The Chemawa American, November 20, 1918, Page 4, Image 4

T H E C H E M A W A A M E R IC A N
PAG E 4
SE L F-H E L P
In w hat are know n as th e “ P ansy B o o k s,” published
some years ago, one of th e volum es contained an ac­
co u n t of a y o u n g w om an who felt herself inspired to
seek a way to serve G od. She so u g h t the counsel of
a friend in whom she had im plicit confidence and asked
how she should sta rt on h er m ission of divine service.
T h e friend was w ise and answ ered, “ Begin w ith the
k ettles. ”
W hat a serm on in fo u r words! N obody w ants to
clean a k ettle, hence w here one is w illing to do w hat
every b o d y else sh u n s it is reasonable to presum e
th at they are th ereb y p ro v in g th e ir fitness for the
L o rd ’s service. But th e fact is th a t by “ cleaning
k e ttle s” they were b eg in n in g at th e bottom of the
la d d e r of usefulness and could rise ru n g by ru n g ,
secure in the feeling th a t n o th in g w as passed by w ith ­
out notice or a tte n tio n — th a t th ere should be no need
of failing or falling. T h ey were h elp in g them selves
by “ cleaning k e ttle s” m ore th a n they w ere helping
o thers. T hey w ere acquiring a know ledge of th e w ork
and w ere disciplining them selves.
C u ltiv ate a sp irit th a t will uphold you in cleaning
kettles. Be su re of th is, th a t w hen you can m ake
yourself take in terest in your job on th e k ettles th a t
you will 1 ave proved to yourself— and to others- —your
fitness and th e ability to help yourself. T h ere is
no help so im p o rtan t in th is life as self-help. . Some
man once voiced th is wise and im pressive statem en t,
or w ords to th is effect: “ N ot even God can help the
man who will not help h im self.”
If you would succeed, if you would prosper, if you
w ould th a t others should respect you, if you w ould
respect yourself, cu ltiv ate w ithin yourself a sp irit of
sel f-help.
MAGIC
T h e m ajority of us have, from th e tim e of o u r e a r­
liest recollection, heard of m agic and we have been
both awed and inspired by it. T h e good fairies, th a t
seemed real to us in the days of our childhood, used
m agic w ithout stin t in perform ing th eir m any seem ­
ing m iracles an d — im possibilities. T o th e m ind and
im agination of childhood all th in g s are possible and
the most im probable “ fairy s to ry ” seem s as real as the
com m on-place affairs of every-day life, hence our be­
lief in the w onderful m agic of th e good fairy.
A little later in life we begin to hear of an o th er
kind of m agic—black m agic, or black art. T h is was
as bad as th e m agic of th e fairies was good. I t was
the m agic of supposed w itches, or people w ho w orked
evil. N early alw ays the black a rt seem s to have been
m onopolized by w itches, who of course were w om en.
Is it not stra n g e th a t the im agination should alm ost
invariab ly select women to traffic in black magic?
H ow ever, on th e o th er h and, the sam e im agination
alm ost as invariably selected w om en as fairies or
dealers in w hat we m ay, for lack of a better nam e,
call w hite art or m agic. T h is idea may have been
called into play by th e know ledge of good and th e
fear of evil.
N ow , let us get to the kernel of th is idea. In later
life we have other and often m ore reasonable ideas
of m atters and facts, and in reg ard to m agic we prefer
to call it black and w hite. Black m agic, or a rt. is
th a t baleful influence th a t is felt th ro u g h o u t the
w orld as th e resu lt of evil th o u g h ts and desires. I t
travels in th o u g h t waves like those sent out by a ra ­
dio p lan t on waves of eth e r. If is an influence of
evil. But to m eet and com bat th is we have w hite
m agic— those beautiful th o u g h ts founded on tru th and
p u rity and all th e b etter th in g s of life. In w hite
m agic is real pow er— in black m agic n o th in g is real.
M A N ’S EMOTIONS
L et us for th e sake of diversion in d u lg e in a little
speculation as to th e in stin cts cf m an of p resent and
past ages. W e believe th a t in the b eg in n in g , w hen
man was a blan k from a m ental sta n d p o in t, he prob­
ably was prey for nearly all anim als of the forests.
N atu re endow ed him w ith neither claws nor h o rn s for
offensive or defensive battle, nor did he in h e rit the
sw iftest legs w ith w hich to carry him self from th e
scene of d an g er, and, to use a phrase of the day, he
was “ u p against i t . ”
It is probable th at his first sense or in stin ct to be
developed was one of fear. T h is fear, on account of
circum stances, developed as rapidly as his intelligence
would p erm it. F ear at th a t age of th e world and m an
w as an im p o rtan t factor in th e existence of th e la tte r.
It m ade him careful; it developed his c u n n in g . By
both care and c u n n in g was he enabled to survive,
m ultiply and develop.
As he became m ore and m ore intelligent th ere was
less reason or excuse for fear, because by his m ind he
was able to foil, to ou tw it, th e enem ies w ith w hich
n atu re had su rro u n d ed h im . G radually he developed
to a point w here he stood alone and far above all others
of the anim al kingdom . So is m an today. F ear is no
longer of any use to him , b u t th ro u g h th o u san d s of
years th is sense became so th o ro u g h ly in g rain ed in
every elem ent of m an th a t it sticks to him yet. W here
in m a n ’s infancy fear was e x c u sa lle because it served
him well, it is now m ore or less a curse to him . It
hinders him on every hand and often drives him to
deeds of desperation. C ast it from you.
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