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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 1918)
3 MAY 8 The Chema wa American P r in t e d a t C h e m a w a , O re g o n , a n d D e v o te d to th e In t e r e s t s o f In d ia n E d u c a tio n Vol. X X I W ednesday, November 6, 1918 LIFE There are millions upon millions of people in the world, representatives of human life and human en deavor. Each of these creatures was in turn a baby; helpless of body and mentally a nonentity. The spark of life which finally was fanned into a full- grown human being, a man or woman, was in it’s earlier periods a very feeble affair. Much care is necessary in early life, for the human being is the most helpless of all creatures in infancy. All the beasts of the field and jungles have the advantage of mankind when it comes to taking care of themselves in the early days of their existnece. It is said that a dog up to the age of eight months has more intel ligence than the babe of mankind at like age. At about that age scientists inform us that the babe passes the puppy in intelligence and understanding. When man matures, mentally, he becomes the master of every living creature, despite the fact that he has neither horns, hoofs, nor claws—being at his best but poorly equipped by nature for physical com bat with the various phases of animal life which sur round him. Does this not prove something worthy serious consideration? Now, what does it suggest to your mind? To the writer it proves the superiority of mind over matter, of intelligence over brute strength—the great power of human mind, or thought, over everything else on this earth. Education is a fine thing and it is a necessity with all of us in dealing with modern customs and con ditions, but it can never supplant intelligence or take its place wholly. Life is intelligence in some degree and intelligence, on the other hand, represents a de gree of life—nothing else. As the mind of man makes possible his dominion over the entire animal kingdom, so it likewise makes him master of his own kind. The greatest mind is always felt, and where the woiking of a great mind is along proper channels the influence is so strong that obedience to such a will follows as a matter of course. Life in a frail body may be of greater value to man kind than that life which is represented by brawn and muscle and gigantic stature. The frail creature may have a fine mind, whereas our Goliath may have the brain of an ox. These are some of the phases of No. 6 life—the mind of one person places him in the pheres of the gods while the lack of mind holds the other to ordinary levels. Mind can be developed. How would you develop your mind, and, in reality your life? By reading, do you think? Yes, partly, but not wholly. If you read good books and "th in k ” of what you read you will develop your mind. If you wish to live a beautiful and beneficial life you must think good thoughts. As you think so is your life. That is life. W H A T W IL L YOU BE It has often been stated that a young person can grow into the kind of a person that they wish. Let us see: Does it strike the reader that he or she will become something unusual without effort? Never! Just simply voicing a wish will accomplish little or nothing in making of you something worth while. You’ve got to mean business. You’ve got to wish so hard that you live your wish. You’ve got to have faith in yourself to such an extent that your wish is simply a beacon lighting your path to better things and their accomplishment—lighting for you a path which leads to higher thoughts and nobler deeds. It is not so much what you hear other people say, it is not what you read, and it is not so largely what you think that places you high or low. What is it? It seems to the writer to be what you "believe.” Ah, yes, that’s it—and then living what you believe. Be lieving, really and truly believing is, we believe, the power for achievement. You may think good or evil, but have no faith or belief in one or the other. You may, for instance, think evil, but not believing in it, it will not affect you with near the power that it would if you had faith in it—believed in it. Very few people wish to be bad. We would all rather be decent, be respectable, be good. There is really nothing to keep any-one from being respectable and worthy. The one sure and royal road to respecta bility lies in respecting yourself so much that you will think good thoughts and believe in them. Well and good! Can not our young people grasp the idea that what they are some day to be depends upon their mental attitude now? Can they not understand that they may, by thinking right and believing right, become all that is respectable and honorable? We believe that all this is true. Now, what will you think and believe—what will you be?
