A FEW WORDS IN PASSING
Perhaps the majority of human beings do not really _live_: they merely
_exist_ for a time in the flesh and for the flesh. And as all are
constantly reminded that such existence is temporary and fleeting it is
a very common belief that only in youth can one "have a good time." Old
age is dreaded because we have been taught to expect a greater or lesser
degree of decrepitude, pain, and physical disability when we shall pass
the so-called "Bible-limit" of three-score years and ten, and,
therefore, we anticipate losing our powers of enjoyment. Fathers and
mothers encourage their children to "make the most of their youth," and
to "get all out of life they can while they have the opportunity," thus
fostering and cultivating a high state of nervous tension in young
people that is demoralizing in every way.
I believe this attitude is wrong, and yet I believe fully in "having a
good time." I believe God intended that all living beings should be
happy, and that it is possible to order our lives--our habits, actions,
thoughts, desires, and ambitions--so that every conscious hour of every
day will be full of real joy. I believe in the buoyancy, the happiness,
the radiancy, the perfection of life. Browning expresses my thought in
_Rabbi Ben Ezra_, and in _Saul_. In the latter he says:
Oh, our manhood's prime vigor! No spirit feels waste,
Not a muscle is stopped in its playing nor sinew unbraced,
Oh, the wild joys of living!...
How good is man's life, the mere living, how fit to employ
All the heart and the soul and the senses forever in joy!
And in _Rabbi Ben Ezra_ he says:
Grow old along with me!
The best [of life] is yet to be.
And why should not old age be the best part of life? Does experience
count for nothing? Can we not learn as the years roll along? Do we grow
more foolish as we grow old? If so it might be advisable to let the
facetious suggestion of the celebrated Dr. Osier be carried out in order
that all men might be chloroformed at the age of fifty. If, however,
history and experience teach us that the intellectual faculties and
reasoning powers of a man in normal health do not decrease with age, let
us protest vigorously against the false and injurious statement that
youth is the best part of life, and let us advocate that we should all
possess greater mental and spiritual ability at ninety than at thirty,
with physical powers of endurance ample for every need.
It is recorded in the Bible that many of the ancients lived to be
several hundred years old, and some of them were vigorously active at
great age. We are told that Cornaro lived many years more than a
century, and I have personally known Indians of great physical power and
keen mentality who were over one hundred years old. Doubtless all are
familiar with instances of great mental and physical ability at an
advanced age, and this is an encouragement for us to believe that health
and happiness and usefulness are not confined to the early decades of
human life. My words, therefore, are not addressed merely to the young,
but to those of all ages, for it is never too late to gain more of that
mental health which strengthens body, mind, and soul--the real life
which is manifested in love, joy, and all goodness, and constantly
radiates life-giving qualities. Radiancy is a condition of all life, as
I use the term in these pages. No person can rightly live and retain
within himself that which he possesses in abundance. We must give out in
order to live. Christ never spake a truer word than when He declared:
"He that loveth his life shall lose it." Those who are so careful to
keep all of their lives for themselves, who never give of themselves to
others, who know nothing of the joy of self-sacrifice, of service, of
helpfulness--these people defeat the very object of their selfishness by
losing that which they are so determined to retain. On the other hand,
"he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal."
Or, as Joaquin Miller exquisitely and forcefully puts it in his
unequaled couplet:
For all you can hold in your dead, cold hand,
Is what you have given away.
So, then, radiation of the good of ourselves becomes an essential
condition in itself of real life. This law of radiation is apparent
everywhere in life. For, consciously or unconsciously, willingly or
unwillingly, each man and woman radiates what is within. The moment you
come into the presence of some men you feel their uprightness, their
integrity, their truth. Other men impress you in a moment as untruthful,
dishonorable, and unreliable. Some radiate confidence, so that the weak
and uncertain rely upon them; others the hesitancy and fear of
incertitude. Others are radiant centers of conceit and overweening
self-esteem, which is an entirely different radiancy from that of
self-confidence and true self-reliance combined with good sense and
modesty. Some people radiate gluttony, others drunkenness, others
impurity, others dishonesty. You have not been in the presence of some
persons five minutes before you feel that they radiate "Every man has
his price." It is a great temptation when I come into the presence of
such people to ask, "What is your price?" and then myself to give the
answer: "Thirty cents, and it is twenty-nine cents too dear."
During a recent little outing trip I could not help witnessing the
varying radiancies of a friend and the thirty students that he invited
to accompany us. One young man was full of physical energy, good nature,
and helpfulness. With keen eye he was prompt to notice any failure to
keep up in the less strong of the girls, and, with jollity and jest, but
with real consideration and helpfulness, he aided the weaklings whenever
and wherever possible. One of the girls radiated an abundance of joyous
healthfulness that made it a pleasure to watch her. Another was a
thoughtless go-ahead young miss, who led a large part of the group a
mile or two out of the way. Two of the girls were fault-finders, three
were radiators of efficient initiative when time came for preparing
lunch, and half a dozen were "ready to help," but had no idea how to go
to work until directed by some one else. One was able to determine
somewhat the real character of the persons by that which they radiated.
Of course, that is not always a sure guide, for one may pretend, or
affect the possession of qualities that are not inherent. Yet if we
lived the true life and never dulled the keenness of our sense
perceptions, we should be like the animals and able to rely absolutely
upon what we felt of the radiancies of others. Who has not seen the keen
readiness of a horse to "sense" the mental condition of the man who was
driving him? Suppose two men sit in the buggy. One holds the lines, but
is unused to driving and especially nervous in a city. He radiates
nervousness and fear, uncertainty and hesitancy. The horse feels these
radiancies and himself is nervous, fretful, fearful, hesitant, and
uncertain. Seeing this, his friend takes the lines. Almost instantly,
though the horse has "blinders" on and cannot possibly know by any
ordinary sense perception that a change has taken place in his driver,
he calms and quiets down, and goes ahead without further fear,
hesitancy, or nervousness.
With dogs, every one knows that to be afraid of a barking, yelping,
aggressive cur is to invite him to bite you. But if you advance upon him
boldly and without any fear he will retreat in snarling dismay, and if
you make a bold dash at him he turns tail like the veriest coward and
runs. In my many visits to Indian villages and camps I have tested this
again and again. I have had a dozen dogs run out as if they would tear
me to pieces. Had I turned and run there is no doubt that, unless their
owners had interfered, I should have been bitten. But, knowing the
nature of the ill-bred curs of the Indians, I advanced boldly upon
them, kicking to left and right, if the animals were more than usually
persistent, and invariably following into his own place of refuge the
animal that seemed to be the leader, and there giving him one or two
sharp blows or decisive kicks. The result was always the same. So long
as I stayed in that camp I was never bothered again. They readily and
quickly understood the radiancy of boldness and that of kindness when
they ceased their fierce aggressiveness, and never pestered me again.
This same radiant power of others is often recognized by lawless men and
by criminals. A fearless woman can go into places of great danger with
absolute safety, and a fearless and honest officer can arrest the most
desperate and dangerous men far more easily than can a dozen fearful and
dishonest ones.
Thus it will be apparent that:
Every person, animal, and thing, consciously or unconsciously, willingly
or unwillingly, radiates good or evil.
As human beings we radiate that which we possess, or that which
possesses us, and we influence those with whom we come in contact by our
radiancies.
The questions, then, that every true-hearted man and woman must, and
will, ask are: "Am I radiating good or evil? If evil, why? If good, am
I radiating as much as I might and should?"
For myself I want every man and woman I meet or shake hands with, to
feel that I am physically strong, healthy, and vigorous; that I have
vigor and health of mind; that I think for myself, rather than accept
the opinions of others, and that in character, in spirit, in soul, I am
healthy, vigorous, sincere, pure, true; that my emotions, my
aspirations, my ambitions are noble and upward. I want to radiate
spiritual health. Do you?