Individuality is one of God’s ways of expressing his greatness. His
voice penetrates the centuries like the sound of silver bells, but
there is never an echo. No duplicates are ever found among the works of
God’s creative power. He gives his gifts unto the world with boundless
generosity, but through the centuries no single gift has ever found
its counterpart. Everything coming from the hand of God is original,
unique, entirely dissimilar to anything else in the realm of nature.
No two oak leaves are alike. They may be cut from the same pattern,
so that, no matter where you find them drifting in the winds, you
instantly recognize them, saying, “These are oak leaves”; yet, of all
the millions of leaves that have unfolded upon branches of the oaks of
countless ages, no two have been identical in size or form or in the
delicate tracery of the tiny veins which are as delicate as hoarfrost,
yet strong as leaden pipes.
God never duplicates. The wild rose is a simple flower, possessing
but five petals, held securely in the golden chalice of pollen-laden
stamens. Nothing could possibly be more liable of duplication than this
quaint flower of simple garb, yet of all the wild-rose blooms gathered
by lovers’ hands and pressed to maidens’ lips, of all the wild-rose
blooms that grace the old-fashioned gardens and trellis the fences
of the country roads with their picturesque, sublime simplicity, no
two are alike. God so respects the pretty things about which human
sentiment revolves that no two are cast from the same mold. Consider
the blossom that you once kissed, and pressing, stored away. It is
hidden in a secret place, intended for no eyes save your own, and
viewed only through the clear tears that memory revives. Guard it with
the tenderest care, for God will never make another blossom just like
it. He respects the tender affections of your heart that chose this
blossom from a lover’s hand to be the sweetest, fairest blossom of your
life.
When a mother stoops and plucks a blossom from her baby’s grave, covers
it with mingled tears and kisses, and puts it away between the leaves
of the family Bible, thus binding in one cover the sweetest sentiments
of this world and the best hopes and aspirations of a better world, she
does a beautiful thing, and our heavenly Father so honors her love and
reverence for her precious dead that, though a thousand centuries come
and go, he will never make another blossom just like that.
We love all mountains because of their rugged strength and majesty,
yet no two mountains are alike, for to the mountains God has given
personality. The Rockies stand like naked giants with knotted muscles
ever ready to grapple with storms that smite their rugged sides,
rejoicing, like strong men, at the ease with which they break the
strength of their adversary, and hurl the whirlwind, like a helpless
zephyr, into the mighty chasms at their feet. The Alps are like a
procession of kings, bejeweled and berobed for coronation day. To
see the Alps is to have a holiday and have one’s soul thrilled with
boyhood’s wonderment and praise. The Catskills are a languid group of
charming country folk with whom you can sit and chat, and feel the
magic wonderment of childhood creeping through the soul, as you listen
to quaint voices repeat their myths and legends. No two mountains are
alike, for God likes versatility in heaped-up piles of rock as much as
in fluttering leaves and blooming flowers.
No two sunsets are alike. The hanging tapestries of the west may be
woven in the same looms of mist, and dyed in the same vats of scarlet,
purple, red, and orange; they may be laced with the same golden
strands of unraveled sunbeams; and their drapery may reveal the
self-same angel touch, yet no two sunsets are alike, each having its
own individuality, and living forever as a master painting to beautify
the walls of memory. Well do youth and maiden stand with clasped hands
as they face the sunset. Let them feast upon its gorgeous beauty until
their hearts are filled with light and love, for they shall never see
another sunset just like that. Returning to the valley’s old familiar
paths, where they shall walk together amid their mingled lights and
shades, they shall rejoice through many years because of the brilliancy
of that one sunset which God made for them, and for them alone.
This love for originality is seen in the play of the wild waves’ crest
whose molten silver falls into beads and necklaces and pendants of
unequaled workmanship to fill the unseen jewel caskets of the deep.
What is true of the natural world is also true of man. Consider the
variations of the human face. Reflecting upon the limited number of
features, one is amazed to think that such an infinite combination
of facial forms and expressions can be created. There are only two
eyes, two ears, one nose and one mouth, and yet out of that small
combination, behold what God hath wrought! From the soft, pink rosebud
of a baby’s smiling face, looking with wistful wonderment at a newly
found world; through all the charming sweetness of maiden’s cheek
and love-laden eyes; through all the grandeur of the hero’s chiseled
features; through the glory of motherhood smiling affectionately
upon her little brood; through manhood making battle for home and
righteousness--through all these until, at last, you behold the
unequaled beauty, majesty, grandeur, and dignity of old age, no two
countenances are alike.
The glory of God is revealed through individuality. No two persons
are alike in form or feature, gift or grace. No two minds have
exactly the same characteristics. No two souls look upon life from
identical viewpoint, so that each one varies in his conception of
events and expression of art and letters. A king wears the crown of
his predecessor, but for each brow God has fashioned the fairer crown
of individuality. Men, as God made them, are not pegs to be placed
in holes, but kings, to sit upon thrones and rule kingdoms all their
own. “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee,” are the words of
Jehovah when he wished to impress Jeremiah with the infinite care with
which he had been prepared for a noble work.
To endeavor to reshape this divinely appointed life and mold it after
an earthly, man-made pattern is the height of folly, yet this is
the demand of very much of our modern social life. Society employs
a system of repression, the subduing and crushing of deep emotions,
and substituting a shallow artificiality. It curbs all naturalness
in development and demands a conformity to certain rigid molds in
which every word, gesture, thought, and impulse must be cast. Instead
of employing the art of expression, permitting the deep feelings to
find normal outlet, and allowing the salutary unfolding of individual
strength and grace, they check and curb and repress until the beauty
and normalcy of life is gone. Our present system of society custom and
usages cannot produce great character.
Failing to recognize individuality as the universal plan, many
educators mistake their function, endeavoring to mold men according
to their conceptions rather than instructing men. Instead of leading
the mind away from the narrow cloister of tradition, form, and
ceremonialism, into the open air where it can function normally,
and unfold its strength and beauty in perfect individualism, many
intellectual leaders continue the practice of pitilessly dwarfing minds
and stunting souls.
Sin also leads to the commonplace. Realizing that man’s strength lies
in developing those characteristics that mark personality, the arch
enemy of the soul is ever endeavoring to destroy them. He tempts
to sin, knowing well that there is no other agency so powerful in
destroying individuality. Sin never lifts men upward toward lofty
heights but always levels downward. It knows no royalty of character,
so it tears down thrones, casts man’s crown aside, blurs the eye,
palsies the nerve, blotches the countenance, deadens the brain, hardens
the heart, and makes its victim a member of the common herd. Sin is not
error; it is poison that stunts the growing aspirations, dwarfs the
spiritual nature, lowers spiritual vitality, and completely destroys
all the royal gifts of God that would distinguish one in character and
achievement.
Therefore righteousness must be preached as never before. Only through
virtue can one lift himself above the commonplace and his individuality
reach its maximum power. Wrongdoing destroys while right living makes
possible the complete development of all the noble faculties of the
soul, permitting one to experience the fullest possible realization
of life. Men must not be repressed by the foolish processes of a
misguided social, educational, or evil custom. Righteousness must be
preached that youth may know the freedom of goodness and the joy of
righteousness. As birds greet the dawn, by rising on rapturous wing
and filling the blue with exultant song, let youth and maiden greet the
coming day with gladness as they rise above the commonplace of sin. The
Divine plan for their lives must not be marred by sin or foolishness.
The uniqueness and originality of God’s plan are the secrets of
success. The joys of righteousness are too valuable to exchange for the
misery and heartache of a wasted life.