Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1939-02-23
Newness

TN AN old autograph album were
found these words, penned long
q ago, but still ringing with hope
and serving to arouse one to new
efforts and achievements.
every day is fresh beginning,
Every morn is the world made
new"
they convey, and few carry more In
spiration than does the word new
ness"
In the history of the children Of
Israel, as recorded in the Bible, we
read that they were admonished to
cleanse the altar after making sacri-
fee and to sanctify 1t for the new
day. Would this not indicate the
need for us to begin each day afresh,
to leave behind, to clean away, the
shadows, discouragements, and dis
appointments of yesterday and begin
anew, fortified by new conservation,
new vision, fresh aspiration?
Jesus said (John 1880, "a new
commandment l give unto you, That
We love one another; as l have loved
you" The old standard of thou
shalt not" was to be supplemented
with a larger, a newer standard Of a
positive rather than a negative ma
ture. ProportionateIy as this new
commandment is put into practice
the nature of the individual is
changed, a new view of mans rela-
tionship to God is gained, and his
whole existence takes on new life and
beauty. "God requireth that which is
past" (Ecclesiastes 3:15). Only today
Is ours with its infinite possibilities.
Paul wrote (Ephesians 4:22-24),
"Put off concerning the former con-
versation the old man, which Is cor
rupt according to the deceitful lusts;
and be renewed in the spirit of your
mind; and .. put on the new man,
which after God is created in right
eousness and true holiness"
The human mind has a tendency
to look backward and to grieve over
past mistakes; to spend much prec-
ious time in regretting it's failure to
use the opportunities presented and
Its unwise and unloving actions.
Jesus once admonished his hearers to
remember Lots wife. The record
does not say that she started to go
back; she merely looked back, and
her punishment was swift.
To ignore evil neither corrects nor
destroys It; but when a wrong Is
recognized as error, and an honest
effort Is made to correct it, wisdom
bids US turn from it with firm
determination to avoid its repetition,
and to lift thought to higher levels.
Mary Baker Eddy says in "The First
Church Of Christ, Scientist, and Mis-
cellany" (p. 1867, ITO do good to all
because we love all, and to use in
Gods service the one talent that we
all have, is our only means of adding
to that talent and the best way to
silence q deep discomfort with our
shortcomings"
Each day should be for us as a
clean white page. No one can write
upon 1t but ourselves. Shall it be
marred by thoughtlessness. selfish
ness, encouragement, or regret? Or,
shall 1t be illumined by the conscious
ness of well-doing, tender compass
sion, sweetness, and unsettled love?
1t lies within ourselves what shall be
written on that page.
No one who Is self-centered grows
In happiness or usefulness. Self-love
clouds his vision, limits his view
point, and leads to stagnation. For
getfulness of human self In an in
creased understanding of ones spir-
itual selfhood, however, brings q
broadening, deepening, and enriching
Of character, opening up for him new
and greater ways for service and
thereby blessing himself as well as
others. Vain regrets are worse than
useless. Today is ours. with its in
finite opportunities, and we can best
redeem the past by filling each mo-
ment with thoughts and acts which
will bear good fruit.
AS one begins to recognize and
claim his true birthright as a son and
heir of God, there dawn upon his
consciousness possibilities of which
he had never dreamed, and In this
dawning is found new day which
spreads its beams until it develops
into the full glory of the MONDAY
sun. The Christian Science
Monitor.