”THOUGHT
By Ralph E. Ware
‘Grown men want thought.’—R. Browning.
It has been said, and wisely so, that action is born of thought, but is it not only too true that a vast number of actions are done through want of thought? Good deeds are the result, directly or indirectly, of honest thought; ill deeds are done through lack of it, though very often not through lack of brains.
Have you ever realized that every act you do is either right or wrong, however apparently insignificant it may be? What is it we think about in our quiet moments? Do we not often confine our thoughts to bodily comforts, to pleasures which do not last, and are these not small considerations when compared with the training of the mind?
Has it ever struck you that you have a spiritual body for which you are responsible, and which you should feed and train with thought, as you do your mortal body with food and exercise? Many of us live as if our bodies were immortal, thinking of little else but how to enjoy ourselves from hour to hour and day to day. Again, many of us, realizing that death may claim us at any moment, strive to drown this thought by living in a perfect whirl of excitement, not allowing ourselves time to think. Do you belong to either of these classes or are you brave in thought?
Dr. Johnson, speaking of death, says, ‘The whole of life’ is spent in keeping away the thought of it.’ This is astonishingly true of a great many lives—an “ostrich” policy truly! Very weak must he be who spends his life thus; who refuses to think because he is afraid to do so, and whose soul lies stagnant, unrefreshed by springs of pure thought and unable to flow towards the mighty ocean of Infinite Love and Happiness. Are not our thoughts too materialistic? The range of thought is infinite, and we allow our thoughts hardly any scope at all.
Do not abuse this immeasurable gift of thought by not realizing, or perchance by forgetting that you are possessed of such gift. You cannot train your mind except by thought, and all that is pure and beautiful and lasting is of the soul. Thoughtwinged, soar above the trifles of life and view the great expanse of human existence.
The higher you soar the less will little worries and troubles affect you; your mind will have become enlarged and you will view things differently. You will disdain being worried by trifles, for noble thought will carry you above them.
As you think, so you will act, or strive to act. Practice seldom reaches precept, but let your ideals be high and noble, for the higher and nobler they are, the nearer will your actions approach to what is right.—From The Light of Reason.”
Reference Data:
Bible Review, Vol. 6, 1907, pages 366-7
