The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1894-05-09
The Discipline Of Life.

Before I was afflicted I went astray;
but now I have kept thy word.-Psalms
cxix, 81.
Why we are so constituted that no
bility of character can only be
attained through the discipline of
sorrow is as yet an unsolved problem.
That we must needs travel over the
corduroy road Of difficulty, successive
obstacles, harsh circumstance and con-
tinuous effort if we would reach the gate
| of Paradise or fit ourselves to cross its
threshold is the moral puzzle of the
universe,
In our unwisdom we think the
| cadamized and level highwaya better
means of progress, and are astounded
| when told that smooth roads make
small men. -.
BE would get a glirapse of the
widest landscape must climb the hill
from which alone it can be seen. This
is the first law in the statute book OF
Providence.
The night is grewsome and lonely,
but half the universe is yelled from
him who has not seen the stars as well
as the sun, and darkness alone can
render them visible.
This, too, is the law-namely, that
you must sit amid the shadows Of night
if you would see the ..eayens at their
best.
You cannot get music from the cello
with loose strings. They must be
stretched, and if they could they would
cry out with pain, but the stretching
until concert pitch is reached is what
gives the musician an instrument
worthy of his skill.
A large fortune is the worst acci-
dent thas can befall a youth, for his.
temptations are stronger than his am
bitions. The boy with money inheri-
ted from his father, and, therefore,
with nothing to work for, is already
half conquered by evil passions. The
youth with hign heart and wholesome
poverty receive this inheritance from
God, and Gods gifts are better than
mans.
God s denials are the best part Of
His providence, He gives nothing
without itB price, and that price is
toll. We find fault at first, but later
on discover that what is worth having
is worth working for; that work gives.
dignity to thelsonl. and lis the equiva-
lent Of education.
That is the secret Of omniscience
which we find hardest to learn.
The men who live in marble and
bronze because they have done us
such service that we cannot forget
them, and would fain express our
gratitude by means of the sculptors s
art, are they who have borne the brunt
lsof circumstance. ~
tits also true that personal sorrows,
as the loss Of dear ones, have an up
lifting tendency. Bereavement forces
the soul to recognize it's destiny.
Tears are sometimes telescopes with
which other worlds are viewed. Ach-
ing hearts feel their helplessness and
then call on God for the comfort that
is not within reach. They see visions,
have revelations, and doors are opened,
| the key to which is forged out of Some
grief.
The ties Of earth are loosened that
| we may be bound by stronger cords to
heaven. The cruelty or death i'm
bues us with longing for immortali-i
ty. The surgeon cuts in order to save
the body and when it is all over we
iblef the knife. God wounds because
a wounded soul needs sympathy and
consolation and can only find them in
thoughts of another life.
An artist had just finished splen-
did fresco on the ceiling of cathedral.
Pleased with his. work, he stepped
lbagk 10 note the general effect. For
I,getful Of the dizzy heighth was about
to take one step more, the fatal step,
when his quick-witted assistant dash:
ed mass Of color on the picture and
ruined it. The painter sprang forward
his life was saved. -
in hke.ibanner, Gods severestdis-'
| cipline il always smerciful.s The only
purpose is to compel US to see what
BE wishes us to see, and to see it as
He sees it. IF He ruins our hopes or
Fgiaes onr1oye q wrench, or sends the
dread Messenger to our household, the
sad song ne. sing bring the angels
nearer, andfrom the ashes Of consumed
desires springs faith which draws
| the curtain aside and shows US better
life.
e That cd chastens because He loves
is aShard saying, but they who have
fbecn shastensd Jean ofttimes find in
their agony atreasure whichihappiness
| is too Blind to discover.
The end to be sought is largeness of
soul, and this--so strangely are we
kmade-is togbe attained, not by hav-
ing our own way, but by giving up our
EWay and adopting Gods way.-Neao
York Herald.,