DOWN-TO-DATE by Ada D. Wellman

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 13, 1901

DOWN-TO-DATE

By Ada D. Wellman

MRS. ADA D. WELLMAN.

(Oakland, Cal.)

EFFORT to be up-to-date in all one's affairs is certainly commendable; but what is sometimes regarded as up-to-date may be, in reality, down-to-date. Not all that is recent is an improvement on what preceded it; and to discard the old for something new but inferior, is surely coming down instead of up.

A current phrase may be terse and pertinent, or it may be as coarse as forcible. The fact that a style of garment is the latest does not indicate whether it is in good taste or otherwise. A prevailing fad may be unique, or it may be witless. Scores of books just from the press might not add as much to one's literary store as would a single volume of established worth. Forms of recreation most in vogue are not always most recreative. To be smart is not always to be wise. Verily, to be down-to-date is not an enviable distinction.