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over the mountains, and beneath the ocean, so that at the same 

 moment he can talk with his friends in London, in Peking, in 

 San Francisco, in New York, and Washington ; to study Litera- 

 ture, Science and Art ; to study and practice Law, and Medicine ; 

 and to study and teach Theology. But when man devotes him- 

 -self to any one of these as an end, he makes a great, if not a fatal 

 mistake. All these are means' and not ends. They are means 

 >or opportunities for physical, mental, and spiritual growth and 

 development of the individual and of the race. 



Yes, Man is in this world for a vastly higher purpose than 

 merely the end which some — and far too many — seem to see in 

 the pursuits in which he is engaged. 



God was millions of years in preparing this earth for His last 

 and noblest creation. And during the long Geologic days of 

 preparation, the crust of the earth was stored with granite, and 

 marble, salt, and coal, and iron, and gold, and silver and precious 

 stones, for his comfort and his luxury — and at last, after many 

 races of plants and animals had nourished and disappeared, each 

 •adapted to the age in which it lived ; and after the earth had be- 

 come a delightful garden, full of perfection and full of beauty ; 

 and when everything was ready for his reception, Man himself is 

 created, with powers capable of indefinite expansion and improve- 

 ment. And now he is here to work out the grand possibilities 

 that are within him. And God has given him the means, and has 

 given him these opportunities of labor, that he may reach his 

 highest physical, mental and spiritual development. And in just 

 so far as Man fails — in just so far as you and I fail of working out 

 the grand possibilities that are within us, using all the opportu. 

 nities of labor, and the materials which God has placed around 

 us, and those which he has stored for us in the crust of the earth, 

 in just so far do we fall short in the great work of life which God, 

 by placing us in this world, has appointed us to perform. Let us, 

 then, resolve anew this day to labor more earnestly than ever be- 

 fore, not only for the things of the present, but also, and espe- 

 cially for the highest and noblest development of ourselves and of 

 the race. 



