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. 13,I 3, J v * Xi ~—s I rfi Er ssX \ O ii W K W \2..' VOL. BE YOUR BEST SELF DR JOHN ROACH STRATON MAKES SEARCHING APPEAL TO YOUNG PREACHERS AND WORKERS-SANE, PRACTICAL ADVICE DR. JOHN ROACH STR ™ H “ A WHQ g EEE To BE LEADERS OF OTHERS OR LIVING MIRRORS OF CHRIST. ’ lOOD things never come to us too often. {j Especially is this true cf good thoughts, the great moulding power of our char acters. The shrewdest advertising men tell us we have never made an impression on a prospective cus tomer until the subject matter of an ad—the finality of our “stock in trade” has been read by him at least six times. Adopting the advertising man’s theory rath er than Shakespeare's, we are. because of its .vita’, practical, much-needed teaching, giving front-page prominence this week to a scrap be ok article from the truth-guided pen of Dr. John Roach Straton, who has recently resigned his pastorate of the Seventh Baptist Church of Baltimore. When you have read these strikingly plain, common-sense we rds of warning and earnest appea 1 , applicable alike to young and old, you will agree with u- that no apology is needed for their reprint. But with the ad man s claim of superior wisdom concerning the unim pressionable condition cf the nineteenth cen tury brain, a sudden impulse has come to ask those of you w'ho remember to have read this much-needed article of Dr. Straton’s before, to give us in a letter to our 1101186110111 Depart ment a story of when and where it was read. And for the >.ake of adding a bit of spice to the suggestion, we will gladly give one year’s subscription to The Golden Age to every one whose letter tells the dory interestingly enough to be published and also gives the name of the periodical in which they read it, without any investigation of any kind —purely from mem ory. Are you ready? Dr. Straton says: “How happy is he born or taught, That serveth not another’s will; Whose armor is his honest thought And simple truth his utmost skill.” —Sir Henry Wottcn. It has been said that “Imitation is the sin cerest flattery.” It is also the surest means to soul suicide. To each man God has given a distinctive individuality. Locked up within it are lat ent potentialities for all, but infiniate growth and usefulne s. This individuality is given us fcr cultivation and development up to the limit of its possibilities. To play the traitor to it by neglect is a high crime. It is disas ter —it is tragedy. I have somewhat that no other has, has ever had, will e\er have. lam a trustee of a high estate. It is mine to im prove. And well may I understand that there GEORGE ROBINSON, OF TEXAS, “COMING THU”—PAGE FOUR. X / < ATLANTA, GA., JULY 3, 1913 By JOHN ROACH STRATON. is a destined mission for it when improved. There are in every man latent talents and pos sibilities which are new, which he alone pos sesses, and who e powers none but he can ever know, nor he until he has tried them. There is a best possible self for each one of us — and the great business of life is to struggle onward and upward toward that better self. We are to erect an individual ideal. We are to turn away from what we immediately and presently are. and lift up our eyes to behold afar off what it is possible for us to be and do. I am not to be another, and I am not to be less than my full stature. I am to be come my best po sible self. Education in its truest sense is merely better preparation for DR. JOHN ROACH STRATON. A this self-realization. It is not an end, but a process, and, from the cradle to the grave, this advancement toward a better self should go on. This struggle upward everyone owes as a high duty to himself. Egotism is bad, but egoism is good. I owe it to myself, my fellows and my God to strive manfully for self-mas tery and self-realization in order to self-mani festation in service. Selfishness is pernicious, but self fullness is greatly to be desired. The spur of a right ambition is a great and laudable thing. Nothing already ours should bring us a false contentment. We must ever be shout ing “Excelsior!” The goal of each yesterday must be the starting point of today. A man satisfied with self is a man ready for .the grave. We must not rest on any past, achievement. Progress ia living movement —and we. must-, go forward or die. ?Z\RY There is, then, for each of us a best possible self, and we owe our ideal a sacred duty. As the individual develops himself along his di vinely appointed lines, he grows in power and stature, His vision enlarges, his soul ex pands, his mind unfolds, his capacities for en joyment ami achievement mature, and he be comes greater even than his dream. It is not for me, therefore, to be some other man. I am here to become my best possible self. To surrender the high purpose to at tain my ideal means shipwreck to my soul. The thought of Emerson on the use of books is applicable here. Said he: “1 had better never see a book than to be warped by its at traction clear out of my own orbit and made a satellite instead of a system.” There is too much of imitation today. There are too may satellites, too few systems. This imitation we find particularly among speak ers —and more particularly among preachers. No sooner does a Sam Jones or a Broughton arise than we have a crop of would-be Sams ad infinitum and ad nauseum. ’ To every great preacher there is this crop of imitators. The pupils of Spurgeon are said to have aped his very gait. It is a current tra dition of our seminary that many who studied under the great Broadus became his servile imitators. Even the peculiar droop of the dear doctor’s shoulders was carefully copied by the youth who imagined himself a second Broadus. Lie was not content to be a Smith or Jones and to make that name a classic by his growth into greatness. No, he must abrogate his own birthright—God save the mark !—and, regard less of the nerves of his fellows, become a Brcadus! No doubt this i, “the sincerest flat tery,” but it also means stagnation and death to the better posibilities of the one who copies. These thoughts are suggested by some re cent observation-. We have in Texas a most brilliant, earnest and powerful young preacher. He seems ts carry with him the very Spirit of his God. His life of consecration and de votion has given him marvelous power, and God is honoring his efforts in a great way. But, unfortunate'y, the usual allotment of imi tators is springing up. A short time ago I had the privilege of attending a series of re vival services conducted by a visiting brother. This brother was himself a man of splendid promise and power. So long as he was him self, it was a joy and inspiration to hear him. But he had become almost a satellite. He was not content to wait until he could de .velcp into a system of his own. He was an (Continued on page 5.) ONE DOLLAR AND FIFT YCENTB A YEAR :: FIVE CENTS A COPY