Great Falls daily tribune., 1919-06-09

plenty of people who have ability enough.
| The rays of their faculties focused on
one thing would make them famous, but
they are poWerless to collect these rays
and bring them all to bear on a single
| point.
Too Many Goat Feathers.
In a recent number Of the Ameri-
/ can Magazine there is very original
article BY Ellis Parker Butler, entitled
II gather too many goat feathers, do
| youy 1t is humorous satire on dis
sipating ones energies and points a
final moral. According to Mr.. Butler,
anything leads man aside from the
straight path to his goal is a goat
feather. Every unnecessary distraction
is a goat feather Every side-line is a
goat feather. 1t is wonderful sermon
on concentration as the secret of sue
cess, or perhaps we ought to put it
negatively as Mr.. Butler does-gather-
ing goat feathers; sticking ourselves
all over with thousand and one things,
is the secret Of failure.
For example, / understand that the
| Great Falls High School has basket
ball team that played in championship
form during the last season. Suppose in
the middle of an exciting game, Car
mody or Holkesvig, had stopped to
gather a few goat feathers in the shape
| of looking to see how the girls on the
| StNc-lllc were &dpplduAlIS IHEiI SIJitu-
did plays. Or suppose your hundred
yard dash man, Collins, were to stop
to pick up few daisies on his way to
the goal, Of that johnny Mcdonald had
gathered a few goat feathers in the
| shape Of mind wandering in his recent
| defamation contest at Missoula.
| Obstruction isn't good for man if
he really wants to reach his goal. Busf-
ness men in Great Fallss tell me that
| hpv hv
trying to run a thousand acre ranch and
their city business at the same time. No
salesman ever got very far by carrying
| too many side lines. A plumber does
not succeed as a plumber by spending
a large share Of the golden hours Of
winter in making pianos.
"'No one ever succeeds says Ellis
Parker Butler. by allowing himself to
| be DETECTED from the most important
business of his life. which is making the
most Of the best there is in him. Even
COW does better if she sticks close to
I the business Of eating grass and chewing
the cud When she starts IN to learn
| to whistle like a cat-bird and to fit
/ from field to field like a butterfly it is
| safe to say she is no longer a success
/ in life. When COW strays from plain
milk producing methods and begins
/ climbing trees and turning somersanlts,
| she may be more picturesque, but as
a COW she is a bowling failure. Seven
/ farmers, a high school teacher and q
| tin peddler may line up along the fence
| and applaud her all afternoon until she IS
all swelled up with pride. but when she
gets back to the barn at sundown, she
will not give much milk. She will not
/ be known as a milk-coW long; she will
| be d low grade of corn-beef, couple
of flank steaks and a pair Of five dollar
| shoes
Have One Aim in Life.
ELLIS Parker Butler did not make
the application to any other than the
success which men strive for in the ma
terial life But it need no great amount
Of thot to carry his principle over into
the spiritual life. The truly successful
men Of today; the great spiritual forces
Of the age are not the ones who spend
their time or any part Of their time in
dissipating their energies. Paul realized
this when he wrote our text. This one
thing | do Jesus knew that one af-
fection rules in mans life when he said,
No man can serve two masters. One
may have subordinate plans. but he can
have but one supreme aim, and from this
all others will take their character.
There are many subordinate things in
the life Of Jesus, but the ore great pur-
pose toward which He set his face was
the salvation Of his fefloWmen. It was
for this that he set his face steadfast-
ly toward Jerusalem No suffering, no
mockery, no obstacle could daunt him
in this one great aim. He never Waver
ed or turned aside from his main pur-
pose until the victory Of his life was
sealed il the words, 1T Is finished
1T was 50 with Paul who gave rs
our text lie was tent-maker by
trade, and you can rest assured he had
mastered the details Of his occupation.
But Paul was prominently an apostle
Of Jesus Christ. All Of his accomplish
ments were subordinated to this one
thing to do the Masters will, to press
acter. Nothing could turn him aside from
that. Nothing could daunt him, The
Roman Emperor could not terrify him,
no prison could suppress his zeal,
obstacles could not discourage him.
Musing in kindly mood, the Scared hero
Of stripes and scourgings and wander
ings and pcrils, exclaims, Let not the
tyrant's threat nor the scourge Of the
prison trouble me, for / bear about in
my body the marks Of the Lord Jesus.
Man Lives Double Life.
Every man lives a double life,
materially and spiritually. Natural
history tells us Of a certain species OF
water beetles that swift on the brooks
in summer time These beetles have
two sets Of eyes; one pair below
watches for food; another pair around
it. 80 man is ever bending his physical
and material energies toward sustain
ing his material life and achieving sue
cess, while with his spiritual energies
he is subordinating everything toward
the prizes Of the christian life.
This one thing | do, | press toward
the mark for the prize Of the high
calling Of God in Christ Jesus 1t is
always the aim that makes the value
Of the shot Is it sparrow Or an eagle
that you are aiming att Is it a CON
centration Of every human energy in
pursuits worthy, or unworthy, Of the
highest humanity? Is it the absorption
Of the Pilgrim with his eyes on the far
off shining light Of the celestial city, |
Or the men with the muck-rake looking |
only downward!
There are successes in life which are
failures Of the life. There are pursuits
in which the greatness Of the skill and
energy expended signalizes the folly.
The brighter the powers, the sadder
the misuse 4 keen satirist has drawn
the portrait Of one who, before he was