Article October 24, 1936 Issue

Building a Character

[Written Especially for Young People]

JEANETTE M. HELLER

Fine workmanship in any field elicits respect and admiration. Do you not enjoy fine craftsmanship? Does not a bit of exquisite carving, or the print and binding of a rare manuscript, give you deep satisfaction?

Perhaps you thrill at the triumph of a training that sweeps the victorious athlete over the goal line. Paul, that superb character builder of the first Christian century, must have gained rich inspiration for his building from the Olympic spectacles, for he said: "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible." How notable Paul's temperance and consecration of purpose! Work wears many guises, but the factor common to them all is quality.

Now, while the diversity of our work is apparent, the similarity thereof is not so readily discerned. For it is true that essentially the work of each one of us is the building of a worthy character. We cannot escape this mental or spiritual task! It is not a question of whether we accept it or not, but only of how well we accomplish it.

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