The Wrong Places

We have talked about being absent, about staying away from school, from church, from other places where we ought to be, using the excuse that it is to repetitious, that is seems too much the same. But when we go where we ought to go, when we are where we ought to be, there is a composite of attitude and atmosphere and information, a spirit, a distillation of something for which there is no real substitute. When we are in the right places for the right purposes we are likely to realize the right results. This is the positive side of the subject. But there is another side—a negative side. Important as it is to be in the right places, it is also exceedingly important not to be in the wrong places. Good as it is to be where good things are going on, just so it is bad to be where bad things are going on. As it is a safeguard to be in the right place, it is also a safeguard not to be in the wrong place. There is a contagion of language, of attitude, of atmosphere, and often even of action. We do assimilate from our surroundings. All things seen, felt, and touched, breathed, and lived in, leave their impressions, their marks, their memories. “If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report… we [should] seek after these things.” Conversely, if there is anything unvirtuous, unlovely, and of bad report—cheap, unwholesome, unsavory—we should not seek them, but shun them. Even thought we may feel we are immune to adverse influence, nobody is immune to what he has seen heard or partaken of. Furthermore, in some circumstances there is actual blame or suspicion even to being a bystander. Bystanders are not always presumed to be as innocent as is sometimes supposed. Being where the bad is going on—our very presence in some places—requires explanation. We do tend to take on what is around us, and where we choose to be, and what happens where we are is exceedingly significant. Being present where we ought to be is important, and being absent from improper places is also important.