The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1894-08-02
HUMAN TRIALS.
YOU SHALL HAVE STRENGTH
Our Burdens Not Greater Than
Our Power to Endure---As Thy
Days, So Shall Thy STRENGTH
Be, Is the Divine Assurance.
New York Herald I

And as thy days, SO shall thy strength |
oe.-Deneteronomy xxxiii %.
Human nature is made of yery
strange material. We are constantly
surprised at our ability to bear what
seems to be unendurable. Under the
pressure of a great incentive we can
accomplish miracles, and when neces-
sity compels we can endure anything.
No man is thoroughly acquainted
with himself. There are depths and
heights in his soul which he has never
explored. In one environment he is
a commonplace creature in another
he develops into hero. The posi-
blllty of greatness is hidden somewhere
in every mans nature. He is an un-
conscious giant, but will never do
giants work until the emergency forces
him to. Give him an ordinary road
to travel, and he shambles along like
a peasant give him a hill to climb,
then thunder in his ear, "You must -
and he becomes transformed from a
clod to a god.
1t is the sternness of tate which
makes man great. His inclination is
to be small, to be comfortable rather
than noble, to live easily rather than
grandly. 1t is only when a compell-
ing force on the outside drives him,
or when he finds himself in tangle
o: circumstances from which extrica-
ton seems impossible, that ne rises to
his full height and accomplishes the
task which he has looked upon with
trembling timidity. In word, he
is almost omnipotent, but does not
know it, and never can know it until
God proves it to him by giving him
the impossible to do.
During the war the farmers boy
was thrilled by spark ofelectric patri-
otism, but great deeds were beyond
his thought. He had never seen the
heroic element in his nature. He en-
listed as duty, and for months was
only an ordinary soldier in the ranks.
BY and by, however, he faced grave
danger. There was death in the air.
The bullets were flying fast and he
gave up all hope ofseeing home again.
But with danger came opportunity.
That opportunity acted on him like
magic. A farmers boy no longer, he
suddenly became hero, as though
some fairy had swung her wand over
his head. He was larger in soul than
he ever dreamed of becoming, went
into the thick Of the fight and unhnch-
ingly did deeds of powers. When the
shadows of evening fell and the bloody
work was over he had a captains straps
on his shoulders, and was by no means
the same man who left the plow in
the furrow to follow the tap of the
drum. Opportunity is another name
for metempsychosis, for there are times
when we shed the commonplace and
become knights of the round table.
But we can endure as we'll as we do
when we must No one knows how
much he can bear until he is tried.
Providence has made life hard because
every man needs the test of fire. Why
this is so it might be difficult to say,
but that it is SO no one can doubt.
We are drousy until some earthquake
shakes US, and then we become men.
III fortune is spiritually worth more
than what we call good fortune. The
rich mans son is apt to slide down
hill, while the poor mans boy climbs
to the top. If you have all you want
your life is without value. If you have
nothing that you want the desire to
get the best is transhguring influence,
though it involves sacrifice and tragedy.
You are content, and your home is
happy one. Wife and child sit at
your winter fireside and you contem-
plate your surroundings with grateful
satisfaction. The sky is blue for you
and the sun always sets in beauty.
But you recognize the fact that there
are storms to be met, and though you
have had immunity thus far you know
that it can not last forever. There
are burdens to be borne and you must
fit your shoulders to some of them.
When you think of what may posi-
bly, happen the tears come to your eyes
Your income may take to itself wings
and speed away, leaving you to sit in
the ashes of bankruptcy. That seems
hard enough, yet you have a feeling
that you can bear it if it is inevitable
But when a white hearse rumbles by
your door you know that some fathers
heart is breaking, and it comes to you
that a like disaster may visit you. Life
is so uncertain and death is apparently
SO capricious. If he should look into
the eyes of your little one he might
want him. Death plucks beautiful
flowers for the garden of God, and i
he should pluck your flower, the only
one you have, mayhap, what would
you do, what could you doP Yor
shudder and grow pale. You fall upor
PRAYER that no white hearse may eyel
stop at your door. Your life would
60 out like an extinguished candle
There would be nothing left. THAI
misfortune you can not bear. Any
thing else, but not that, you say-so have
said many, and then they have wept
because the prayer was not answered
Then Death steals into your house
unawares and your flower is gone. Art
: your shoulders broad enough for tha
heavy weight? You will sink unde'
it and lie down by the side ofthe chile
in the same grave. No, not that; be
J cause as thy days, SO shall thy strength
t be-" When the time comes you fine