Goshen College - Maple Leaf Yearbook (Goshen, IN)

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20 GOSHEN COLLEGE RECORD. and degeneration, that human achieve- ments have been accomplished. A gen- eration of lofty ideals and noble aspira- tions is followed by a generation in which the moral purpose itself becomes unbearable, that men rouse themselves and by renewed effort push forward. This lack of uniformity in the world's progress has been due to the changing attitude of the individual. At one time he has been extremely Optimistic He sanctioned every new idea, every new project proposed. But his liberal views were impractical and he was destined to be disappointed. Thus he in turn became extremely pessimistic, and the period of revolution was fol- lowed by a period of reaction. Wlien the cycle is run little or no progress has been made. It lies potentially within every in- dividual to make a permanent contri- bution to the world's progress. But he must free himself from the influenc of the past, he dare not hold the old in too great reverence just because it is old, nor dare he hold the new in con- tempt. He must be fair minded and honest, tolerant and receptive, willing to look at tl1e same object from many sides, absolutely free from prejudice and insincerity, fearless to examine what seems to be dangerous doctrine, even patient to listen to views that look abhorrent to common sense. He dare not go to the extremes, neither despair of present conditions nor be unreason- bly enthusiastic. Let the individual chose with deliberation the various elements from his environment, let him select the best and noblest from the thought and activity of his age, with these let him ally himself whole heartcdly and propogate them in his life and the lives of others. Then the world 's progress will be uniform and prolonged. The Reconciliation Elnora Kauffman fDlTH VVHITE sat by the window watching the beautiful crimson tints of a winter sunset, when her sis- ter entered the drawing-room and toss- ed a letter into her lap. Hlt's from Madeline , cried Edith, as she hastily opened the envelope. Then suddenly the letter dropped from her hand, she sank back into the chair, while a look of intense pain over- spread her face. She clutched the arms of the chair tightly. VVhy, what can be the matter, Edtih? But Edith only shook her head, and her sister knew by the sign that she wished to be alone. For a long time she sat thus thinking. Her thoughts flew back to her child- hood days whe11 she and Edward had been playmates. She thought of the many afternoons they had romped and played together, and of the picnics and drives they had enjoyed with each other as they grew older. During all this time she had regarded him as her true hero. He had always been so kind and good to her before he went away, and now this was to be the end. 'tl can 't, I can 't give him up! she cried as great sobs shook her slender form. Could she have shed tears, her pain

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GOSHEN COLLEGE RECORD. 19 a11d choice. A man develops his phy- sical strength by doing tasks that are difficult. He increases the powers of his intellect by engaging in mental discipline, by applying himself inde- pendently to the solution of problems. The chief source of power in the indi- vidual is the development of these pow- ers which are potentially within him. Strength and stability of character are increased by taking a comprehensive view of the larger mass of humanityg by penetrating deep beneath the sur- face and discerning the Very motives which are impelling mankindg by keen- ly discriminating between the various elements, and deliberately selecting the elements which have value. Moses spent forty years reflecting on the laws of the great nations of l1is time. He controls our jurists today. Milton tells us that he spent thirty- four years accumulating and selecting material for his great heroic poem. Welmster' and Lincoln spent years in the forests and fields reflecting, brood- ing, analyzing and comparing. It is said that when Starr King first saw the great trees of California, standing twenty-five feet in diameter and lifting their crowns three hundred feet into the sunshine he was moved to tears. The cause of his emotion was the thought of the latent powers, the reserve ener- gies that had been compacted into these giants because of their capacity to select the right materials from their environment. Their roots had pene- trated the mountains and select- ed from their mineral deposits, they had pierced the hills and selected rich stimulants from their soilg their strong limbs had lifted their leaves high into the atmosphere where they gathered the sunshine and the invigorating ele- mentsg a thousand summers and win- ters had poured forth their treasure. From all these they selected the ele- ments which formed their mighty trunks. Thus the author, the states- man, the plain man who will help this and the next generation must busily engage in selecting the various elements of worth from the complex life about him, in that way compaeting within himself a thousand knowledges and virtues. The progress of the world depends on the individual. lf the individual de- generates, progress will be arrestedg if the individual developes the world will move forward accordingly. Some are continually mislead, either by their feverish enthusiasms, which tempt them to overlook the immediately im- possible, or by a spiritless submission to discouragement and despair, in which they fail to make a true estimate of the present situation. To vascilate between these two attitudes is exhaust- ing, and disasterous to progress. This is the chief source of retarded develop- ment and stagnation. lt is no doubt true that we learn through failure and disappointment. But such a process of acquiring knowledge is very painful and involves a stupendous waste of en- ergy and loss of time. Those who hold themselves constantly between these extreme moods are not tossed to and fro by passions and circumstances un- til they are finally driven forward. They are the individuals who make even the great mass of humanity move slowly but steadily to higher and no- bler achievements. Much of the progress in the past has been only temporary. Progress has al- ways been irregular and unsustained. It is only through alternating stages of advance and retreat, action and re- action, suceess and failure, progress

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GOSHEN COLLEGE RECORD. 21 might have bee11 greatly soothed, but this-her first real sorrow-was too deep to call tears to its relief. Hlllust I give him up, and for Made- line? Was it possible that Madeline would take Edward from her, Made- line who had always been her trusted friend, and who knew that she loved hin1 as she loved her own life. She re- membered now that Madeline had al- ways admired him, but she had never had the least suspicion that her friend would take Edward away from her when the two went to college together. The evening shadows had already deepened when Edith roused herself from the stupor of pain into which she had fallen. Slowly she crept to her room and as she buried her face in her pillow the pain kept gnawing at her heart and the words, HI can't kept repeating themseles over and over in her stupified brain. After a while there was a light tap at the door, but there was no response. Then her sister entered. f'Edward has called for you, Edith. IIe has come home just to see you and is leaving again tonight. He says he must you'7. The name seemed to arouse her. I can never see him again. Tell him so. Madeline has told me , was all she said. After her sister had gone she half raised herself from the pillow as if she thought of following, then she sank back again and covered her face with her hands. No, it is no use. He has only come to tell me that he loves another. I 64 can't endure to hear it from his lips . It would only have intensified the pain at her heart, if that were possible. H lt's no use. No, not eve11 Edward shall ever know how much I love him a11d what I am suffering at losing himn. There seemed to be no peace for her. All night long she lay wide awake and dry-eyed. The days they had spent together were lived over and over again in her thoughts, but they always ended with the present painful sorrow, and the words, 'fl can 't . There were no dreams of the future now as there had been. All the joys seemed to have gone out of life. Nothing now seemed real but the gnawing pain at her heart. Through all this there was no bitter- ness against Edward. Her feeling was rebellion against the fate that had put Madeline in the way of her happiness. As tl1e morning sunbeams began to steal into Edith 's room she again rous- ed herself. She must do something. She could not remain here and meet Madeline and Edward when they re- turned from college bright and happy. She must go somewhere, anywhere, just so she could forget, and never have the wound at her heart rudely touched by thoughtless people. She would go to a hospital and eare for the sick. She had once thought of that work before. Its greatness and nobleness had ap- pealed to her then, but she had given it up for Edward. It was not now the nobleness of the work that attracted her, but this was a way of escape. Several weeks rolled by during which time Edith seemed to live years. From a care-free girl she had grown into a woman who had tasted deeply of lifeis sorrow. Everything remind- ed her of the happiness which was never to return. Then one morning she said to her mother: l'm going away, next week, mother, and if you care anything for my hap- piness you will not interfere with my plansn. VVhy, where do you wish to go, Edith? asked her mother.