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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (May 26, 1920)
I ZO. * 4 .3 MAY » The Chemawft American P r i n t e d a t C h e m a w a , O r e g o n , a n d D e v o t e d to t h e I n t e r e s t s o f I n d i a n E d u c a t i o n Vol. X X II W ednesday, M ay 26, 1920 YO UR M IN D IS TH E B A R R IE R W hen Sir C harles N apier and his expedition party cornered a large num ber of elep h an ts in Bengal, they w ere at a loss to know how they could confine them . Som eone suggested th at they b u ild 'a stockade of bam boo poles around th e elep h an ts, so large as to appear to be a form idable b arrier th ru w hich they could not break. T h is they did , and it proved so successful th a t the elep h an ts n tv e r m ade any attem p t to break th ru the flimsy barrier w hich kept them in cap tiv ity . T h ey w ere slaves to cap tiv ity , sim ply because they th o u g h t they were confined w ith in solid barriers. H ow m any hum an beings are ju st as foolish as were these deluded elephants? W e im agine ourselves held back by all kinds of im pedim ents; we are th e slaves of all sorts of bam boo barriers. T here are bam boo habits w hich are sap p in g our vi ta lity and seriously in te rferin g w ith our success in life. On every hand we see men who are held in slavery by d ru g s, im m orality, in ertia, laziness, selfish ness and greed, im prisoned w ithin bam boo stockades, w hich th ey co uld break if they only believed they could and w ould ex e rt them selves. I knew a m an in New E n g lan d who used to drive a beau tifu l horse from his co u n try estate every m orning, tie the horse w ith an ap p aren tly very flimsy halter- stra p , and leave th e horse all day w hile he w ent to tow n. W hen he re tu rn e d , the horse was not even unchecked. N ow , w hy did th a t horse, so pow erful th a t he could easily have broken aw ay, stan d such treatm ent? H e would stan d for h o u rs in the hot sun, w ithout a n y th in g to eat or d rin k , w aitin g for the man to re tu rn . I t was sim ply because he th o u g h t he was so fastened th a t it was im possible for him to gain his liberty. A horse will obey our slig h test suggestion. H e will quickly respond to the least p u llin g of th e rein th is way or th a t w ay. You would th in k he is subject to his m aster, until some day som ething frig h ten s him and he tak es th e bit in h is m outh. T h en , for the first tim e in his life, he finds he is m aster and is p u ll in g at th e rein. T h e man at the rein s is b u t a baby, com pared w ith the h o rse’s pow er. H e ru n s away, w ith very little hin d ran ce, in spite of all his m aster’s efforts to stop him . F o r the first tim e in his life he 1 No. 33 tastes pow er, and realizes th a t he is not th e slave th at he th o u g h t him self to be. H ow m any men are like the elephants of Sir C harles N apier w hich w alked up ftnd dow n, to and fro, w ith in the bamboo stockade, never m aking any real effort to escape and to get their freedom because they th o u g h t thev were behind inpregnal’le walls! T h e consciousness that you were free-lxirn, as was P aul, the consciousness th at you have the pow er w ith in yourself to break th ru the bamboo stockade and get your lib erty, will free you from all slavery, my friend. But you m ust first believe th a t you have power to do, or you will never m ake the necessary effort. You would be free, except th a t you believe you are tied, are convinced th a t you are tied, w ith som ething th at is stro n g enough to hold you; b u t w hich you could break th ru w ith o u t effort. If the elephants in S ir C harles N a p ie r’s bam boo stockade had even leaned ag ainst the w alls, they w ould have gone th ru it, b u t they did not even try . T hey believed th a t they w ere strongly im prisoned. You are not th e slave of sickness, of ill h ealth, of d i sease, of poverty, of failure, of unhappiness, of u n fo r tu n a te co nditions, of an unfrien d ly environm ent. T h ere is a pow er rig h t w ithin you to break away from all of these th in g s w hich enslave you. T h e tru th th a t will m ake you free, th a t will cu t the cords w hich bind you, will be the conciousness of y o u r divinity, the conciousness of your freedom from all slavery by virtue of your b irth rig h t, of your d iv in ity , the om nipotence w hich you have inherited. Lincoln said th at this country could not long en d u re, half-slave and half-free. N either can individuals. T he m ajority of men are m ore than half-slaves to vices, to w eaknesses, to habits w hich devitalize, w hich d e m oralize them and seriously interfere w ith th e ir g e t ting on in the w orld. M ultitudes of people are the slaves of sickness and w eaknesses w hich they im agine they have inherited or acquired. H ow m any of us have a strong, deep seated con viction that we are not strong and never will be, th a t we m ust go th ru life seriously handicapped on account of poor health. W e do not realize th at we m ust th in k h ealth , th at we m ust believe it is possible for us, th a t it is o u r b irth rig h t. W e m ust th in k h ealth, talk h ealth, before we can be healthy, ju st as we m ust th in k pros- peritv and success liefore we can become prosperous or successful.
