The Detroit times., 1915-06-01
Unconscious Goodness.
nv Or. FRANK CRANE
Copyright. 1915. by Frank Crane)

This is not written for the many, but
for the few VINO understand.
Confess your sins. IL you will, but not
your goodness.
A high and noble quality in you, II
it is once brought to light, withers a.
flower plucked from it's bed in the woods
and worn on your dress.
There is no real purity but that OF
which you are unconscious. This per-
meates you and tlavors your personality.
The minute it is exposed by Boosting II
becomes offensive.
doubt if preaching, moralizing, argu-
ing and otherwise definitely laboring
with people To make them good has ever
been of much real benefit. The actual
uplift is that force that lies within our
nature, concealed in the texture OF the
soul.
The cosmic powers of souls are silent
and invisible: AS the sun attracts the
planets by its mass, as the hyacinth per-
fumes the room by its presence.
When you tell of good deed you have
done you have spoiled it. That instinct
is correct which leads the brave man to
belittle his own courage. No act is fine
unless it be done solely to crafty our.
self. solely to win the praise Of our ow>
exacting soul; the bloom of virgin beauty
is rubbed oil from our nobleness when
il is TO get the appreciation of others.
We complain that our efforts are not
appreciated Whatever is appreciated IL
deprecated. Only those helpful deeds
that no one knows, which we ourselves
do not recognize, are OF the purest gold.
No one will be more surprised on the
day Of judgment than the genuine saints
who will exclaim in amazement: LORD
when saw we thee sick. or ahungered, or
in prison, and ministered unto thee Z!
Action and speech. doing and talking.
and all sorts of conscious exertion. are OF
second class, compared with the high
worth of being.
This is proved by little children, who,
we are shocked TO discover. are not much
influenced by our lecturing, and disregard
our advice, but whose eyes penetrate 70
what We really are, whose ears hear the
voices of our character: SO that they fol-
low us but not our words.
No deeds of mine can counteract the
subtle dynamic of my personal influence.
II endow churches and colleges, IL
feed multitudes of the poor. IL give my
body to be burned, and yet If i am essen
TALLY mean, my net result in the world Is
bad. On Times books the debit OF my
character will outbalance the credit OF
my efforts.
The day will come, when humanity Is
mature. that there shall be no more OF
what we now call charity or benevolence.
For charity Is the conscious attempt to
correct the injustice Of our acceptance
of unjust customs.
In the perfect day to come no man Will
give 10 relieve another's distress, none
will work to convert and redeem, for each
shall try to do justice; and where there
is universal justice all charity is swal-
lowed up.
Then set loyalty to yourself as your
goal. Think, speak and act to get that
inner praise of your own being. Regard
Yourself as fortunate when you can do
good without being found out.
And consider yourself most fortunate
of all when you are not appreciated.
when you are misunderstood, and when
YOUR good is called evil. For then You
are one of the real aristocrats OF virtue.
Then you are truly of kin to God, who
is forever silent, forever cavilled at, yet
forever healing and helping by His very
existence.