The Cordele dispatch. (Cordele, Ga.) 19??-1971, 1916-12-31
THE PAST AND THE FUTURE.
Rx A. z. Ware.

Ply days to us all, then comes pail
of gloom and shadows. We stand to-
day between two eternities, the past
and the future, upon the threshold of
the old and the new, Janus-like facing
two ways. We are thinking of the
past with all it's rights and wrongs; of
the bright beginnings and the sad
endings; of the joy and the sadness;
CT fond expectations and sore disap-
pointments; of the loved ones who
began the New Year with us and of
the hopes that lie buried at it's close.
With the other face we are looking
into the unknown, untrIed future. We
are standing today il, this morning of
the new century, upon the thresholds
of life preparing to enter the open
gates of the great tntried world be-
fore us.
AS we look upon the inviting fields
and pleasing prospects that stretch out
IN every department of knowledge and
Of industry, let us not orget to look
within. Our appreciation and mastery
Of the great world without will de-
pend upon the cultivation and mastery
Of the little world within. Let us be-
gin this bright New Year to cultivate
the finer feelings and sentiments of
the SOUL Danish deceit and dishones-
y thought, word and actions; expel
every base motive and unworthy sug-
gestion and greet this new year with
a sweet smile.
Our deadliest enemies lie within
ourselves. Many man has been
success without, in the world of
science and invention, literature and
lrt, industry and finance, only to sue
cumb at last to hidden foes within.
Nobility of character, true greatness,
s due far more to the inner powers
# the soul than to conditions and fac
tors of our outward life.
Let us forget the past with all it's
wrongs and disappointments. This is
a new year, begin it right, enter upon
our work fully prepared in the right
spirit and with the proper conception
of our duty
Many battle has been lost because
of poor preparation and bad begin
ming. Many a promising young life
has been blasted and ended in dis
grace because of the failure to begin
bright. The one essential to success
.oday, to every young man, is right
preparation. 1t is not to the young
man of wealth and luxury and ease
who wins the laurels of life, who will
stand the sharp competition of the fu-
lure, but he who through patient strug
gle and study becomes all prepared
o meet the duties that are surely
coming upon him.
There are new gates to- open, new
doors to enter, new faces to meet.
Great duties and great responsibilities
confront us. Our country has great
work for those who are prepared to
10 it, and great glory for those who
5ucceed. We are living in fast age,
4 time in which complete revolutions
IRE wrought within a year. The
great tide of immigration has turned
southwark. The great barrier which
separates two continents has been
opened, and when the bloodiest war
If history is closed the south will be
confronted with new conditions. Then
'et our young men get ready now to
withstand the great sweep that is
coming upon us.
There is no better way to stand the
3attle of life than to have our hands, |
our heads and our hearts educated. |
Dur high schools and colleges are of
'ering opportunities to the young that |
our southland has never experienced |
in all its history.
Important as it is to begin we'll, this |
bright New Year, let us not imagine |
his is all Life may be regarded as
a series of beginnings. The great and |
noble life is that which begins daily, |
continuously and persistently. If we |
would truly succeed, the ardor, pur-
pose and courage of the beginning must |
be continued to the very end. "He |
that perserveth to the end, the same |
shall be saved"
Let us pass over the threshold of |
he old and the new, turn our faces |
from the past with all it's recollections, |
look toward the future prepared to
meet the responsibilities that await |
us.