Article August 24, 1899 Issue

Brooding Over Evil

Became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.—Romans, 1:21.

George H. Hepworth

New York Herald

THE imagination plays a more important part in our lives than we are apt to believe. I dare say that if you could give me control of your imagination I could make you happy or miserable at will. To curb and train the imaginative faculty, therefore, is just as necessary as to discipline a wild horse fresh from the prairies before you can hope to make him useful. I do not overstate the truth when I say that until you have imagination well in hand you cannot be religious in any high sense.

We brood more than we are aware of, and we reason impartially less than we think we do. A perfectly fair view of any subject in which prejudice may possibly affect our judgment is one of the most difficult accomplishments of human nature, because prejudice is strong and domineering, while reason is weak and fickle. A prejudice gets possession of us at once, while reason comes lagging on behind. Prejudice may even indulge in a coup d'etat and so entirely capture the reason that entire fairness is out of the question. This is only another way of saying that we feel more quickly than we think, and that the feeling may do great injustice to friend or foe before reason can come to the rescue and set things right.

Now, prejudice has no place in a true man's life, and a mere impression as a substitute for calm and sound judgment may be followed by consequences which we shall later on regret. And prejudice is the offspring of imagination. We dream of circumstances which may or may not exist, and on the strength of these vain imaginings we make our decision on very important subjects, and frequently the decision is not only discreditable to ourselves, but unfair to others and will not stand the test of a reasonable survey.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Christian Science Question Again