Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1881-12-14
The Danger OF Living.

IL IS very common thlng 10 near OF tne
danger of dying; but great deal less is
said of the danger of living. The young
and the old are often warned that they may
die before another day has passed but they
rarely hear q warning on the ground that
they may live the week out. They are told
seriously, on New Years day or some other
year Of their lives; but, in fact, there ought
to be great deal more solemnity in the
suggestion to them, and in the thought on
their part, that the dangers Of life are by no
means sure to end with the year they have
now begun. Dying is very small matter
in comparison with living. Living is the
dangerous business, with this world as it is,
and with men as they are. Can there be
any question on this point Unless life has
been an utter failure, death is anything but
a danger; and if life is an utter failure
what gain is there in its prolonging To
the Christian, there is very bright side to
death-whether it be ones own death in
anticipation, or the death of a loved one in
retrospect. Death to the believer is new
life. 1t is rest from toll it is peace after
strife; it is glory after humiliation. What
ever sadness there may be in the thought of
temporary separations and absences through
death, there is comfort in the thought of
undoubted safety and of unfading Joy to
ones self, or to ones loved ones, by the
very fact of death. "Precious in the sight
of the Lord is the death of his saints"
And that which is precious in the Lords
sight ought to have preciousness in the sight
of the Lords people. With all that is ad-
mirable in a noble life in action and in
progress, there is yet greater beauty and
higher grandeur in completed and per-
fected Christian life. Who could mourn
for the dead, for the dead's sake, when it
could be said with truth, as it was recorded
above the worn and wasted body Of him
whom all the world had learned to love:
"Lfe's work well done;
Iife's race well run;
Life's crown well woni
Now comes rest"2
Yet that is the record for every child of
God, at death. And there is sense in
| which we give and gain for the life that
now is, through dying. We are conscious,
out of all the losses and failures and sad
misunderstanding of life, that we are surer
of our dead than Of our living loved ones ;
and that we shall be dearer to those whose
| love we value when we are dead. Often,
in some heavy hour of loneliness or disap-
pointment, we cry out in bitterness,
"Nothing Is our except our dead.
| IucH ny Ihcmoiy VI ehc past ,t.iaiin,
Bitterness beyond all present pains.
| Only the dead hearts forsake never"
In view of this, how can the thought OF
dying be gloomy to us, in comparison with
the fact Of longer living? Living is a cease
less struggle, with constant danger Of be
ing overborne by enemies, and of being mis-
understood or deserted, or even betrayed
by protesting friends. The more one does
in this world, the harder it is for him tc
live. It is hard for any true man to live, tc
keep at the same old fight day after day
with the knowledge that many have strug
gled as long and as bravely as he, and ye
have finally failed in the fight of life ant
with the further knowledge that not ever,
man has, while living, the credit he deserves
for his best purposes and his noblest en-
deavors, whatever reversal of Judgment il
his favor may be made by the popular review
of his personal history after his death. Th
best men have times of shrinking from liv
ing; of longing for death. And any maj
deserves credit for living on without fail
ure in his life struggle. If, indeed, livinl
and dying were to be judged only by tn
obvious advantages which present them
selves to the Christian believer, in the Gel
tainty of gain for this world, and of gai
for the hereafter, every devout heart nigh
well cry out for a speedy deliverance fron
the dangers of living; for speedy posse'
sion of the blessings which come only wit
dying. But it is because there is danger i
living that living is duty; it is because
is hard to live on in struggle, and easy t
die and find rest, that it is wrong to crave
release from the God-appointed preparatio
for an eternity of fulness of glory. To NEE
the further dangers Of living, is just whs
we are living for. 1t would be cowardice
shirk them. If we endure hardness as goo
soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we sha
/, be sure of victory through faith in our ID
, vine Commander. We ought not to ignoi
, the danger of living nor ought we to shrin
from it.
"a battle, my child,
Where the strongest lance may fail,
Where the wariest eyes may be beguiled,
And the stoutest heart may quail.
Where the foes gathered on every hand
And rest not day or night,
And the feeble little ones must stand
In the thickest Of the ight.'
"what IA Death, father"
a., When the strife and toll Ger;
i The angel OF God-who, calm and mild,
Says we need night no more;
Who driving away the demon band,
Bids the din OF battle cease
Takes banner and spear from our trembling hand
And procAims an eternal peace"
"Let me dlo. father tremble and fear
: To yield In that terrible strifel"
= "The crown must be won for heaven, dear,
In the battlefield OF life;
Ny s ehS oSe nGHs s weak ss Ssi ssd anu 'a
. The angels Of heaven are on thy side,
i And God Ia over ALL"