Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1874-06-19
Mr.. Beecher on Patience.

Mr.. Beecher on Patience.
One of the first reasons why men are i'm
, patient with Others is tine arrogance of ;
, certain selfrighteousness which is based OF
conscience. | have occasion to criticist
conscience 50 much that | am afraid you
will think | no not believe in it. do be-
lieyc in conscience acting with love but
conscience acting with the malign passions
do not believe in. | think very much of 4
conscience that works up toward the top Of
the brain; but think very little of a con
science that works down toward the base Of
the brain. In the latter case it is the hard
est and cruelest of traits. working with the
malign passions, which do what thev please
with conscience to endorse them and make
them imperative.
There are some very good persons and
very active people who cherish many excel
lent traits, but who have the habit Of criti-
cising the dispositions of others in precisely
that way which the Master forbids when he
says, Judge not, that We be not Judged. -
The injunction is not that we are never to
form judgments or opinions of men-this we
must do at every step it i that We are
never to fall into the habit of forming crit
ical fault-inding judgments. We see, in
persons who have many estimable traits
qualities which make them very hard to live
with. They do not ditluse happiness. They
seem TO bring everybody up before the judy
ment-seat of their thought and conscience
with censorious spirit. They are all the
time thinking how men come short, and
come short, and come short of their duty.
Their conscience Is on the judgment-seat all
the time. But finding fault with and CEN
Suring others Is the poorest thing that we
can do for we are not fit 10 be Judges and
condemners of each other. We are all of us
80 faulty, we are 50 profoundly sinful, we
are 80 the subjects Of Gods perpetual pa
| tience. we have ourselves to be forgiven 50
often. that we can i'll afford to 20 out and
take our neighbOr by the throat, and say to
him, Pay me what thou owest.'' as we are
tempted to do
This habit of using conscience as iudc-
ment-seat, before which to bring our friends
and neighbors for scrutinv. works toward
impatience. 1t gives Us q disposition to be
irritable and flult-fndins toward men.
Then, We are led on to impatience.
think, by want Of consideration Of the
real condition Of life which men are in. We
do not take into account what man is. and
what his circumstances are. We merely
feel. ''lleIe Is something that does not suit
Us. 1t may be right or i; may be wrong,
but it Is not a. we would have it :" and
then we flame out-Or, if it be not our in
terest 10 do that, we flame in. At anv rate.
we DO not lose the opportunity Of indulgence
in impatience and irritableness
Now, men are 50 different; the motive
power i 50 different in men; their eircum-
stances and temptations are 50 different. that. |
if YOU look in and see them a. they see |
themselves, or, what l. more to the pur- |
pose, if YOU see them with the tenderness
and consideration with which Christ sees |
them when he bears and forbears with |
them if you could realize the Split Of for
gsving one another even a. God for Christs
sake forgaye YOU. | think it would verv
much temper the irritable edge Of your i'm
patience.
If you 20 to the real roo; of the matter,
think vou will find that the lower down a
man i on the scale, the more he Is inclined
10 impatience, and that Il spirit Of impa-
tience is a sign of low spiritual life. The
higher up men are in the true Christian
spirit, the more they are like Christ. The
more that predominateS in them which i the
characteristic element Of Christian beneyo-
lence-love To God and love to men-the
les are they inclined to be impatient.
There is one single thought. which, il it
were fully accepted by men, | think would
hold them back very much from impatience
If. unbeknown to him. mans case was
called into court, and there were employed
against him 1.-the ami able lawyers, and his
life. or reputation, or property, or happi-
ness was put upon issues which were hidden
from him. and the decision. condemning
him, went forth without his knowing any
thing about it. how he would feel outraged
and how YOU would feel outraged
Now there Is iudgment-~eat set up in
every mans heart: and silently as shadows
move we bring one and another and another,
man, woman and child, up before that jutg
meSrSeat; and in our thoughts we canvass
they characters, and accuse them, and allow
bribed and biased witnesses to testify against
them, and condemn them. giving them no
whatsoever to explain or to de-
lend themselves. We put them on the /,
black list, and in various degrees treat them
As culprits; and our own inner soul is 4
sort of judgment hall where the worst judy
nents are formed and registered. which we
sometimes carry through months and years,
md on which we act.
1t Is n horrible thing. the way in which
men not only talk but think about their fel
low men, in the secrecy and privacy Of their
life. Some men. if you remon-
'trate with them on this subject. say,
well, do not say anything nor do any :
thing against people; but | must think my
pwn thoughts Yes; but we are com
handed to form righteous judgments. We :
ire enjOined to Judge Others a. we would be
udged There Is but one way to judge /,
rightly. What | mean. is. that when you
Judge men you should be in the real spirit
If love, of genteness, of patience, of for !
Dearance You should not make slaugh-
er-house of the thoughts which you carry :
n your bosom. When We 60 out, every =
lay, among our fellow men we cannot avoid
having our thoughts and registering our
judgments concerning the thousand forms of
vii which come under our notice and this
: bad enough in itself; but for us to sit n
lown with Others and make these thoughts a
md judgments enjoyable currency. and cir 7
,ulate them, discussing the faults of our y
is worse. as being provoca- b
i've of impatience and injustice.
We are to be patient, not merely with $
,ur brethren in the household not merely d
oward our neighbors not merely toward v
'ur customers or clients; not merely toward T
,eople that are sunshiny and genial; and e
lot merely when we are in placid mood, /
md in prosperous condition we are to be T
'atient toward all men. at all times, and a
lnder all circumstances. t