A THING TO BE AVOIDED.

Clutha Leader, Volume XVII, Issue 834, 11 July 1890, Page 7

A THING TO BE AVOIDED.

One of the most dangerous legacies of the middle ages to later generations is the habit of looking into one's self continually, and carefully taking account of one's failures and sins. A thoughtful, meditative life is very different from an introspective life. The fact that one is always mourning over his sins is the very best evidence that one is failing to do his duty in the world about him. The man who is bent on the work of this hour will not be unconscious of his sins, but he will have very little time to devote to their analysis. The happiest life is one which is largely concerned with the life of others, one in which a man's thoughts are taken away from himself and fastened on the needs and interests of those about him. No man evor got out of his weaknesses or his sins by continually thinking about them ; the only way to get out of them is to work out. No man ever saved himself by thinking 3 thought without action is futile and barren. In this great universe an intelligent man ought to find some more interesting objects of thought than his own imperfections. They will never be cured by being looked at ; they will only become distorted. Look at them long enough to ses what they are, and then look away to the weak that can overcome them. At bottom excessive introspection is always a disease ; instead of indicating a more sensitive conscience it betrays a morbid temperament or a selfish indulgence in the magnifying of one's own importance. The cure for this sort of mental and spiritual infirmity is the bracing air of a healthy, active, natural life. Put your heart into human relations and your hands to good works, and you will dispel the shadows which surround you. We were put here to work out our own salvation ; no man ever yet thought it out. — Christian Union.