Article August 31, 1912 Issue

ONE WAY TO HARMONY

WILLIS F. GROSS.

The desire of all men is to gain that which satisfies. It is a question whether any mortal has ever reached the place where life and its environment were all that could be desired. There is always something lacking or some disturbing element which he would have removed. Many times he has felt that if he could accomplish a certain purpose or attain a desired end, his happiness would be complete; but when success rewarded his efforts, he has too often found that the joy of satisfaction seemed to be as far removed as ever. Again he reaches out for that which he believes will bring into his life a sense of harmony, and again he learns from experience that the things of earth do not satisfy. Thus mortal man continues to strive for the things which he believes will satisfy, only to learn at last that his labors have been in vain.

He often marvels at the apparent contradictions and inconsistencies of life. He wonders why others who are no better than he should gain with such little effort that which he so greatly desires and seems unable to attain. At times he is inclined to murmur and complain because of the hardness of his lot, though fully aware that by so doing he invites defeat and makes possible the very thing he fears. He does not always do as well as he knows, neither does he at all times pursue the course which his better judgment tells him is the right one. He works more or less in the dark, because he does not have a definite idea as to what constitutes harmony or how it is to be attained.

Even then his labors have not been altogether in vain, for his failures teach him that he has not worked in the right way. He gains something when he learns that what he thought was the way is not the way. Some are slow to learn this lesson, and continue to pursue the course which has brought them nothing but disappointment, but sooner or later the great majority learn from experience and gladly turn from that which has failed them. The next effort may be no more successful than those which have resulted in failure, and so the progress which has been made, if it can be called progress, consists in learning to avoid that which is not the way to success and harmony.

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