The Alaska daily empire., 1915-05-18
BACCALAUREATE
 SERMON BY REV.
 JOHN B. STEVENS

JUlllN B. Sg EMS
 -s-
 Rev. John B, Stevens Of the First
 Presbyterian Church delivered tho ilaccalaureGte address to the gradu
 atiug class oi the Juneau high schoo
 at S o'clock Sunday, in the church
 Auditorium. The church was crowd
 ed with high school students and theii
 friends Dr. Stevens addressed the
 students in simple forceful language
 the theme of his talk being the nee essary association setween the past ' present. and future periods of the life Of every individual The address fol- lows
 Life's simple division Is past pres ent and future. As We use these terms however We generalyl associate with them the idea of sharp boundar les existing between. use the terms tonight from another viewpoint and with the desire to call your attention to the fact that while there are these divisions in the kingdom of life no boundary exists between them and every fully gifted individual lives in all three all the time.
 Memory presides over che past Reason rules over the present The future Is under the sovereignty of hope. The individual who has no past and has only a present and future is an infant. of course. Not necessarily an infant in years, however. The body may have matured. even aged. but if the individual has not possessed the ability to store the mind and enrich the memory with the record of pass ing events there is a feeblenoss there quite as pronounced and more pitiable than that of the tiny babe in its crib.
 On the other hand the individual who has only a past, who shows no eagerness about the present or en- thusiasm over the future. but who lives entirely in the past entirely rem iniscent is also an infant He is in his second childhood.
 The fullllyed. fully gifted as they journey from the cradle to the grave constantly gathering material, which material from the past stored in mem ory becomes a working capital in the present enabling them not only to make the most of it but also to con- siderable extent to determine and con- trol their future.
 Memory is not museum filled with the relics of oee's past, or an archiye stored with a heterogeneous colec- tion of incidents. interesting but dead Memory is granary of seed meant to be used for our future and Co sustain and enrich us in the pres ent.
 An education as we generally use the term. is simply memory stored ! under the most favorable conditions | with the most choice seed. Some ob- tain an education through terrible eS- oerience. Some by long years of hard work Some by the sacrifice of health or even life. Nothing of this. however. has been your lot. To car -y out the figure of the harvest you have not had the dull dredgey Of breaking the soil for the harvest Of This was done by your who so wisely founded and fostered our educational institu- .ions. All you have had was the la' Dor of reaplng. The city of Juneau lt an expense of many thousands of dollars has made 1t possible for you 10 so out day after day and day after lay into the yellow grains of know edge and reap. The city does not 1egrudge you this privilege; it Is not ealous of your opportunity. It re- olces in that it has been able Co give t to you. and will continue Co treat lass after class in this opcn-handed 1 mo. generous way. Nor does the city ook upon you as in its debt Never heless you are and we have already ecelved proof of the fact that you ealize your debt Of gratitude and in end to deal fairly with your people. The obligation you owe the city is net in two payments. The first in he earnest and enthusiastic use of he opportunities it provided The