16,
1914._
We are all of us sadly conscious of our failure to realize in any
adequate measure the standards of right conduct which we set for
ourselves. Attainment falls far short of purpose and desire. Through
want of courage, or it may be of inclination, or of sheer inertia, we
fail to obey perfectly the law of duty which we recognize as
imperatively binding upon us. There is, however, a more subtle kind of
failure as regards our moral endeavor and achievement which is due to
the unconscious shifting of these standards of right and wrong
themselves. It is not merely that we fail to do that which we know to be
right, but at times the very idea of right itself is strangely altered.
The good insensibly assimilates to itself certain elements of evil which
we allow and accept without full realization of the significance of this
moral alchemy to which the most fundamental of our ideas are often times
subjected. The idea of right no longer stands in its integrity, but is
compromised and even neutralized by conflicting thoughts and sentiments.
The things which at one time held first place in our estimate of life
become secondary.
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