Inner Dimensions

Improvement Era Vol. XXIX SEPTEMBER, 1926 No. 1 1 INNER DIMENSIONS By Ramona Wilcox Cannon More and more we live in a measured world. The science of physical measurement is older than the pyramids, and we have now progressed to, the point where we know how far the planets are, and with instruments of precision we can measure a fraction of a milimeter. We have taken to measuring our food — calories, vitamines, proteins, carbohydrates, also our work, our play, our sleep. In our courts we measure justice, pronouncing punishments, even a life for a life. We spend our days endlessly and parsimoniously measuring out our time to the infinite calls of modern life. And to top the list, the psycholo- gists have set about measuring our mental capacity. But so far as I know, the mathematics of measurement has not yet encompassed the field of spirit. In this realm our imaginations may still be permitted to function. No one has yet attempted to plumb the depths of those inner dimensions of our spiritual life. The task is too vague. One would have to penetrate the shroud of mortality, and go back to the far away beginnings; one would have to pierce the veil that separates us from the infinite future. Who can tell the kind of strength or number of the bonds that knit the spirits of the inarticulate babe and its worshiping mother, or the spirits' of the uncomprehending human child and its parent, God? Why does a beautiful day, a magnificent view, an exquisite work of art, or perhaps merely a kind word, or contact with a sublime thought, temporarily change our entire outlook on life? We do not know, except that it is because of our curious1 spiritual timbre. Why are silences between two harmonious souls often more eloquent than words? Because the spirit itself out-reaches< utterance, which is merely a manifestation of the spirit. Why did all-wise Jesus Entered at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah, as second class matter. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 2, 1918, $2 per annum. Address Room 40 6, Church Office Building, Salt Lake City, Utah.

1006 IMPROVEMENT ERA reach the poor and ignorant who crowded about him? Because his great Spirit was "en rapport" with theirs, and mere knowledge could not prove a barrier between them. The spiritual life is of such consequence to us that we may be showered with material luxuries and yet feel starved and unhappy. And on the other hand, there are many whose claims to material prosperity are humbl« indeed, who walk in a spiritual beauty that clothes their lives with radiance. History repeats itself. All down the line nations at the height of their spiritual glory, have glowed and prospered, and, that glory once departed in favor of purely material magnificence, they have crumbled to decay. It is a source of wonderment that, with so many examples before our eyes, the modern world, including America, should be veering rapidly away from the spiritual light of life. To realize that this is true, we need only glance at our modern literature, for literature always reflects its age. Too much of ours is dominated by a great fear — the fear of "maudlin sentimentality." The thought that authors may make their characters appear sentimental about marriages, for instance, leads them to present the realism of marriage, and that modern realism is the material side — the ugly, the crass. It means dishwashing for the woman, the pay envelope for the man — drudgery, shackles, passion — not the high communion of two immortal spirits, the joint service to God and man of two intelligent beings. There is a tendency today to blush with embarrassment at- the thought of possessing a soul — a thing that cannot be seen and touched, or weighed and measured, or tasted and enjoyed. Note the skeptical attitude of the majority of our magazines. Technical skill today is of a high order; but the stories we read have, for the most part, very little stimulation. "By their fruits ye shall know them." Are not Main Street, and The Spoon River Anthology, and other such products of our realistic, modern age, poor substitutes for Ruskin, Dickens, Tennyson, Wordsworth, Emerson, and the many other big souls cradled by an age that loved God and respected man's higher life? Was it not Matthew Arnold who felt the change approaching, and bewailed the fact, commenting to the effect that he saw spirituality ebbing away from England like a full tide leaving her dry and barren? The same result is manifest in the field of education. We banished religion from our schools and we find spiritual values fast slipping away in the wake of that religious training. Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." But in many cases children of today are not going to became "pure in heart" from the diet of the school curriculum, especially in higher education, nor from contact with the personalities of some of the teachers. Fortunately we still have many teachers of a splendid type, particularly in our own midst.

INNER DIMENSIONS 1007 But unfortunately, too many instructors are tossing forth crumbs of synicism, pessimism, "disillusionment," sophistication, Freudian falla- cies, material ugliness and skepticism, in place of real food — the moral and spiritual beauty that has animated true greatness in all ages. Again, "by their fruits ye shall know them." In a recent Autumn Colliers' is published the result of a survey recently made among many students of high school age. The girls answered a questionaire asking them to state which qualities they most admired in young men, and the young men vice versa. In the girls' replies, honor was rather far down the list. Good manners they considered of greater importance. The fruits of our modern system are, to refer to an extreme case, Leopold and Loeb, the logical outcome of a Godless, cynical age, with no spiritual outpost for self-protection; and a great number of young girls who would rather trust their lives to men of good manners than to men of good morals. It will not help us to grow pessimistic about these conditions and sit down and sigh or wring our hands. But it will help us to look them squarely in the face, and see what we can do about them. First, we must remember that the brighter side exists. There are still fine influences operating in our literature, education, politics, and other channels of national life. We all know so many good peo- ple that we cannot believe in the ultimate evil of the world or of the coming generation. But this lack of spiritual values, this scoffing at what should be sacred — this utter independence of the thinking-machine and isolation of it from the soul-machine — is a grave danger. If we could take a census in our own country, I am quite sure that we would find the vast majority of our citizens desiring decent living, wholesome habits and even lofty ideals. We are not the gross materialists we are sometimes charged with being. We have made mistakes and wish to correct them. Our flare for figures is one force that is coming to our rescue. Psychologists are studying criminology, and the reasons and cures thereof. That will help. People are doing all kinds of intelligent work in prisons and reformatories, and that helps, too, though not nearly so much as preventive measures. The difficulty throughout the country seems to be that the majority are a little too quiescent. It happens that many of those who are in the limelight are operating destructively to the interests of the race, and those who believe more sanely and rightly are sitting back not doing much. Concerted effort can accomplish miracles. It can make teachers realize that if they have nothing constructive to offer to their classes in the little asides from their subjects to which all teachers are addicted, they would better overcome the "aside" habits, and stay with their texts instead of giving young people constant snacks of unwholesome personal opinion, or of prevalent synicism or pessimism. Those who believe in spiritual standards and development should exchange silent acquiescence for propaganda. They should raise their

1008 IMPROVEMENT ERA voices until their influence is felt and reflected in our literature and education and politics and churches. They should acclaim the fine and splendid things that are still being done, but too often without appreciation, and decry the things which are harmful. Particularly it seems) to me in the chaos of modern life and thought, parents have a duty toward their children far greater and more binding than in the ages when the churches and schools and general flux of thought have seconded the parents' efforts to create fine ideals in their children's minds. Fathers have their opportunities! and should utilize them. They should feel their sacred responsibility in this line. But for mothers — even though they are the busiest people in the world — the opportunities to commune with their children, spirit to spirit, are legion. It may be over the dish pan or the dusting, raking the garden, or giving the baby an airing. It may be in the bedtime story hour, or in the lispingly repeated prayer, or perhaps in the quiet twilight hour when the spirit, as well as the day, is in a mood of repose and serenity. It may be after the dance, at one o'clock in the morning, perhaps, when the adolescent boy or girl is wondering about this thing called life, and falls into a confidential state of mindj. When children's spirits are questioning, mothers should never be too busy to stop and answer. The sad thing about our modern life is the little time it leaves us for spiritual communion in our homes. I have great faith in the good intentions of American mothers. Frederick Haskin and the Home Economics extension workers through- out the country will bear out the statement that our mothers are trying to be good mothers. In defiance of all rules of etiquette, is there a tea or a dinner or a dance where their precious children are not dis- cussed? Are not all mothers studying psychology? Is there not something soul-stirring about the young mother who was so recently a pretty little flapper, but now spends hours and hours pouring over bulletins about baby's health, his food, the vitamines in milk, the health in sunlight and all the rest? And does not the mother -go shabby herself and cheerfully pay out most of her husband's earnings to the baby specialist who must see that her darling's body is growing to the utmost perfection known to science? The mother who must get home to her young baby at five o'clock, does not in the least consider the embarrassment of her hostess who chances to be a little late serving refreshments at her party. She leaves without refreshments. Nor do the feelings of the three whom she leaves stranded at a bridge or mah-jongg table bear the least weight in her scheme of behavior. It is her baby she considers, not her husband, her friends or herself. But some mothers who are perfect in regard to the physical wel- fare of their children and their training in manners are less careful about the spiritual side of their education. In Michael Pupin's autobiography, From Immigrant to In-

INNER DIMENSIONS 1009 ventot, he pays a wonderful tribute to his mother. In chapter after chapter it crops out like a vein of gold. Yet his mother was very poor, a peasant who labored in the fields and never learned to read or write. But the case illustrates clearly the immeasurability of those inner dimensions of the spirit. The impressions that this wise and pious woman made on the soul-life of her little boy remained through- out his life — guarded him, helped him to overcome bitterness, struggle, hardship, and discouragement, and to become one of America's great men and useful scientists. (Pupin is largerly responsible for our radio and our long-distance telephone.) His mother taught him the psalms, as a little boy, and many other passages of the Bible which he had memorized from the Priest. When he became a great physicist, sound and light were not great fires of knowledge that obscured the light of faith, but rather manifestations of the harmonious whole of the om- nipotent Creator. Fathers and mothers should work together to keep the spiritual environment of the home at a high level. That should never be the school where . little ones get their first lessons in back-biting, petty dishonesty, disloyalty, selfishness, injustice. The spiritual dimensions of the child are so immeasurable that the impressions he receives in his early years may grow to incalculable proportions. Many a crisis in later life will be solved by the sum total of the child's spiritual experience. Let us all strive to create ideals which will lead both our children and ourselves to the higher life which gives its beauty to our earthly existence. American Fork, Utah. God's Music A lilt of feathered song among the willows, The hum of bumble-bees, Fields of ripened wheat in amber billows, Jewel-frosted trees; Iris of early Spring in purple glory, Summer's daisied leas, The harvest's bounteous golden story Foretelling Winter's freeze — All these Whisper of God, A power near That one may hear — If so he please.

1010 IMPROVEMENT ERA A kindly hand unto a foe extended, A baby's rippling glee, The surgeon's skill for love of man expended And not for fee, The master painting's mystic feeling That all may see, A friend beside a sick-bed kneeling On prayerful knee — All this to me Should speak of God, The source of life, The death of strife, Eternal melody. But whispers are unanswered and unheeded; Few ever hear; So God has placed his organs myriad-reeded With sounds so clear That none there be whose dried soul-fountain Holds doubts so drear That he can look upon a lofty mountain But feel God near. Where man's a mere Speck of the infinite There are no doubts, Each bolder shouts: "The Maker's work is here-" The awful majesty of rocky towers, Dwarfing the river-bed Drives out the cancerous doubt each heart embowers And leaves faith there instead. No whisper nicely tuned to acute hearing, No angel's silent tread — Creation's full stupendous size appearing To strike all questions dead. With gazing fed The viewer bows In homage deep; Then o'er the heap Of vanished fears lifts high his head. Suli / ahe ( //i/ M. G. JENSEN.