Look Out! Don't Do That.

In a plea for things to live and look for, Celia Cole pleaded for wisdom to listen, as she put it, to that “within that warns us of danger”—to the warning sense that says: “Look Out! Don’t do that.” Much of life is a process of trial and error, and most of us do much trying and much erring. We make many mistakes, and perfection is not realistically within reach—not now. But it is heartbreaking when we make needless serious mistakes, when we ignore the outward warning, the experience of others, and the warning within ourselves. There is a “…light that lighteth every man that cometh into this world” the scripture says—and we are not altogether unaware of the safety or danger, the righteous or wrongness of some kinds of actions, of some kinds of situations. We do things, we go places, we mingle with people, we listen to various proposals—and agree sometimes to do what we don’t feel good about—to what we could avoid if we would—and so sometimes find ourselves in difficulty because we run against the silent voice that says “Look out! Don’t do that.” Sometimes we even go against our own experience. We choose to take a chance on something we have no real reason to expect will turn out well—the breaking of a law, of ignoring facts; exposing ourselves to physical or moral danger—dabbling with little indiscretions, a little faithlessness, a little carelessness, a little cutting of corners. But there are no reasonable odds, really, that would justify our jeopardizing health, or the wholesome functioning of physical and mental faculties, or peace of mind, or self-respect, or a clear conscience. Here and now we have only one life to live, one mind, one body, one opportunity to move through the limits of this life, and we had better do it by the best rules we know, by the best that all men have learned, and by that which is God-given—for there is no escape from morals, from laws, from commandments, from plain and true principles. And life will be happier, with fewer regrets now and always and forever if we avoid what is shallow and shady, or what is deep and dangerous—if we hear and heed the silent voice that says: “Look Out! Don’t do that.”