Evening High School - Owl Yearbook (Reading, PA)

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THE OWL 115 for philanthropy. These places in which men are to serve unselflshly and out of true devotion to the Master find that there are those who have a touch of the green eyed demon within them. There are those who will give ten dollars because someone else gave ten dollars and they want to be equal with them. What fools we are to let this vice steal away, as it slways does, our independence, our happiness, our indi- viduality, our usefulness! WE MAKE OURSELVES THE SLAVES OF ALL WI-IOM WE ENVY. Their superiority does not do us harm, but our jealousy does. Goethe was right: Against the great superiority of another there is no remedy but love. We ought to love the superiority by which others surpass us as though it were a free banquet to which every one could go and eat and drink deeply. We ought to learn to love even our enemies for we build great strength of character thereby. There is another, may we call it a vice, which creeps into our lives and keeps us from fulfilling this greatest of all commandments and thereby destroys in a measure our fullest joy in life. Perhaps it is the most universal of all these vices, it is prejudice. This man hates the J ewsg that man has a deep feeling against the Romanistsg and this other one cannot stand a protestant. Here is a man who is quite sure that all Japanese should be wiped from the face of the earth because they are treacherous. Another man thinks the Chinese are the future menace of the world because some great man said, beware of the yellow peril . Many people are thoroughly convinced that all Germans are possessed with a demon for power. Others hate the so called sneaky Frenchman. We lump groups of human beings into one indis- criminate mass of confusion and make sweeping classi- fication of them without full understanding. We tag the groups with nicknames and then think that we are real smart. In fact we have displayed a moronic insight when we do this. The employer of today is apt to look upon all of his employees in the same light as he looks upon a labor

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114 THE OWL They are dead, We are not in competition with them. But when he Who has been running behind us in the race, or perhaps was just even with us, suddenly shows a burst of speed and forges ahead leaving us Way behind, then there rises up a feeling of jealousy and animosity and We look for some lamentable cause to appease our Wounded pride. The lack of a magnanimous spirit is the cause of many festering ills. Envy has ruined many families, the story of Cinderella and her jealous sisters has never needed a commentary to explain its meaning. The unreasonable extravagance to Which some people go in their daily life and which is the curse of our social life of today is a child of envy or jealously. We may start out in life With a sen- sible standard of living, most young couples do this, but someone of our neighbors lives a little higher and faster than we had counted on, ofcourse We cannot let the Jones family out-do us, so We speed up a bit. We must always- keep one step ahead if possble, or at least be on the same level. We do not Want to be outdone but must live in houses just as large, Wear clothes that are as fine, travel in automobiles just as speedy and modern in lines, belong to equally as good clubs, etc: Jealousy is the element which embitters and cuts our American society into groups with class hatred. It is jealousy which has given all of the nations of the World the jitters. Each one looks for power and suprem- acy. Each one desires greater possessions. Each one is covetous of the other's goods. What this jealousy has done to nations has been Written across the pages of his- tory with the blood of millions of fine young men and Women. Nations sacrificed their manhood and their ma- terial Wealth to gain a little superiority which Was born of jealousy. Jealousy was present even among the Disciples for even on the night When He ate the Last Supper With them, they contended among themselves Who should be account- ed greatest among them. Yes, there is jealousy even among those Who stand for higher and nobler things in life. There is jealousy in the church and every organized effort

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116 THE OWL union which may be harassing him. He becomes as hard and sharp as a needle in doing his business and dealing with those who produce his wealth. The working mill- ions of America are all grouped by him into one organiz ation and tagged with a despised name. I-Ie has never thought of them as individuals, as young men and women starting out in life, getting married, rearing families, young men and women with ambition and a vision ofthe future He has never thought of them as aged men and women who have given of their strength to work for him and who now near their close of life are seeking for a meas- ure of rest and security. On the other hand the shoe will fit just as well on the other foot. There are laboring men and women who look upon their employer through the eyes of the cartoon- ist who pictures him as a beast of prey, as an over-grown person wielding a big stick. They can never see in their employer the one who through his superiority has risen to a place where he can provide a job for them. They can never see in him one who can, if he will, provide for old age peace and security. They can never fully under- stand that loving service will beget love. We forget too easily that great groups are not only Chinese, Japanese, Germans, Americans, Capitalists Unionists, Jews, Gentiles, black, brown, yellow, red, or white, but that all are individuals with a desire to gain out of life the utmost happiness. To this end you have been attending classes, to this end you have given much time and effort in studies, that you might better run in the race of lifeg that you might achieve greater happiness and secure for yourselves a more firm feeling of security. You desire to get ahead in life. Beware then of these vices which will only drag you down, which will only hang as great Weights about your body and in the end will tire and dissipate your best efforts. The gist of the whole matter is this: love is the funda- mental need of the whole world, love for God, love for our fellowmen. Most people realize this and are perfectly