The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1892-02-18
TILE LESSON OF PAIN.
[Continued from first Page

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death and the infinite perpctua:ioa {
| life without death, we have made
| grave mistake in our conception Q
| death. and hence q graver mistake i
the conclusion based upon such reason
I ing. Death is not an eva if life tina
precedes death fulfill its divine mission
Death is benevolent provision Of Law
Without death there could be no prog
ress in life. The gateway TO larger If
Is the gate Of death Ii we begin wit
the unit Of life, the cell, we find no sucl
thing as death. One cell divides int
two cells. These again divide, subdi
vide, until millions Of cells are pro
duced. Here we have life without death
The life is uniform. There is no i'm
provement in the cells. The milliontl
cell produced is of precisely the sam,
character as the first. When we begin
to rise in the scale Of life we can Tist
only through the process Of death
When this shell dies, the outer shell de
caying, there is produced the first out
line of an organism. Every step in the
increase of the functions of life from
this cell unit can only be met through
the process Of death. Death, therefore
is not designed to be a tragedy. Nature
declares that death is but her benevolent
provision for fuller life.
Moving in this free world is therefore
a free being-man. The fire, dom oil
man is the key that unlocks the mystery
of pain and suffering. Because man has
been given the power to choos, he is q
free man. This power to choose implies
two things-good and evil, darkness and
light, JOY and pain. If we eliminate
pain, evil, darkness, from the world, we
destroy the possibility of mans dual
destiny. In other words, we make it i'm
possible for man to choose. We make
him a machine and put him in a world
of mechanics. He has no destiny to
work out. He is driven by force. He
does not make himself. He is made on
an automaton pattern. In such world
of mechanics it would be impossible to
produce character. Character is the re-
suit of the free play of the dual forces in
the moral world-good and evil Char
acter is the choice Of good in the face of
evil. Character is the highest possible
product within the attainment of man
How does character come? It comes
through temptation and trial.
Innocence in itself is negative quail
ity. Innocence is simply the absence of
wrong. A babe is innocent, because
the babe knows nothing Of evil, but we
cannot say that the babe is vi=cuous, be-
cause virtue is the higher quality Incl
dent to character, which can be affirmed
only when good and evil have been
placed before the chooser and the choice
is good. Virtue, not innocence, is the
enduring quality of character Virtue
is power. The innocent suffer with the
guilty, for the guilty, at the hands of
the guilty. Suffering innocence be-
comes through the process of suffering
heroiSm and martyrdom. This world
would be poorer world without its
heroes and martyrs.
THE FIERY FURNACE
Character is produced through suffer
ing. Christ, we are told, was made per-
feet through suffering. Suffering seems
to be the only power that levels all dis
tinctions and binds the heart of the race
in the primal unity of its divine strength.
1t obliterates the barriers of nations. of
races, of classes, and brings us face to
face with man as man. When the Prince
of Wales recently stood face to face
with death in his home, he sent to the
queen mother in her castle the message
that announced the sad death of the
first born of his home. That message of
supreme sorrow was signed with the
simple word-Bertie. All titles and dis
tinctions faded away in this hour of
sorrow. He stood forth with
uncovered head upon the primal ground
Of inherent manhood. The. only full
men who live in the world are the men
who know sorrow.
The only books in the library worth
reading are books written by men who
knew the secrets of human suffering.
You may search through the great L. |
braries of the world from end to end, |
there rests today on their shelves not a |
single book that is worth reading that
was not written out of the sorrow of hu-
man souls. When the novelist has fin |
lshed the trials and temptations and |
sorrows of the characters portrayed the
book stops; there is nothing more to be
said. There is no history beyond that
point. If the book goes beyond it, the
reader does not. There is no history
save the history of suffering. 1t is this
that moves the world. 1t is this that
makes the history of the world.
AS we read the wonderful works of
we are reminded of this
paradox. We do not know how much
we owe to Mrs. Shakespeare If she had
not vigorously pulled Williams hair it
s question as to whether we would
nave had these monuments OF cenius.
She made his life hell on earth. You
must strike harp to make music,
shakespeare swept the whole gamut of
luman emotion, from the deepest notes
IT tragedy and suffering to the highest
md sweetest notes Of human joy. He
lad walked all the way. He knew
human life. Had he lived only in sun
hlne he would have touched only the
surface.
Ii you ask me why this is true of
luman life, l can no more answer than
'ould answer why water runs down hill
why gravitation gravtates. 1t is so
ecause 1t is so. Beyond that lies the
scret of the Infinite Wisdom which
lade the world.
ost wretched men are Graded into noe+rv nv
wrong, ~
hey learn in suffering what they teach in
song. 40
Sorrow, not joy, seems to be the power
lat gives man the energy and CAPACITY
II work and fer the making of the
DRY OF the race. French sailors, after
hey have made tour of the world. it is
I'D, as they return and catch the first
ew OF their beautiful land. become so
led with joy that work is inpossible
ney crowd to the bulwarks of the yes
Il, strain their eyes toward the shore.
and helpless and cry like children. #
necessary to get new crew to brine
10 ship into harbor. In the midst Of
'e storm that swept their decks thew
ood every man to his post, with mus
es knotted like whipcords. They car
ed their vessel through the storm.
rough the pillows in safety, each heart !
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