Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-08-18
"LEARN OF Me-"

The world is filled with q weary,
anxious, heavy-laden humanity. 1t is
through weakess that we must gain
strength; through ignorance, wisdom;
through experience Of the past, the way
toward the future; through our love
and faith, the true "way of life"
When we wander astray we must be
turned back to the straight and narrow
way. Our burdens are heavy, our pains
w~earisome, u sorrows deep and SEEM
ingly u~navailing. To this erring, striv-
ing, struggling people comes the tender
invitation-an invitation extended to us
all, for all are "weary and heavy
laden"-"Come unto Me all We that
are weary and heavy-laden, and 1 will
give you rest. Take My yoke upon you
and learn of Me, for I am meek and
lowly Of heart, and ye shall find rest
unto your souls"
Not only is the invitation given, but
the way to accept it is also given. He
gives us His W life as an example,
and tells us to follow it. His life-work
is before us, and we are told to follow
Him. We can do this; not to be able
to live as He lived, but we can try; VIC
can do the best we can, and never
cease trying. That is all that is asked
of us.
"Take My yoke upon you," He says,
"and learn of Me; for I am meek and
lowly of heart" We are to accept, to
take upon us the yoke of Divine love,
and thus bind together in its "silken
bonds every thought, affection, capac-
ity OF our own minds and hearts, that
they may unitedly and tremendously
engage in the warping and weaving Of
the web Of a true and noble life.
He does not say ''learn OF Me-" be-
cause 1 am your superior, because 1
have knowledge, culture, experience,
but because l am meek and lowly of
heart. Meek, in the sense of being re-
ceptive, willing to be instructed, to be
led and guided. We must have the
lower nature subject to the higher; not
crushed out or unrecognized, but held
as itself a gift of God, and having its
wv proper uses and needs. These
uses and necessities, under proper con-
troll and education, add to and aid in
the development of the higher nature.
The material and spiritual must work
together, hand in hand, in this life. /.
Christ in His meckness acknowledges
the leading He receives. "The Father
that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the
works. l do always those things that
please Him. We must not rest in our
dissatisfaction, in our pride of intellect,
OF power. of requirements, but seek to
hold ourselves in a state to humbly re-
ceive the truth and to abide by it.
"Learn of Me-" We look to see
what the example is which His life
teaches us. 1t teaches obedience to the
present duty. 1t teaches that there is
no duty, so humble OIL seemingly ,unim-
portant that we do not owe it perfect
f%aithfulness of trust and execution, even
as He was faithful to the humble duties
in His earthly fathers house and work
as long as it was right for Him to re-
main there. Nor was His life of service
there ended. This was, indeed, but the
beginning; the %faithfulness in little
things that led to the devotion and ulti-
mate sacrifice of His life for humanity.
He met and overcame temptation.
He passed through the dark valleys in
which Il feet stumble. His Divine
nature was assailed, through it's human,
by all the ills and evils, the dangers,
the bcguilements, to which humanity is
prone. Scathless, pure, %sinless. He
speaks to us, %tenderly, saying: "Learn
OF Me; | will aid you, help you, bear
your burdens, comfort you, rest you.
If you are guilty." He SAYS, sin not,
but come unto Me-" Is not this the
invitation Of atender, yearning, brood
ing love like unto a mothers for her
children, only deeper and holier than
any earthly love car be? There are
none from whom He would turn away,
if only they would "go and sin no
more" and follow in the way He led.
What, then, should we learn of Him.
Dependence on the Divine will; the
meekness and loneliness that saws:
Not My will, but Thine be done;'' the
ciingglng to truth and goodness and
rightness through all pains, sorrows
and discouragements; meekness, pa
tience, perfect uprightness, honesty,
f~aithfulness, gcntleness, forgiveness.
long-suflerlng, charity every good
thing that the mind can conceiy We. and
more, because His goodness is limit.
less.
He asks us to learn of Him because
OF the spiritual qualities He possessed:
because He had q warm and LOVING
heart which pulsated for all mankind:
not because of the strength of His in,
tellect, the power Of His brain. And
He promises that if we learn we shall
lind rest unto our souls. We shall find
the rest of a freedom from the tbrall-
ION of sin. We shall love good. and in
seeking its innermost essence we shall
lind ourselves linked to the Divine lite.
which is goodness itself. We shall love
our neighbors, and in this love we viii
to the Divine life, which is love itself.
we shall lind rest in the sense of near
ness to the best Of life, it's purity. holi-
ness usefulness, ch%aritableness. rood
ness and t~ruthfulness; a rest underly-
ing all WEAKNESS and care, a f~oretaste
OF the rest we shall experience when
the last fear is quoted, the last dorht
dlspelled, the last labor ended. the last
burden lifted from the heart, the last
tear shed, the last pain suffered: when
we shall be lifted up and borne onward
TO higher truths and purer lows avar