Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-09-23
SAINTuiNESS.
A Common Mistake Corrected-A True
Saint Not Less, But More, Manly Than
Before He Became a Saint.

A Common Mistake Corrected-A True
Saint Not Less, But More, Manly Than
Before He Became Saint.
Probably majority of men and a
large number of women, who are not
professors of religion, would say. il
they were to confess their actual
thought. that they always think of
saintliness as involving an element of
weakness. They suppose a saint to be
meek, gentle, amiablc sort of person,
devoutly pious but easily imposed upon,
scrupulously virtuous in all the rela-
tons of life but lacking in force, and
not likely to make much impression
upon the world ''Saintliness is all
very WELL" they say, when they speak
out, '.but give us real manliness;"
and they think that they are preferr-
ing the higher quality. SO common a
mistake needs correction.
The fact is that saintliness involves
all the worth which there is in manli-
ness, and something to boot which is
equally admirable. A saint has to be
a true man or woman, to begin with.
L
ling, dignified character, or there can
be no superstructure of holiness. Meek
ness and forbearance are essentials of
saintliness certainly, but they are just
as truly essentials of mere manliness;
and, on the other hand. in spite of the
common impression to the contrary,
strength, courage. frankness and en-
durance are qualities of manliness no
more than they are of saintliness. The
popular notions of both the former and
| the latter need to be corrected consid-
erably. A true man is not a being who
lacks the milder virtues. A true saint
necessarily possesses aggressive quail
ties.
Take the most manly manor the
most wOmanly woman-conceivable,
and fill the heart of either with a
pure, earnest, controlling love for
Jesus Christ, and for the fellow
human beings for whom He died, and
you have a saint, in the only true
sense. Such a man, for example, is
not less but more of man than he
was before. Every element of his
manhood which you respected and adj
mired before is in him still, and has
been itensified. He is just as simple
and unaffected, as frank and honest, as
sensible, as fair, as fearless and as en-
ergetic as he was before, and he also
| is loyal to his God, and is far more
strongly determined than ever to make
the most and best of himself, and to
acquire and use influence, that he
may do honor to his Christian profess
sion.
He may be less sclf-assertive and
more gentle in manner than formerly,
but that is because the truest saint is
the truest gentleman. He may sub
nit to imposition, and bear provoca-
ton as he never did in the past, and
may show meekness of spirit which
surprises you unpleasantly at first, but
it is because he has learned that it is 4
greater victory to control himself than
to get the better of other people, and
he now seeks to win only the noblest
conquests. Watch him. study him,
initiate him, and you will find that he
does not utter cant, nor admire shams,
nor justify evil which tries to wear the
mask of religion. any more than you
do yourself-probabiy not as often, if
the truth We're told. He is bold enough
in opposing what is wrong and needs
resistance. He can show righteous
indignation upon occasion, which no
one is likely to provoke more than
once, but it is no longer on his own
account that his feelings are moved.
In word. as saint, and because he
is a saint-although he never applies
abe term to himself and perhaps sell
dom uses it of anybody else-he is a
truer, manlier man than he ever was
before. Congregationalist.