The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1895-07-04
Broken Hearts.

| uedTL.-1SalHlS, A88lF 10.
Certainly no one needs the help of
the Lord more than these, aod it is
a great privilege to know that there
is somewhere an everlasting arm"
upon which they can certainly rely
in time of trouble.
The most discouraging fact in life
| Is that when we call loudest for
friends they are not often within
hearing distance. If We are not in
want OF them they are more numer-
GUS than We can count, but when we
are sinking beneath the waters and
stretch out imploring hands there is
| no one near to render assistance
The great sOrrows of life must be
borne alone. for no one who has not
himself trodden the wine press of
like experience can say the word we
need to have said or do the kindly
deed We need to have done. This is
a mysterious element in Gods
Providence which it is hard to under
stand. You may not have company
in your Gethsenane, unless it be the
companionship of the angels and of
r Him who sends them.
Broken hearts? Are there any?
Perhaps not many if the words are
| used in Il literal sense. We may well
| thank Heaven that it is So There
is certain buoyancy, u certain lift
ing power in human nature which
makes utter hopelessness impossible
| except in rare instances. A kind of
| optimism creeps into the soul just as
| q child crePps into its weeping moth
er's arms, and as the child forces a
| smile from the mother, so this dim
prophecy that "eventime it sha be
light sends its ray of hope into the
darkness that environs us. We find
it very difficult to wholly despair, for
| heart beats have sort of good cheer
| in them when the shadows are
| deepest.
| But it is stran 2ely true that there
is very serious significance in the
| words "broken hearts, Life is
| sprinkled with disappointments from
youth to age. The dreams of earlier
times have not come true, and hard
| ly one of US is today either what or
where he expected to be. The we'd
ding march has changed into an
echo, and it's glad vibrations scarce
ly reach our ears. The riches we
| longed for have not come, and our
L
made have somehow gone astray,
and the children for whom we would
have made any sacrifice have been
called to heaven. Changes have
come like pitiless tornadoes and torn
up by the roots many OF our most
cherished desires. Sickness, struggle,
bereavement, poverty, like malig
nant fairies, have waved their wands
over us and we scarcely recognize
| ourselves.
These are stern facts, and they
cannot be gainsaid. Look back
through the corridor of time and see
| yourself as you were at twenty.
What experiences you have passed
through! They have left their mark
on your face, in your gait and in your
conversation. You have been
ploughed, and the burrows tell how
deep the plough struck.
| What shall we say, then? That
there is no God? Nay, rather that
| there must be u God or matters
would not turn out as they have
| done. Is life so full of bitterness
that it IS not worth living? Nay,
rather life is a painful means to a
joyful end. A hard lesson has been
set US, and it must be learned. There
was never yet a sorrow which was
not a stepping stone to higher
things, and never yet fell a tear
which did not bring heaven nearer.
1t is the evident intention of God
that they shall serve these purposes,
and the mission of religion is to keep
us constantly mindful of that fact.
The sorrowing ones of earth IRE
| specially near to the Father. and
struggling souls are objects of His
special solicitude. 1t is hard for us
to see His face at such times, for our
tears are like clouds that hide the
sun; but, as the sun is surely behind
the clouds, so is His face behind our
tears. While it is a solemn and an
awful truth perfect sympathy and
efficient helpfulness cannot be found
| elsewhere, it is a glorious certainty
that both can be found in Him.
What consolation to know that
| the Almighty is not far off; that He
| is neither n stranger to our miseries
nor Indifferent while we fight the
good fight? Even when it seems as
| though He had deserted a left us
to our tate, the rustling of HIS
angels wings may be heard, and the
prayer of beseeching faith brings a
calm into the soul as though He had
| whispered, "Peacel Be stilli'
broken hearts! Travellers weary
and wornl Sailors clinging desper-
| ately to a wreckl Soldiers wounded
almost unto DEATH Homes made
desolate by the invasions of death !
Signs borne on every breeze and
disappointed hopes scattered as
thick las leaves in Vallombrosa
Yes, this is all true. 1t is the
burden we bear-the burden we must
bear. But be of good cheer. Heaven,
the end of the journey, is not far off.
The minarets are glistening in the
sunshine, and, once there, all will be
peace. If we have the courage to
say "Thy will be done" in this life,
we shall look back in the next life
and see, to our surprise, that all was
for the best; that God was with us
as we toiled along the upward steep,
His arm underneath us, His mes
sengers lifting us over the rough
places. We must bear our lot brave
ly in faith that He is nigh unto them
that are of q broken heart, aud by
and by there will be great rejoicing.
The Difference.
Augusta Chronicle