Evening star., 1923-12-30
Repentance Needed to Purchase
Oblivion of Past on New Year

I way point to survey the path be-
hind him and to scan the path ahead
In this way he gets his, bearings ant
q fresh start. New Year day In sucf
a day. We may look back upon ar
old year filled with errors unnum
| bered, mistakes Of judgment, occa
sional bad faith, imperfect concep.
tions Of truth. acts Of unkindness-
all the thousand and one weaknesse.
which are common heritage Of frai
! mortality-yet we may be happy II
/ through 1t all there runs the colder
cord of sincere desire to do better
to be more worthy, to avoid repeti.
] thoughts which, stand out on the
| record like black charcoal on white
paper. For tt must be true. or life II
hopeless, that in the scales OF the
| eternal the purposes Of mankind
weigh far more heavily than conduct
mankind to make q clear distinction
between wrong conduct that Is re-
gretted and wrong conduct that Is
deliberate.
I wish Il were possible to enlarge
the number of New Year days in ouI
lives on which to keep ever con-
stantly increasing new and good reso.
! hearted world wandering in a will
derness of doubt Is breathing a prayer
| this New Year day that the evils
i which vex mankind may disappear In
the year to come. Right-thinking
men are resolving to eliminate the
wrongs Of the past and to help for
ward some of the rights.
We cannot get ourselves away from
the idea nf reform We still drAa m
that by taking more externals and
restoring them to their original form
and shape we can help much in the
/ betterment of man. But / have OBJ
have seen life change its form. and
yet not alter its value for the better.
1t Is by reason OF this fact that !
wish each day were New Year day.
! wish 1t were possible to abolish re-
form and put In its place regenera-
ton. wish that each of US, with
every setting sun. might bury in the
grave of forgetfulness every unwor-
thy thought and deed. l would be
supremely happy IL could be assured
Of a new birth for myself and my
fellow men at each rising sun, bring
Ing into the world new men and wom-
en- who had faith In the old republic,
its institutions and its laws, and in
humankind as sons and daughters of
the sell same God.
\ \
! The New Year beckons, and wheth-
er II IL to be a better year than the
old depends not SO much on the reso-
lutions which we may make as on
the power back of the resolutions to
keep them In effect The year beck
ons, but 1t points no way where men
and women are to walk. It beckons
, to the young man following a career
of crime as certainly as 1t beckons
the sainted motherhood Of the land.
II the young man moves forward
from this day with his vicious inn
pulses of the past his New Year will
lead him not to peace, but more prob
ably to the penitentiary. The New
Year will not change the workings of
the law wherever greed or envy or
malice OF false ambition may control
the lives of men. The New Year is
not a surgeon about to remove dis.
eased tissues from our bodies 1t is
, but an opportunity. It is q clarion
call to the hearts and consciences of
humankind. 1t says to you and to
me: You may safely forget the past,
II filled with evil. provided you re-
gret 1t. You may look with hope
upon the future IL today is not an
impulse but an inspiration"
Copyright, 1923, by Twenty.nrst Century
PreSSl