Medina High School - Medinian Yearbook (Medina, OH)

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12 QIt|p Annual country. But today I am praying for you something which the experience of humanity has shown to be worth much more than even intellectual greatness. I am praying for you greatness of soul. I am praying for you the power to perceive clearly the presence of God in your lives and in the world. I want you to thrive in heart. Hitherto, your homes, your friends and your churches have done much for you religiously. You have reached the time in life when nearly all your growth will depend upon you and upon your decision. I pray for you that it may be a really large growth. I want the sense of God to be deep in your lives, so that, whether the barks of your lives are carried far out into the stormy seas or drift quietly into some sheltered haven, the voyage of life itself may always be safe for you. May you never lose the presence of your true pilot, who is God. May his will be your chart by which you shall steer. And when the voyage is at last at an end, may you see Him as friend sees friend, face to face.

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®tjr Atuttral Netherlands great hero, found to sustain him thru all the long years of the unequal struggle of his country with Spain. Sure it was a real thing of which John Stuart Mill writes thus to Carlyle: “ I have for years had the very same idea of Christ, and the same unbounded reverence for him as now;— which reverence was becoming, or was closely allied with all that was becoming, a living principle in my character.” And surely it was a real t ung which sustained the dying McKinley as he said: “ Nearer, my God, to thee; it is Ins will, not mine.” Surely they miss something who have not learned to perceive these realities foi themselves • It matters not in what capacity the worth of spiritual realities be tested; they will always be found to add strength to life. To see God in the cataract , and not to idly gaze upon the wonderful canopy of heaven by night, is to step across one of the marks of differentiation between the beast and man. To see God in the flowering fields is not a mark of weakness but of strength. It adds meaning to life. Rightly says the poet Tennyson: “ Flower in the crannied wall, If I could know you, all in all, I’d know what God and man is.” To see God in the destiny of nations is not to grow confused in thought but rather to think more clearly. As the historian reads across the centuries, it becomes clear to him that there are forces affecting human destiny which cannot be measured by material stan- dards. Somehow, the forces of truth, kindness, justice, patience, honesty, modesty have a large place in the development of nations. Their presence or absence is marked tremen- dously. For it is the personal life of the nation which makes it either weak or great. This is also true of the individual. Is conscience a mark of any individual life? Does he speak the truth? Does he insist hard ' upon what is right? Does he know how to dis- tinguish between the good and the better? Does he know how to suffer foi a piinciple? Has he faith, that is, does he know how to be disappointed and still go on? Can he be kind? Can he forgive? These and kindred questions measure the difference between men as surely as the scales, or the stopwatch, or the yardstick, or the stethoscope. Whether or not the man can stand up under such tests eventually means more for him and for the humanity of which he is a part, than any other measurements which can be made. And always life is teaching us that nothing makes for such moral greatness like personal com- munion with Almighty God. Whether or not such communion with God shall have a large place in our lives depends upon a personal culture of that sort of living. It is not a matter of chance, altlio the point of decision to take it up may have seemed so. It is not inherited, altlio certain greatness of soul is often passed on from father to son. It is not caught, altlio association with devout persons will give incentive to the personal culture upon which devotion depends. It is not gotten by training, altlio the child reared by the mother who prays and by the Sunday-school teacher has a distinct advantage in being often shown the manner in which such communion is begun. But the communion itself is a matter of personal choice and will. Some day it will dawn upon the individual soul that this is indeed worth the having. At that time, he must decide for himself whether he will seek it. Religiously we call such times the moments of decision in which the soul is born again. It comes to different persons in different ways; always the decision is demanded. The decision is never postponed with- out some loss. Never do spiritual forces which make for righteousness and leadership in righteousness among men come into any individual life unless the decision be in the affirm- ative. God never bestows his personal presence upon the unwilling recipient. My friends of the senior class, our schools have done much for you. Possibly they have done all they could do. Yet thruout your lives you will go on learning. Some of you will travel at a faster rate than others will go. But I think that all of you will go on. Upon your intellectual attainments will depend much of your worth to your age and your

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