a single
road; it is a net-work of sheep-tracks, crossing and recrossing the
great highways, leading in every direction, and ending nowhere. The men
who wander in these aimless paths go up and down through the world,
changing their purposes, following one another blindly, forever
travelling but never arriving at the goal of their journey.

Through all this tangle there runs another way,--the path of faith and
duty. Those who walk in it believe that life has a meaning, the
fulfilment of God's will, and a goal, the attainment of perfect harmony
with Him. They try to make the best of themselves in soul and body by
training and discipline. They endeavour to put their talents to the
noblest use in the service of their fellow-men, and to unfold their
faculties to the highest joy and power in the life of the Spirit. They
seek an education to fit them for work, and they do their work well
because it is a part of their education. They respect their consciences,
and cherish their ideals. They put forth an honest effort to be good and
to do good and to make the world better. They often stumble. They
sometimes fall. But, take their life from end to end, it is a faithful
attempt to walk in "the way of righteousness, which is the way of
peace."

Such are some of the ways that lead through the world. And they are all
open to us. We can travel by the road that pleases us. Heredity gives us
our outfit. Environment supplies our company. But when we come to the
cross-roads, the question is, "Boy, which way will you ride?"

Deliberation is necessary, unless we wish to play a fool's part. No
amount of energy will take the place of thought. A strenuous life, with
its eyes shut, is a kind of wild insanity. A drifting life, with its
eyes open, is a kind of mild idiocy.

The real question is, "How will you live? After what rule and pattern?
Along what way? Toward what end?"

Will you let chance answer that question for you? Will you let yourself
be led blindfold by the first guide that offers, or run stupidly after
the crowd without asking whither they are going? You would not act so in
regard to the shortest earthly journey. You would not rush into the
railway station and jump aboard of the first train you saw, without
looking at the sign-boards. Surely if there is anything in regard to
which we need to exercise deliberation, it is the choice of the way that
we are to take through the world. You have thought a good deal about
what busin