Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-03-20

You're glad you made your wa,
futility and mediocrity, buff
feted by tawdry novels and
books Of phony appeal to look
alive and stay young. You've
reached q little haven, where
words again mean something,
where love is more than q
sordid episode. where some one
Is not afraid to dream Of in
visible things you can feel as
clearly as the tangible world.
Such . book is "Gift From
the Sea" pantheon; $2.75,
O brief excursion into the
philosophy Of ordinary day
to-day. living by Anne Morrow
Lindbergh.
This, we are reminded, is
Mrs. Lindbergh's first book in
II years. We, her readers,
were the losers. Those who
read North to the Orient" or
Listen, the Wind" will not
+, need to be told that Col. Lind
bergh's wife is a sensitive, per-
ceptive writer with a rare
feeling for words.
MiddIe-Ase Reflections
In Gift From the Sea" she
examines the woman who is
reaching what is called. mex
actly, middle age. Her children
are growing up, perhaps leav-
ing home, life necessarily has
changed, her horizon widened.
What should she look for. what
should she cling to? Then.
,personalizing her reflections,
she recalls that she has hus-
band, FIVE children. a home
Just beyond the suburbs of New
York.
A brief vacation at a beach
inspired her to write this book.
She collected shells and each
shell, so different, reminded
her Of a stage Of her life, Of
any typical life. The double
sunrise shell recalled romantic
love. early marriage. Then
the oyster shell, a symbol OF
settling down, with children
home. many other activities
sharing attention. Then there
was the argonauta's shell.
from which the children swim
away and the mother leaves to
start a new life. There were
other symbolic shells.
To ProIone the Morning
1--WE Americans" Mrs. Lind
bergh comments, with our
terrific emphasis on youth.
action and material success.
certainly tend to belittle the
afternoon of life and even to
pretend that it never comes.
We push the clock back and
try to prolong the morning.
overreaching and overstrain-
ing ourselves in the unnatural
effort. We do not succeed, Of
course. We cannot compete
with our sons and daughters.
And what a struggle it is to
race with these overactive and
underwise adults! . In our
breathless attempts we often
miss the towering that waits
for afternoon.
The demands these days are
too wide. too incessant. From
family and community they
become national, international.
This is not the life of sim
plicity but the life Of multi
plicity that the wise men warn
us Of. It leads not to unihca-
ton but to augmentation. IL
does not bring grace; 1t de-
stroys the soul :"
And, late in her reflections.
she says: Perhaps we never
appreciate the here and now
until 1t is challenged, as it is
beginning to be today, even in
America. And have we not
also been awakened to a new
sense of the dignity of the in
dividual because of the threats
and temptations to him, in
our time. to surrender his in
dividuality to the mass
whether it be industry or war
or standardization Of thought
and action?"
This book has something for
all, men as well as women. who
are not so disenchanted they
no longer want to hear about
that other. warmer, less prac-
tical, lovelier side of life.
OF Red China
nn.~ Ts-Inl~ unhurk hos