THINGS THOUGHTFUL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 20000, 16 July 1920, Page 9

THINGS THOUGHTFUL.

Do not fold your hands in the presence of evils on the false plea that whatever is, is right. OURSELVES. Those who fancy themselves not understood by the people with whom they •have to associate, might lind some consolation in the fact that' they 'themselves arc not taking any great trail bio to understand others. Wo aro really, not so complex or peculiar as we often imagine, and perhaps wo are not worth so much study as we demand. THE BLIGHT OF ATHEISM. » The whole spiritual universe is shattered and shivered by the hand of Atheism into innumerable glittering quicksilver globules of individual personalities, running hither and thither at random, coalescing, -and parting asunder without unity, coherence or consistency. In all this wide universe there is none so utterly solitary and alone as a, denier of God. With orphaned heart—a heart which has lost tiro Great Father—he mourns beside the immeasurable corpse of Nature, a corpse no longer animated or held together by the Great Spirit of the Universe—a corpse which grows in its grave; and by this corpse he mourns until he himself crumbles and falls away from if into nothingness. The wide, earth lies before such a one like the great Egyptian sphinx of stone, half buried in the desert sand; the immeasurable universe has become for him but the cold iron mask upon an eternity which is without form and void. The only failure a man ought to fear is failure in cleaving to the purpose ho secs to bo best. The universe lias not been arranged for the gratification of his feelings,—George Eliot. THE LESSONS OF NATURE, Of this fair volume which we World do name, If wc the sheets and leaves could turn with care, Of Him who it corrects, and did ,it frame, Wc clear might read the art and wisdom rare: Find out His power which wildest powers doth tame, His providence extending everywhere, His justice which proved rebels doth not spare In every page, no period of the same. But silly we,' like foolish children, rest Well pleased with colonr’cd vellum, leaves of gold, hair dangling ribands, leaving what is best, On the great Writer’s sense ne’er taking hold; Or if by chance wc stay our minds on aught. It. is some picture on the margin wrought. —William Drummond. Each one is accountable for his influence, whether ho wills it or not. He can choose what his influence shall oe, but not whether ho shall have any;> .that is'a matter beyond his power. The faculty to stick, take hold, hold on and let go, overcomes tho inertia, sloth, fickleness of our nature. AYc are craving of results too speedy to be the best, expect fruit as soon as wc plant, and when it conics pluck it unripe. We tiro of-the crosses which shape us, and hunger for The crown soon as wc enlist. “ REMEMBER ME.” It is a heart-plea, rather than a. bead-plea, p Nobody wants to be forgotten. Wc can boar almost anything when wc know that wo are being remembered'in affection or solicitude or prayer—or all three. ‘-'Will my countrymen _ remember mo?” whispered Garfield just before be died. So speaks tho heart instinctively and constantly. To “remember ” means, .literally to .“member again.” Tt, moans.' “Count me in with' your circle.” Tt moans, “ Answer with my name when I am not present, or cannot speak for myself.” It means, “Keep my face in tile albmn of the heart.” '“Member me again.” Truth is as impossible lo bo soiled by any outward touch as tho sunbeam..—Milton. DON’T SHOW OFF. Never desire to appear clever and make a uarade of your talents before, men. Be- honest, loving, kindly and sympathetic in all you say and do. Cleverness will flow from you naturally if you hare it; and applause will come to you unsought from those who know what to applaud, but the applause of fools is to bo shunned John Stuart Blackic. Lot. it be our happiness this, da.v to add to the. happiness of Those around us, and to eomjfort gome sorrow— Charming. CHIEF END OF LIFE. I lie older L grow, and now I stand on the brink of eternity, the more comes back to_ me tho sentence in tho catechism which I learned when a, clii'kl and the iullcr and deeper its meaning becomes—“ What is the chief end of men?” “To glorify God and enjoy Hun lor ever.” And‘surely this is the beginning and end, the alpha and omega of that stranso, indefiuable thing which we cull" life,—Carlyle.

“ Thou must be true thvself, I If thou the truth would’&t teach. | Thy soul must overflow if thou | Another soul would’st reach. It needs the overflowing heart To give the lips full speech.” --M Bonar. DO SOMETHING. If all tho men irho spend their time complaining of the badness and wrongness of tilings in general and particular would only begin at once tho much more sensible and worthy task of trying to make them better, this world “rould make a. great step forward towards perfection and ha tininess. Tho trouble is that when web have soon. 01 fancied wo have seen, something wrong, hud have talked eloquently and at, length about it, wo develop a real virtuous feeling and imagine that wc have quite done our duty touching the matter Of course, great evils need to he preached against in order that, a public conscience touching them may he developed, but the great majority ot us would bo. better employed in doing something to right a wrong than in making eloquent SDecches against lug ones. * < \ It is not so much the being exempt ; from faults as the having overcome ■ them that is an advantage.—Swift. NO GOING BACK. M'e cannot go hack. The old places are not the same if we revisit them, the old pleasures have lost something if wo try to repeat them, the old groups can never be regathered in completeness of presence and spirit. Life is a. kaleidoscope- It holds many beautiful combinations, but when we- have turned ono out of sight, no effort will bring it hack again.