Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-12-06
JOB AND HIS FRIENDS
THE QUIET. uNoeTAus,vE syn
pATHv o. TRUE FRIENDSHIP.

Wnshing CsAss ne IssfsssAss - sss ~
Cs.ssisssel -Ss.s - csassasssss"-CsoA
EupAaa. BfsAsl 49, zsps.s. La Us
weep sss ssvss Days - SigA<A
4 sxmou by ths late 0sosgs Dsvsna -
ne thinking tbs other day q ths story Of ths
Man 1t Uz-an old. old story. familiar 70
each af Us. and having Tor u Ill . very real
and pathetic interest. inasmuch o vs never
know but what We Ourselves may sone day
stand In Job's pitiful ca-e, or, q least, ANAL
CONS u believe that we do For every man
has knaek Of msgnifying and multiplying
his troubles, Until he becomes convinced
that hi. own pct particular burden-shs Old
Nan Of the Sea which be carries on nis sch-
ing shonliers--is heavier than WAS ha,rns BY
any SInsibad before him. and that there -
never sksleton In mortal CLOSETS which rat
ties 20 loudly ~ hix As for Job, think
that. Ike humanity in general, be made the
most Of nis snictious- They were very
bitter and grievous, And be might justly cry
Alaek, and well . day but he en1oyed
good deal OF compensation In tho shsps o.
queruloas complaints against destiny ana
much loud challenging Of heaven
THE THREE SnixNDA
II 10 Q strange picture-that venerable
sheikh, sitting there under the warm EASTERN
sxy, With bowed head and rent robes; no
laughter Of children In MS ears, not even an
infants prattIe, his wife's anguish constantly
before his eyes, his body ioathsotne with
!eoer's sores; the fields on which he looks
forth bare Of harvest and empty Of cattle,
all around, q shallow and gloom ~ II God
had withdrawn from him even that hope
which Is mans last and oest possession. And
then there come unto him his three friends
you may SO them nurrying across the waste
g fast - they can drive their cameis-and
when they recognizes the full extent OF his
dssolatiou, their grief rises 10 the height Of
his own aud for seven days and nights they
sit on the ground beside him. weeping, but
speaking not word
For me these Three Friends Of Job have
strong attraction. think ! prefer " con-
template their figures more than that OF JOB
himself Eliphaz and Bildad and Zophar-I
say nothing Of Elhu, for be doe. not come
upon the scene till long afterwards- were
evidently men Of good counsel; not without
their shortcomings-as was certainly the case
with Zophar. who was young, and had the
impatience Of youth-but men true as steel,
and animated bya deep and generous spirit OF
sympathy.
kuphhZ. bllIau anu Soliiinf - a. ecs oaA. WV
was lucky man! Most Of US nowadays re-
ioice aloud II we have one friend 10 boast OF,
and here was this gray forefather" OF the
long ago with three And three such friends
each worth a score Of the ordinary pat
term For observe, u, soon as they heard Of
Jobs distress-, they sent round 10 one an
other and at once appointed TO 60 together to
SEE him.
They dai not walt for tho funeral baked
meats and the formal trappings Of sorrow,
for paragraphs ia the daily papers $50 to
speak recording 1.-THE remarkable calamitie,
that had befallen al esteemed townsnian;"
they did not satisfy themselves with appoint
ing a COMMITTEES TO receive subscriptions for
his benefit. but they girded their loins and
set out across the wide Chaldean plain, that
In their own persons they might testify to
their Astounding friendship.
A friendship, surely TO be thankful FOR!
A friendship which WAS not afraid OF exer-
ton and self sacrifice. And then their ex-
auisite tact They found their friend stunned
by the shocks he had undergone; and, with
keen, sympathetic eyes perceiying that the
time WAS not yet when they might prohtabiy
speak out Of the fullness Of their hearts, they
sat down. and wept as he wept, and were
silent as he WAS silent They saw that he
wanted no condolences no fled phrases OF
conrniseration The iron had entered into
his soul; and TO have applied the ordinary
balm af Gilead-the regulation oil Of myrrh
to 3>.ound so deep ami SO wide would
have been worse than foolish-it would have
been cruelty
SILENT SYMPATHY.
There are times when silence is the truest
sympathy To have your well meaning
Barnabas.s, your self constituted sons OF
consolation" breaking i'll upon grief which
you are almost ashamed that heaven itself
should see and filing your ears with their
INDIGENOUS platitudes, gives you worse pang,
does it notf than that which you were previ-
ously writhing under
When you are overtaken by great sor-
row, what you want-yes, from your nearest
and dearest friends silence. CLASP my
hand" you say to him, and let me 60"
When q mother is weeping over her dead
babe, the cackle of commonplace gossip cuts
her to the heart She cannot hear the kindly
advice even of priest or scribe; but let her
husbands arm steal round her silently, let
the child still spared to her clasp her knees
with the mute eloquence Of love, she may
continue to weep on, but 1t will lie with .
feeling thft there is something left TO live
for
Nothing is less tolerabls in those hours Of
darkness, which no man of woman born can
hope wholly to escape. than the cold logic Of
conscien Gus advisers. What is the use of
telling me, while l am struggling in the
waters, that others have undergone, and
others will undergo the same terrible expe
riencei You know that do not, cannot,
will not believe It'll While | am bufYeting
for dear LIES sake the angry pillows, needs
must think that never were the waters so
deep. so furious before. How am to know
what others have sufferedf Enough for me
that my breath is nearly spent, that my arms
are almost powerless, that the shore seems to
recede farther and farther from my sightl
Come, come, Eliphaz. Bildad and Zophar, sit
down by my side, let us weep for seven days
and seven nights, and take refuge in the wis
dom OF silence -London Illustrated News