Editorial March 20, 1915 Issue

Attainment

Annie M. Knott

In every department of human endeavor those who make their mark have a distinct goal in view, and their efforts to reach it are characterized by definiteness and persistency. It is very likely that few persons could at the start name the goal which they hope some time to reach, and so they are content to think of it in a hazy sort of way as success. There is nothing wrong about this, but success is never really any one's goal. At most it is a condition which helps to give character to effort, but even this must be forgotten as the goal itself is more clearly seen.

Whether one starts out to acquire wealth, fame, or happiness, he will find himself compelled at each forward step to give up much that he at the start considered essential, and his willingness to do this will prove that he has begun to reach a higher sense of attainment. For example, a young man may begin by bending all his energies to the acquirement of a fortune, and he may at the same time desire to keep his manhood untouched by dishonesty or even the taint of mere money-getting. If he holds fast this determination, the desire for wealth will become secondary to the one vital consideration for every human being, namely, to be what God means that we shall be.

The attainment of perfect manhood is the goal which God has marked for us all, and it should never be lost sight of, whatever avenue of human endeavor one may be following. Wherever we may be, we are "compassed about" with a great "cloud of witnesses," who are waiting to see whether we shall gloriously advance or ignominiously retreat. It is sure to be the latter, unless we have grown wise enough to drop the weights which would hinder our progress, and also have learned how to "run with patience the race that is set before us."

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