olution and religion The will must be set to work as the normal opener of deeper and deeper levels of energy. Men come into full mental stature only through incessent effort. And if resolution Is the opener of deeper levels of energy, faith is their estab- fisher and guaranee. For real religion means not some dead decorum, but the introduction of us mortals to a new and abundant life, to a realization of the utmost that Almighty God has designed our individual natures to re- HHE PARSON.