Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1894-07-25
YOu Shall Have Strength.

-EUenlny Sun.
You Shall Have Strength.
And as thy days, SO shall thy strength be-
Deuteronomy, XXXil1., 20.
Human nature is made of very strange
material. We are constantly surprised
at our ability to bear what seems to be
uncomfortable. Under the pressure of a
great incentive we can accomplish
miracles, and when necessity 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 possibility
OF greatness is hidden somewhere in ev-
ery mans nature. He is an unconsci-
Gus giant, but will never do giants
work until the emergency forces him
to. Give him an ordinary road to
travel. and he shalnbles along like a
peasant; give him hill to climb, then
thunder in his ear, You must" and
he becomes transformed from clod to
a god.
tits the sternness of fate which makes
man great His inclination is to be
small, to be comfortable rather than
noble, to live easily rather than grand
ly. 1t is only when compelling force
on the outside drives him, or when he
finds himself in tangle of circum
stances from which eXtrication seems
impossible, that he rises to his full
height and accomplishes the task which
he has looked upon with trembling
timidity. In a 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 of electric patriot
ism, but great deeds were beyond his
thought. He had never seen the heroic
element in his nature. He enlisted as
a duty, and for months was only an or
binary soldier in the ranks. By and by,
however, he faced a grave danger.
There was death in the air. The bull
lets were flying fast and he gave up all
hope of seeing home again. But with
danger came opportunity. That OPP
portunity acted on him like magic. A
farmers boy no longer, he suddenly be-
came a 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 unfiinchingly did deeds of
prowess When the shadows of even
ing fell and the bloody work was over
he had captains straps on his Shout
ders, and was by no means the same
man who left the plough in the furrow
to follow the tap of the drum. Oppor-
tunity is another name for metempsy-
Ghosts, for there are times when we
shed the commonplace and become
KNIGHTS of the ROund Table
But we can endure as we'll as do when
we must. No one knows how much he
can bear until he is tired. 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 drowsy
until some earthquake shock shakes us,
and then we become men. LII fortune
is spiritually worth more than what we
cali 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 there is
a Thanksgiving 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 contemplate
your surroundings with grateful salts
faction. The sky is blue for you and
the sun always sets in beauty. But you
to be met, and though you have had
immunity thus far you know that it
cannot 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 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 apparent
ly SO capricious. If he should look in
to the eyes of your little one he might
want HIM. Death plucks beautiful
flowers for the garden of God, and if
he should pluck your flower, the only
one you have, mayhap, what would
you do, what could you do? You shud-
prayer that no white hearse may ever
stop at your door. Your life would go
out like an extinguished candle There
would be nothing left. That misfor
tune you cannot bear. Anything else,
but not that, you say-so have said
many, and then they have wept be
cause the prayer was not answered.
Then Death steals into your house
unawares and your flower is gone. Are
your shoulders broad enough for that
heavy weight? You will sink under it
and lie down by the side of the child
in the same grave. No, not that; be
cause las thy days, SO shall thy
strength be-" When the time comes
you find larger endurance of soul than
you have credited yourself with. and,
though the future days may be gray
days and the sun never shines in quite
the old way, you can bear the sorrow;
you do bear it with fortitude borrow
ed from the angels.
Much depends on your faith. No
soul that looks at heaven can be crush
ed by anything that happens on the
earth. Once get glimpse of the fu-
ture, once see the boy in the garments
of the immortals, and though your
heart breaks you would not call him
back. 1t is faith that lightens our
load while doubt doubles its weight
One glance at God, and fate can do
you no further harm.-N. Y. Herald.
Itch on human, mango on horses,
dogs and all stock, cured in 80 minutes
by Woolford's Sanitary Lotion. This
never fails. Sold by W. M. Allen, Drug
Gists. Stanton, Va.
Tao or 1v