St. Landry democrat., 1889-10-12
An Honored rade.

The trade of a carpenter has been es
necially honored by the fact that the repu
ted father of Jesus was a carpenter, and
that Jesus himself spent his youth, up till
the age of thirty, in following the same
calling. For eighteen years Of Christ's HE
we have no record except what is implied
in the query propounded by some one who
heard him BREACH Is not this the car
penter?" The people in the neighborhood
wherein Jesus had been brought up kne"
the nature of his business. They knew
that he had toled as a mechanic, earning
his livelihood bv honest, useful industry.
To US it should be a matter OF thankful
ness that Christ was carpenter. He has
thereby taught us many things. he has
proved his voluntary humility. He has
shown US the dignity of labor He las
shown US that manhood is not TO be est
mated by certain adventurous circumstau-
ces : that it is not the house in which a
man lives, nor the clothes he wears, nor
the work he does, that makes or mars the
man but that the man is what his soul is
what his thoughts, affections, motives,
and principles are. And he has shown Us,
further, that whilst man tolls with bis
hands in fashioning plows, making yoke5
for oxen, or in other ways, he can at the
same time be cultivating his head and
heart, and thus be daily fitting himself for
a p0sition of usefulness on earth and hon
or in heaven.
As stand by and watch carpenter at
his work. | am constrained TO think that
he does physically what | am asked to do
morally and spiritually. There IS 81 lofty
sense IN which we are or ought to be, all
engaged in carpentering.
The carpenter is given wood, out OF
which material he has to fashion some new
thing in the construction which his mental
and physical powers must be brought into
exercise. So God has given each OF US
time Plank after plank, or hour after
hour he places at our disposal. He has
given US mercies innumerable, that we
each, in the workshop of the world, may
| construct a character that shall be new, and
beautiful and enduring. As the carpenter
needs application, care, thoughtfuiness, pa
thence and perseverance IN his work in or
| der to be at all successful, so do We 1t will
not do for US to employ our moments and
our mercies anyhow. We must exercise
| forethought and caution. II is vain for us
| to imagine that the task can be completed
by one or two strokes. We must persevere
! to the end. Our days will not be doue TIL
the eventide of life We must use the saat
to cut off those habits which are injurious
to both US and others. We must apply
| the G2ydne to smooth down some of the I'M
evennesses of our tempers, some of the
crudeness and roughness of our DISPOSE
lions. We must work with the rule anc
square in hand, that what is done by u:
may be in perfect accordance with the pat
tern set us in the Scriptures. We mus
form q t8non and m0rtiSe-a union between
ourselves and that and those who are good
the tenor of our sympathy and benevolenc'
must fit into the morGise of q brothers love
and the naortiss of our own affections mus
correspond to the tenon of our friends ad
vances There must be reciprocity o
Christian affection. All our good resolu
TONS good actions, and cody efforts mus
be made secure by the nail of prayer, driv
en- home by the hammer of vigorous faith
Thus must we perform our life-task TO
the Divine Task master.-7he Queer.