The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1919-05-29
SOME DYNAMIC FORCES IN
ACHIEVEMENT
An Address Delivered at the Phi
Delta Banquet by the Rev. Elmer
Gabbard
Fellow Phi Deltians and friends
Of Phi Della.

. WNlh diulUb our UIfiuIeU Nl lUP
/ hills To meet you on this occasion.
have come with the sincere hope
that I may be- able to say something
worthy Of your remembrance when
your experiences here have become
a memory.
| realize. young men and women
that your faces are TO the future
and that your eyes are uplifted.
II is right that this should be so.
Your hearts should beat eagerly
and passionately as you think Of
the future when what you achieve
or fail to achieve will count in the
7 vital issues Of life. know you arr
/ interested in achievement because
il is charged with the thought Of
that hour when your success will
/ be- made or lost This hour for YOU
may be a moment as IL was with
, Dewey at Manila Bay, IL may be
for a short period as il was with
Christ II may be for the year.
Of long and fruitful service. The
point is that that hour for you is
coming when your contribution 10
life will be made. When it comes
there are certain great forces that
will, consciously or unconsciouslv,
play a prominent part in the out
come Of your life, You cannot but
be Interested in these forces so
dynamic in life and ask you 10
think with me for a little while
about them.
Let us pause for a moment to
recognize that the practice Of these
great life principles may not put
cur names In the catalog Of the
world heroes. There are different
standards Of greatness. When God
sent His angel TO herald the birth
~ John the Baptist il was an
nounced. He shall be great in the
sight Of the Lord" This did not
mean that the world would count
him great The achievements that
win the approval Of the world are
not always the achievements that
count for most in life. Young men
and women in college are told that
they are 10 he the leaders Of men.
They believe this and rightly So
But going out in life their leader
ship is often rejected by the worll
and they find tasks awaiting them
that are coarse and common. Some
what mystified they wait for the
world 10 recognize their ability and
give them worthy position. This
| recognition never comes. We often
fancy that prominent people do
prominent things. A glance at their
daily schedule would likely show
/ That for the most part their time
| Is spent on matters no more allur-
ing or romantic than those that fall
/ tC most men. Charles Kingsley in
Speaking Of his daily work said il
usually consisted In visiting a few
poor cottagers. in sitting beside one
or two sick people, in talking with
farmer across the hedge" We
hear much talk Of "a mans job" and
The phrase has come to mean some
thing that is big and snowy. Very
often a mans job is 60 do something
that no one else will do because they
think il is beneath them. Through
the imagery Of the prophets people
~ere looking for great things when
the Messiah should come and We're
/ bitterly disappointed when He came
20 engage in what 20 them were
such commonplace things. I am
not sure that the people Of our own
day are unlike the people Of old in
this respect. II ought 10 cool the
feverish ambition Of men when
they remember that Christs life
was a rehuke TO those who feared
that they would be helittled bv
common tasks The great need Of
human life today is not bigger tasks
but bigger souls All around us
talents are going 10 waste in wait
Ing for big opportunities. The soul
grows ever smaller that thinks Of
IFS task as beneath IT,
on one occasion General Stone
wall Jackson wanted a bridge over
The Shenandoah River over which
his army could pass He ordered
his engineers 10 build a bridge. He
also called his wagonmaster and |
blacksmith and gave them orders 10
GET the wagon train across. At day /
hiTak the blacksmith came and I
called General Jackson and said.
General we've got the wagon and
artillery across" Jackson was
greatly astonished. He said. How
did YOU do ito" We'll" said the
blacksmith, I'VE had some men to
pile rocks in the middle Of the
stream and put some logs from the
banks 10 the stones. put rails across