The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-05-29
From Under the Cloud.
christian Work.

y Constant sunshine weakens the op'
tic nerve, and robs it of the rest that col
tinues its strength. Just so incessanl
prosperity causes pride, and prevents
the heart from becoming strong
enough to withstand it's baneful infiu.
ences.
BY choice we are all prosperous, we
dislike to be hurt, and because discom'
fort does hurt we shrink from it as it is
natural to shrink from any other
wound. Superhumau force can be en-
gendered. for it is nothing more than
will power. The word WiN should be
printed in italics, and to it ought to be
given u prominent place in this sen.
tence, in every sentence, in every life.
BY exercising it, it grows harder
just as any part of the body that is u.s.
ed most grows stronger. Take the
arm, for eXample-make constant use
of it, fetch, and carry, and lift los no
opportunity TO exercise the muscles,
stretch it out, twist and turn it about,
and before you are aware of it the sim
eWs grow taut, the muscles are devOlo-
ped the flesh is hard, and that right
arm is always on call for service, and
and you look with pride upon its USE
fulness.
Ralax those Efforts and the strength
is gone as quickly as it came, the mus
cles have lost their tenseness, and you
wonder that the arm will no longer do
your bidding.
We stumble upon hard places in life,
and if not very watchful they trip up
the most determined feet. and then we
wonder that life has not been dealt to
us as pastime. a long holiday with
its sunny hours, its cloudless sky, its
balmy breeZes that were only meant to
rustic the leaves of the roses. What
would be the consequence of such a
living but to dwarf the whole being.
Like the unused arm the mind be-
comes weak also, there is no use for the
reasoning power, the will sleeps be-
cause it is not called into wakefulness,
and the man who is supposed to be but
little lower than the angels sleeps
also.
If life was not only full of sunny
hours, but full of nothing else, if there
was no night to rest body and brain
after the garish light of the sunshine,
if there were no struggles to make the
sweetness of victory, if there was no
race to gain the palm crown of the vic
tor, what would life become?
TO explain to his hearers what life
ought to be, Jesus told them the story
of man who, not being given even 80
many talents as some others had re-
ceived, did not try to improve the one
talent, but hid it in a napkin, and hav-
ing buried it was content. There is
not one gift of the Creator that cannot
be made to bring forth fruit to his glo-
ry. The life that becomes inert in the
ceaseless sunshine never grows, and is
nothing at all but a failure.
Clouds will gather overhead, some
times they are away up, but sometimes
they seem to hang so low that they
almost touch our heads, and when
they turn to inky blackness we forget
the sun that Is always shining some
where. To show us the way from un-
der the darkness God let's the clouds
gather, and we should never forget
that there is a way out of every diff
Guilty if we take the trouble to look for
it.
One word of prayer will often scatter
the clouds, and if they are not alto
geGher dissipated a rift is made, and
through it the eye of faith can see God
on the throne in the beautiful city,
the New Jerusalem.
How. then, are troubles to be met?
There is verse in the Bible that helps
US to reply: "Watch ye, stand fast in
the faith, quit you like men, be
strong"
That infers for us that if we watch,
have faith, and stand, that we will be
strong. The whole of that comfort for
bids idleness, every word calls to ac-
ton, and is imperative if we desire to
attain to the strength that we need.
When we have that we can defy the
clouds to discourage as, the will
grows strengthened, the power to en-
dure greater, and from under the
cloud we emerge stronger, holier, hap
pier.
And why? Because back of it there
is God, our God, he who is the supreme
cause of every good that can possibly
come to us, with whom is our reward,
and who will always help us until
that perfect day-for our God is Love.