The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-05-26
COMMENCEMENT
IN FULL SWING
AT UNIVERSITY
Baccalaureate Sermon De-
livered By DIR. Stakely
To Packed Hall

10 PackeQ Hall
UNIVERSITY, Ala, May 25.-(Spe.
cial. THE ninety-third commencement
exercises of the University of Alabama
set under wsy here Sunday morning
with the delivery of the baccalaureate
sermon before packed throlg in Nor
gan hall by Rev. Charles 4. Stakcly,
u. D., castor OF the First Bapt'.t church
&C Montgomery.
Members OF the graduating class. ar.
raycil in caps and gowns, and the facrl.
~ formed i'll body near the Library
building. and u: 'cled 10 M1"ran hall.
Faculty members took seats on the
stage, while the seniors were seated
in the audience. Tuscaloosans, alumni
and visitors filled the hall to capacity.
President George H. Denny, in his
introduction of DIR. Stakely, reviewed
the religious atmosphere of college life.
He asserted tie worll was a fat better
place to live Iii than we give it credit
for and said stress and emphasis should
be placed on the work of American col
leges. Emphasis was placed, he said,
on the per cent of the body that
possibly needed ref 'ImatiJn, blu: assert
ed emphasis should be placed on the
other 95 per cent. Comparing the 2 zoe
students at Alabama with congrega.
ton or other community of that size, he
declared that Alabama would far out.
rank them in service. More than 90
per cent of the students took very ac-
tive part in religious work here, he
added.
Where Emphasis Is Needed
Emphasis should be placed, not only
on what we expect while in college,
but also, on what we expect outside of
college," he declared.
In introducing DIR. Stakely he said
DIR. Stakely was the very breath of Wis
ion. with a keenness of insight who rec
ognized the force in the life of Ameri-
can colleges.
Choosing as his subject "the Golden
Rule" DIR. Stakley delivered a very
fOrceful sermon on his subject.
He asserted that the Golden Rule was
so consistent and compact that it almost
uCIlCu dndAJ SlS1 anu lOI lHdt ACdoOAg III
his analysis, he considered it in three
phases first, its valuation of self; sec
ond, its Qualification of altruism, and
third, its imposition of positive service.
1.-THE prostitution of self must al
ways be wrong" said DIR. Stakely, land
there is no virtue in a neglect or de-
probation of self. 1t is in ones self,
not in ones neighbor, that the standard
of right is to be established. Ones
self is to be the seal of standard. Don't
misunderstand-ther is no place in the
Kingdom of Heaven for swagger and
strut, bat there is a place for proper
selfrespect.
Cannot Ignore Value
1--WE have capacities, capabilities and
possibilities that God Himself can use,
for by His creation of us, He Himself
has stamped us with a value, and this
value cannot be ignored. For after
all that can be said is said on mental
depravity it still remains true that we
are saved because we are worth saving.
1t should always be our ardent ambi-
ton to develop in ourselves our best
possible self.
THE altruism of the Golden Rule is
without stint. No life can be selfish
or narrow under the Golden Rule, no
life hard-hearted, no life mean, for all
the impulses it inspires are noble; all
the thoughts and feelings it kindles in
life for others are filled with charity
and grace.
Reciprocity is only part of the
Golden Rule. The Golden Rule is all
Astounding. Proceeding under right and
reason it is limited only by the con-
fines of humanity.
From whatsoever We would that men
should do to you do We even unto them,
the Master of the rule has pushed out
the observers of the rule from the point
of thinking and feeling into life of
actual contribution of positive service.
Difference Defined
"Others had taught the negative side
of the rule. The Greek orator, Soc
rates, had, and the beautiful Jewish
book of Tobit had. But there is world
of difference between not doing one
harm and actually doing one good. The
Golden Rule is more than innocence and
harmlessness. 1t does not say live and
let live but live and help live
"The highest law in the universe is
the law of blessing and the noblest
beings in the universe are those that
contribute to the happiness of others.
A man is worth to the world in which
he lives not what he has but what he
gives, not what he holds but what he
yields, not what is in him but what
the world gets out of him.
80 then is the Golden Rule, for if
every one would allow it to reign in
their hearts a glorious transformation
would come"
Invocation and prayer was said by
Rev. L. o. Dawson. pastor of the First
Baptist church of Tuscaloosa. Several
musical numbers and singing of three
hymns were rendered, Mrs. Harry n.
Eddins, Miss Mamie Donoho, Irwin
nmnin. Thnnas @ Enster and Mrs AL