[This may easily be converted into a dialogue between the older speaker and some child.]<\/p>\n
The other day I heard John say this: \u201cI can\u2019t make myself do right, even when I want to. It\u2019s no matter, even if I don\u2019t mind my conscience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then I set to work to talk to John something after this fashion: \u201cDid you ever see any one,\u201d I asked, \u201cwho was troubled with aphasia?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy, what a queer word!\u201d said John; \u201cwhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAphasia,\u201d said I, \u201cis a disease that makes it impossible for a person to use the words he wants to use. For instance, if a man is sick in that way, and wants to say, \u2018Pass me the bread, please,\u2019 he is just as likely to say, \u2018Paint me the locomotive.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy, what a funny disease!\u201d said John.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, and a terrible disease,\u201d said I, \u201cwhen one can\u2019t make his tongue say what he wants it to say. And have you ever seen any one with the rickets?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. What\u2019s the rickets?\u201d asked John.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a disease,\u201d I answered, \u201cin which the bones lose all their stiffness and become like jelly, so that the poor man cannot walk straight, or even stand up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow dreadful!\u201d said John.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes some difference, then, does it,\u201d asked I, \u201cwhether one\u2019s feet mind him or not?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy, of course,\u201d said John.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd have you ever seen a drunken man?\u201d I asked. John\u2019s head nodded emphatically, for he had seen lots of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you know that drunken people not only have diseases like aphasia and rickets, but, what is worse, they are not even able to control their thoughts. Their hands go where they do not want them to go, their feet do not mind them, their tongue says the most ridiculous things, and their brain is all in a whirl. Isn\u2019t that the worst disease of all?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, indeed,\u201d agreed John.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now, John,\u201d said I, very earnestly, \u201cyou think that all these are terrible diseases, but I just heard you say yourself that you can\u2019t make yourself do right even when you want to. Why, that is all that is the matter with the man who has aphasia,\u2014he can\u2019t make his tongue speak right when he wants to. And the man with the rickets can\u2019t make his feet walk right when he wants to. And the drunken man has no control over himself at all. You don\u2019t want to class yourself with these, do you? That would indeed be a serious matter. But I want to tell you, John, that you can<\/i> make yourself do right, if you want to. There may come a time, however, if you don\u2019t use this power, when that power will be taken away from you, and then you will be as bad as the drunken man, won\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n
John went away with a very thoughtful face, though he said nothing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[This may easily be converted into a dialogue between the older speaker and some child.] The other day I heard John say this: \u201cI can\u2019t make myself do right, even when I want to. It\u2019s no matter, even if I don\u2019t mind my conscience.\u201d Then I set to work to talk to John something after … Continue reading “MAKING ONE\u2019S SELF MIND\u2014A LESSON ON THE WILL”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13167\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}