Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / Dec. 1, 1911, edition 1 / Page 2
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XHcl ELO! COLLBaE WEEKLY. 2 TiiK EiJiN ui.hi:.i: w kkkly Pjblished eTory Wednesday during tli« College year by TIm Weekly Publishing Company. E. A. Campbell, Editor. J. C. Stuart, Business Manager. CIRl ULATION DEPARTMENT. Cash Subscriptions (40 weeks), 50 Cents. Time Subscriptions (40 weeks), 75 cents. All matter pertaining to subscriptions should be addressed to J. C. Stuart, Elon College, N.C. IMPORTANT^ The ofTices'of publication are Greens boro, N. C., South Elm St., and Elon College, N. C., where all communica tions relatire to the editorial work of the Weekly should be sent. Matter relating to the mailing of the Weekly^ should be sent to the Greensboro office. Entered as second-clas* matter at the post-ofiBre at Greensboro, N. C. DECEMBER 1, 1911. A CALL FOE OHAEACTEE. There is a great call for character among the yor.ng men of today. Origi nally the.'^e words, “Kepant ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” were a call for ci'aractar in a great crisis. An earnest man who iret God in the wil derness bro'.ight this message to his coun trymen. The people, day after day, would flock to the wild gorge of the Jordan riv er to maet him. They brought with them food enough to last them while they stayed to hear him deliver his great mes sage. Occasionally large crowds of them would go ftith this propliet down into the deeper channel of the valley and there they prayed to God to forgive their sins. ' This call which the prophet was speaking to them about, so thrilled their hearts that it was a warning and a prom ise to them. It causcd many to change their lives, because they realized that the kingdom of God*was at hand. This crisis that, “The kingdom of God is at hand,” formerly meant that God was about to show himself and His will for the life of men in the personality of the Messiah. This God did in the personality of Jesus, the Christ. Pince those early days it has become e.ident that Jesus Christ is a living i>ersonality continuing to enforce His revelation of God and of God’s will for ilehtofe 7890$....U.. God’s will for the life of men. One mar velous feature of Jesus Christ was His quiet consciorsness that He would never be without influence in the world. So when He left the world. He said, “I shall leave you and the world sball no longer see me; but I shall be with you and you shall be made feel that I am with you and that I love you.” I do not believe that there liave ever been any men or women, through their own e.’iperiences, who have not found this to be true. His power which brought such health and cheer to the sick bodies and sore hearts of Gal ilee has never ceased to make its pres ence felt among living men. Christ helps us to secure a progressive understanding of God, and more than that. He helps us to see more clearly what the kingdom of God means. You remember, perhaps, the verse, “Many things have I ytt to say unto you, but ye cannot bear tiiom now.” Fiom this, men are being led in to a clearer realization of what is invohed in the historical revelation of (iod and His will for the life of men made two thousand yesirs ago. The crisis of today is due to the faet that sociological conditions have brought men of widely different classes into close lelationship to with each other. The world lias never before, in such a short time, e.xporienced changes comparable with those tliat have occurred in the last few decades. Men have been forced into such close contact that the welfare of aach depends upon the conduct of others to a degree hitherto unknown. Men have been forced together geographically. A man, without rising from his office chair may, in a few moments, through telegraph, tel- c[)hone, and cable, interchange thought with a man on the other side of the earth. So it is, that man are being drawn to gether industrially and socially. Now as to whether this is for the best interest of our country or not, it is hard to decide. Perhaps the result of crowding mcu so close together may he that they will fall upon each other in deadly, hatred or that they will be bound together with ties of mutual rispect and good will. If they come together only to hate each other, they will fall apart, and civilization will fall to a degree from which it cannot come a'^ain to the present point for many centuries. W'hat the outcome of the pres ent crisis shall be depends upon one thing, namely, the character of the men con cerned in the crisis. The present crisis then, constitutes a call for character. The old words ring out with new meaning: “Repent; for the hinidom of heaven is at hand.” Change your lives, for God's ■ ew order is com ing swiftly on. Now tl'e question arises as to what kind of character is called for by the present crisis. What kind of men docs Jesns Christ need to thrust out into the thick of life, where great issues are being wrought out? He calls for men who will let him train them for the crisis. They must be men who. consciously or un- (onsciously are His disciples and who by the laws of personal association are becoming like Him in the fundamental qualities of His character. Therefore, if they should become more like Christ in character, they would have to possess truth and grace. So it appears to me tliat this call is to students and teacheis mainly. However, we find somotimes that' there are a few students whom this call does not apply to. They are the ones who cheat in the classrorm while on rec itation or examination. The student who will do this is cultivating a disposition that will lead him to do the same kind of tiling in a hank or elsewhere. The call is for honest men who do not lead a double life—one life at home and in respectable society, another in places which they secretly visit; ir.en who are the same by day and by night. Someone has said. “Character is what a man is in blie dark.” I certainly believe this is true. The crisis of today demands men who will employ no method in their pro fession which they would not ba willing to have the public knoir. It also c.t! for meij who ^re willing to help their fel- lowmrm. As some poet has said. “Let me live in a house by the sida of the road, ' Where the race of men go by— The men that are good and the men that are bad. As good and as bad as I; I would not sit in the scorner’s seat, or hurl the cynic’s ban; Let me live in a house by the side of the road Apd be a friend to man.” This call to character comes with spe cial force to tha present college genera tion. There are men living ,iuietly in collage today who ten years from now will be manufacturers, teachers, ministers, and lawyers. They will ba able to do something of farreaching influence in the crisis that is on. W hat they will do ten ^ears from now may largely be 'deter mined by W'hat they are thinking, resolv ing, and doing now. \\'e understand that no man gets ready for an emergency in a minute. Responsibilities come quick ly upon young men today. Therefore college men must get ready now. The great call for character sounds out in the lecture room, the dormitory, the gymna sium, and on the athlatic field. So now is ti'e time to take orders from Clirist Then follow Him wherever He leads you later. It matters not where it may be, if it is in South America, China, or II .! wilds of Africa, go. F. F, Myrick. SYMBOLICAL AND NATIONAL FLOWEES. The use of tlowers as symbols began in >ery early times, and has continued to the present day among nearly all nations. Bib lical literature contains many allusions to (ieral synilwls and remnants oi a floral lan guage are saiil to exist among all tl e Orien tal nations, China. !he “Flowery Kiu?floni,” whose (hr"nicles are said to antedite the historic records of all other nations, once possessed h complete floral alphabet, and at the pres ent day the Chinese make a lavish use of flowers ill many of their public occasions. Flowers appear wrought in fabrics, outlined iin wares and in v.Trious I'ther forms of decorations. In the ornamentation and beautifying of their gardens tiie Chinese are said to ex'-el all other nations. Tlie monu ments of Egypt imd Assyria also have upon their surfaces a code of floral caligraphj whose meaning can be but dimly guessed in the [iresent age. In these inscriptions the sacred lily plays a prominent p.Trt. and Is a sacred flower among nearly all Oriental na tions. In Egypt it was consecrated to the g'jds, and be''nnie in time the natiimal em blem. 'I'he lotus grows no longer on the banks of the Nile, but it Is sti.l seen carved upon the ancient temples, and is still a sa- ci'ed blossom. It Is recorded that the love of flow>rs was carried to sucli an extent in ligypt that .\masis, a private soldier, b 'came gencr;:l of the armies of King Portonis for having presented him with a crown of flow ers. ('nd'Uibtedly the pure system of floral ca- ligraphy came to Europe from Egypt. India whose civilization had attained its full vigor when Greece was in her infancy, h:is in her magnificent flora a beautiful and wonderful field for poetical genius, while among the Hindoos distinguished str.mgers are welcomed with garlands of flowers as tokens of hospitality, and the shrjnes of December 1, 1911. DE.J.H.BEOOKS, DENTAJ. .SDjBOEON OfBce Over Fostar’s Shoe Store BURLINGTON, .N, C. R. .M. MORROW, ^u^^4■eoIl Dentist, MORROW BUILDING, Corner Front and Main Streets, BURLINGTON, JJ. C. SEE ^forrow. Bason Green. Inc.. BUELTNGTON, N. C. When Needing Hate, Muslin Underwear And Royal Society Embroidery. their favorite deities are decorated with tliese lovely emblems. In 1 ersia a yearly festival is held called the "^.ist of roses," which lasts as long as the rows bloom. The literatures and lan guages of the Hindoo, Turkish, Persiau and Malayan races, when closely scrutinized abound in floral symbols. In the Malayan tougue the same word Is employed to e.x- press the idea of women and flowers. The so-called 'I’nrkish "language of flowers" was first popularized in France and England through tlie writings of ^1. La Moutraie and lady MaryWortliy Moutague respectively. In Japan the lotus is a symbol of purity. They picture their deity reclining upon the leaf of a water lily, or lotus, while the Chrysanthemum or "golden flower” [)opu- larly called the “Land of Chrysanthemums" i.- their national emblem. The Greeks not only seem to have entertained the most passionate love for flowers, but to have iidopted them as typical oi every interesting occurrence, public or private. The Athenian Greeks chose the violet as their national emblem. In .\thens a bunch of hawthorn embellished every door way on May morn ing. a custom originating in the S[)ring rites paid by the heathen to Flora. In the Ibe- rean peninsula flora symbolism has assum ed a superstitious tinge; and is principally indebted to Iloman Catholic legends for the ■ ittie vitality it there has. In Fniive the laniuage of flowers has many votaries and a lavish use is made of flowers in public ceremonies, and as a means of expressing the various sentiments of this frivolous peo ple. The national emblem of England, the rose. Is of historic interest. It has been termed the “flower of flowers." Tlie an eients regarded it a.s tlie emblem of silence, al^o of love and joy. Th| United States cannot be said to have a generally accepted national flower. In fSSO, an attempt was made to secure a gen eral expression of opinion in favor of some cue flower, and the golden rod, as being widely distributed, received perhaps the m.ajority of the suffrages, but a national flower is usually recognized only when tra dition find legend give it slgniflcance, and not because of a p"pular vote. 'I'he ex- pressh'n of opinion called forth by this move ment, in many Instapces showed a miscon ception in the moaning of the term “nation- pi" and an amusing ignorance of our native plants. In the case of (Iwellers in cities who rarely see a »'il(l flower, the ejjqice
Elon University Student Newspaper
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Dec. 1, 1911, edition 1
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