Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1917-06-04

curate information about the selling
price Of everything from the conscience
of a politician up. What Is there in IT
for me-? is the test by which the aver
age man estimates the opportunities OF
life. Let us consider some practical
aspects of this question as they apply
to conditions today.
in the first place. what doth 1t proiit
man. to gain the whole world, and
forfeit his physical life? Is the loss of
bodily strength, physical vigor nervous
energy and. with them, all capacity for
enjoyment which these bring offset by
the gain of the world? | lave known
score of men who died under the age
of 80 from pressure of overwork, who
were considered successful in every
sense Of the term, These men died at
the very summit of success, when they
had everything to live for. and all be-
cause they denied themselves the hour
of rest and relaxation while they toiled
and struggled for self. Multtudes are
today giving everything for a prize
which they may never have the capac-
ity to enjoy because of impaired ply
steal life
FORGETTING intellectual Life.
Then. what doth it profit a man. to
gain the whole world and forfeit MS
intellectual life? Some people die as
trees, sometimes do, from the top down,
the intellect withers before the body.
They are not imbeciles. but the world
is so insistent that the brain becomes
simply part OF the machinery to grind
out success. There are many people
in whom the intellect is sacrificed to
the pursuit of the material. They can
talk nothing but daily routine and i'm
mediate purpose. Intellectual genius
has no charm or fascination for them.
the great writer's are sealed books, and
inspiring themes do not stimulate
thought or enrich their minds. There
are too many men who have not read
single worth while book in the last
five years, and there are too many
young people living in a starved intel
leCtual atmosphere. Their minds are
feeding on cheap pictures and plays.
cheap novels and cheap amusements,
and so they are losing the culture and
charm of better day.
Don't Sacrifice Moral Life.
"Then, TOO what doth it profit man
TO gain The whole world, and forfeit
his moral life? Morality is being ruth
lessiy sacrificed on the altar of ma
rerial success. When international
pacts and well recognized and under
stood laws are broken every day, the
morality of nations has been forfeited
for a husk, to say nothing of the sor-
row and degradation which has come.
with it, Individuals are forfeltlns
their moral life every day when repu-
inf, q Gained
at the expense of integrity and honor;
When success is made by degradation
of conscience and the struggle for
wealth means tran1pled principles,
morality has died in men.
Deepest Loss Of All.
But the deepest loss of all is IN
the spiritual life. We can understand
the great loss in the physical, intellec-
tual and moral realms, but it Is more
difficult to make clear the reality OF
spiritual loss because so many do not
care about the spiritual since they are
absolutely unconscious of II. why
should men care when the possibilities
and the destiny of the soul are a sealed
book? The great difficulty is to make
it clear that the pursuit Of the world
at the price of the soul entails pen
atty which eternity itself can not re-
woke. Eternal life in the soul is
distinct faculty which we possess and
which when physical death comes, will
survive that collapse. 1t needs nour-
ishment, food and exercise as much
as the physical or intellectual. If 1t
is starved there is nothing for eternity,
and we die spiritually. There is moth
ing arbitrary about this, it is not Gods
punishment or wrath, 1t is the result
of law as simple and irrevocable as
any which governs the physical.
But a man can gain the world and