HELEN KELLER’S SEEING MIND

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23517, 4 June 1938, Page 18

HELEN KELLER’S SEEING MIND

Without eyes to see or ears to hear Miss Helen Keller proves in her “ Journal ” that she can see and hear to more purpose thart most people, and her “ dumbness ” is more eloquent than the speech of others. Thus she writes of Christmas Day in Scotland:—Not a soul did we meet on the road except a farmer and his horse. Birds chirped quietly around us. A hymn chanted from a hospital in the distance scarcely broke the silence. Here indeed was the life-giving power—the strong, abiding foundation of simple, homely things. Here I heard, as it were, the mother-tongue of my remote ancestors who wrestled with the elements—the language* of the mould and the air I knew as a child. I realised that my delight in those fields and trees had endured be-, cause of the fields and trees I had taken delight in when young. Change may be the vitalising wind blowing through the house of life, but it is not an abiding force. We need permanent things to soak peace into us as well as progress—the beauty of the earth, seedtime and harvest, the smiles of lovers, the joy of the young in being alive, pride in craftsmanship. If we cannot be contented with a little, no wealth will ever satisfy us. Only from simple beginning can creation go on unchecked.