The Washington herald., 1916-06-21
How to Keep Growing.
By ORISON SWEET MARDES,

By ORISON SWEET MARDEN,
The human brain is only in its infancy" says
Garrett P. Serviss, "and since we are aware OF
that, we have good reason to hope that in the
future we shall not merely know that the earth is
full of power but shall make that power in some
way serve our uses"
Putting ourselves in harmony and in a spirit
of cooperation with progress in all that makes
for the betterment of mankind places US in the
very center of power, in the current that is run
ming Godward. 1t enlarges our vision and keeps
us constantly growing.
Those who not progressive, not public
spirited, who are selfish and Indifferent to the
welfare OF others, are simply because they
lack the tremendous stimulus which comes from
being in this current They placed at the
same disadvantage motorman would be who
instead OF putting up his trolley pole and drawing
his power from the electric wire should try to
push his along by his own puny strength.
Keeping in touch with the Power that created
us, and holding the mind open to and pro-
gresslve ideas is the secret of growth, of all hu-
man progress.
Life is search for power" Emerson says.
There is no standing still the life path. We
are either going ahead backward, progressing
or retrograding and the only way con-
so. In no other way fnd real and en-
during happiness.
The greatest satisfaction OF life is the con-
Isciousness OF mental expansion, of spiritual
growth, the consciousness of the constant widen
ing of life in the effort to do our part in the
advancement of humanity.
A man whose growth is stunted through idle
ness, whose mental and physical faculties are
being starved by lack of exercise, the want OF
being stretched over longer and higher ideals
cannot be happy
TO keep growing must constantly i'm
prove oneself. There must be a perpetual stream
Iof supply or the spring will run dry The reason
why so many people get into ruts, why their
mentality shrvels and their business or profes-
sion dies with dry rot is because they do not
keep in touch with the current OF progress They
do not keep posted even along their own lines
They insist holding on to their old fogey
ideas They have no sympathy with new ideas
lor progressive methods. They believe in the
past, but not in the future
When people cease to grow, when they begin
Ito look backward instead of forward, their use
fulness is at an end. 1t is the live forward-ook-
ing people who push the world onward and
upward.
Did you ever witness the miracle which live
man live woman wrought in buried town
which, like Rip Van Winkle had been asleep
for years unmindful of the march OF time and
progress?
l know OF penness girl who worked her
way through school and college and after her
graduation returned to her native village and
lifted the ideals Of all the girls in the place
She rcvolutonized their life habits, their tastes
their ambitions In fact, she walked up the whole
place into active progressive life
Edison didn't believe that things must 60 on
IN the same old way always. Because people
did 50 in the past, he didn't believe that we must
necessary to live in comparative darkness at
night. He knew that the sun had stored up
suttlcent light millions OF years ago to light the
world brilliantly at night He believed that .he
human voice could be multiplied millions of times
continue to travel in the same old way, in slow
smoky trains. He did not believe that it was
and could be preserved indefinitely He believed
in looking forward, not backward. hence the
miracles he has wrought.
Professor Bell did not believe that the old
order OF things should remain, and that we could
only communicate with people at a distance by
telegraph, mail, or messenger. He believed that
people in different parts OF the world, living in
different continents, could talk together almost
as easily as though they were in the same room.
Hence the marvels OF telephony.
Marconi believed that the air could be utilized
as medium in transmitting messages from ship
to ship thousands Of miles apart Hence the
saving OF innumerable lives at sea-
None OF the men who have given the world a
boost believed that things should go on in the
same old way as they always had gone Thev
saw great light ahead, as does every one who
looks forward and keeps growing.
Copyright.