The Washington herald., 1915-02-03


and he laughed in frank contempt. He had
merely seen the man here and there and had
formed impressions that he considered absolutely
reliable and that, as a matter of fact, mere
Iprejudices, resulting as l thought l could see,
from his own dislike of certain personal peculiari-
ties that had nothing whatever to do with char
acter.
We all go through a similar process Each
day of our lives we impose our limitations on
Others attributing qualities that exist only in our
selves, in our false conceptions. A moments re-
Election will convince that, a result of this
weakness, we repeatedly msjudge one another.
And yet some how, it does not make us slow to
express criticism and condemnation On the
other hand for this kind of expression, we re-
peatedly judge and another in our
thoughts and sometimes in talk. Instinctively
we feel that this person or that is censorious in
attitude or is kind Often the exhibition has a
wholesome effect, giving pause. Where we
might be tempted to censure others we are held
back by the fear OF being regarded as censorious
and as possessing the unlovely qualities that lurk
behind censure, narrowness, envy, jealousy spite
! and ill-will. This concern may have healthy
reaction on our thoughts but, rule, it docs
not 60 far beneath the surface. What is most I'M
portant of all is to keep healthy in the depths
of consciousness, in the innermost recesses OF
feeling where the real being hides itself.
From the critical and censorious about
have warnings enough. Take the case Of that
man, for example, who abandoned himself to his
own misconceptions. The more he thought about
them the stirred up he became, the more
uncomfortable, the more inharmonious with him
self and with life. He abandoning himself
to unsympathetic and ugly thinking. The harsh
of ;,,dD created harShneSS his mind
Meanwhile he had the illusion of doing some
thing that he considered wholesome. Suppose
! that he had been right in this instance. Suppose
the bad qualities that he in another had really
been there Was he wise in taking them into his
feelings and making them means OF discomfort:
After all, those qualities were only part OF the
man. They must have been associated with some
good qualities. Long ago the world gave up the
notion that any human being in his senses, could
be wholly bad. Moreover, this critic, if he had
applied the same searching analysis to himself,
might have found that, like the rest of US, he,
too, was afflicted with bad qualities, among them
the almost universal quality of treating himself
with much more consideration than he treated
others.
1t is curious to see how eager most OF US are
to attribute bad qualities to one another. We
seem to take pleasure in creating little blots on
the scene about us and in darkening con-
sciousness. There arc many who go through life
with the mind swarming with thoughts OF the
hateful people they think they have known, the
hatefuIness being in large measure supplied by
their own dstrcssful imagining Such mental un-
Iwholcsomcness, besides bringing them great deal
of suffering, must create great deal OF sickness,
both in the organism wheFe it operates and IN the
atmosphere where it spreads its influence. The
cvil-thinkers of the world, though as occasion
ally happens, they may seem to lead noble lVeS'
though thev may dedicate themselves to service,
arc nevertheless among the worst OF the evil
docrs In a 6tcral they create and they
spread and they bring out evil. We all have seen
them at work, taking before those about them
toward whom they feel censorious an attitude
that inspires an unhealthy reaction, sowing the
menace Of suspicion, creating disheartenment,
bringing on situations that express disturbing re-
lations. The instant suspect and ccnsure
bad quality in hearts and harshly judge the
person suspected, that instant we become the
foe of the person and the friend Of the bad quail
ity, and that instant take something into our
consciousness that adds more force to the
multitude of forces constantly striving to make
us destroy our own peace and happiness.
On the other hand, there arc those who feel
strange pleasure in believing evil of others. They
betray a quality that in itself is a punishment,
la lack of sympathy with their fellow beings, a
feeling OF competiton constantly revealing iSel!
in painful thinking, particularly over the good
fortune of others. Those who rejoice over evil
lose the faculty of rejoicing over good except as
it comes to themselves. The habit of taking the
competitive attitude toward life may even make
them resentful of the good that comes within
the range of their vision except as it IS reflected
to their advantage. 1t is pitful at times to see
the quick look of pain that appears in the faces
of some people when they hear of friends good
fortune Ruthlessly they deny themselves the
share that they might have through generous
sympathy The gain of another they can instant
ly convert into loss for themselves, becoming a
force for evil.
Examples of the other kind of nature every
one can find, merely by keeping the eyes open.
Invariably they happy. Through constantly
looking for good and responding to it and taking
it into the consciousness, they noursh themselves
with the nexhausibe springs of health. Perhaps,
after all happiness and health the same, not
physical health alone but the health that is re-
lated to the health of the world that creates that
harmony of being where the physical and mental
and moral and spiritual forces sustain one an
other by cooperation. OF course, one can
reach even an approximation of perfection. We
are all striving some of us to save ourselves,
some of us to destroy, with our impulses often
strangely intcrmingled There many
worlds as there human beings Each day we
make our world anew, making it ugly or beautiful.
melting out to ourselves pleasure or pain, depres-