Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 279, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 November 1915 — Gratitude [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Gratitude

I am thankful that I have the power to feel the glorious sunshine or the gray rain. My heart fills with joy that I can see the leaves and the sky and hear the music of the brook. Grateful am I that I can appreciate the height of the mountain or steeple and the depth of the shadows, and I am glad that I can be uncomfortable in the intense heat or cold, for that means a joyous sense of relief when it comes.

WHICH one of us is not glad of the power to judge? From the many recurrent cases we can Induce a role, a law, a generality. And from this we can make applications to specific instances. Is it not wonderful, and are you not glad?

FOR my power to decide for myself lam thankful. My freedom of will is a precious Jewel that I pray I may duly treasure. No one can say what I shall think, for that is my heritage. My thoughts concerning life, death and the hereafter, are mine, and I am glad.

THEN there is this country in which I live. lam grateful that it is here, with water around it, and other lands on the east and west. The lure of the distant country will prevent us from a narrow insularity. I am glad that we can govern ourselves in matters that affect ourselves. 1 am filled with Joy that men are born free and equal and can keep on living that way. FOR the position of woman in this ’country may I ever be thankful. She is not the draft animal of the fields in some countries beyond. She is not the chattel of the middle ages. She is not the spineless creature that was a well-trained echo of another. A woman is the equal of man now, except at the polls. For small favors I am deeply grateful.

A NUMBER of institutions of learning are letting us in at the front doors. If 1 wish to study sociology or medicine or the languages, I am not beaten into a pulp by scornful deans. If * wish to write a book, I need not be ashamed and hide it under a sampler if 1 hear anyone coming. Thanks, awfully!

GLAD am I that I can earn money to clothe, feed and shelter myself. Father and mother should not support an adult woman until another man offers to take up the burden. I am not a hanger-on in the political economy march, and I give thanks.

A power of self-expression let me U never be forgetful. Let me be glad that I can sing when I feel like it, cry when 1 am inclined to,, walk when I want to get away, play when 1 forget how old I am and write or draw or