The Indianapolis journal., 1896-09-06
THE VOICE OF THE PULPIT
VALUE OF THE DISCIPLINE OF sOR-
ROW IN HUMAN AFFAIRS.
A Beautiful Sermon by the Rev. Jo-
seph III. Crooker, of the First Uni
tartan Church, Helena, Mont.
.,nIade perfeet through sufterlng..-Heb. sI. 10.


ner in which we meet 1t. We are not to
shun 1t as a curse or welcome IL as a
blessing nor we to accept IL as a IA
tality. We are to overcome il and there
by become enriched by the bitterness ex-
perienced. 1t is neither to be sought nor
feared. but turned to account. We are
neither to pray for affiiction. nor TO wilt
at it's coming; and yet when 1t does come.
we may find it an opportunity for growth
in new graces because ii calls new powers
into action along new lines
We must not think that sorrow, as sor-
row, has any magic power to bring forth
in us a nobler fruitage of life. The disci-
pline comes from the way that we carry
ourselves through our pain and trial 1t
arises from the we make of the ex-
perience that sorrow brings. Misfortune
sometimes softens the heart, and 1t some
times turns 1t into stone. While neither
sent as the expression of hate, nor devised
primarily for discipline, yet sorrow is
great and benefcent teacher, IL We are
alert enough and right-minded enough to
learn from it.
John Howard felt it a great disaster to
be thrown into a French dungeon; but
when there he used his experience TO adj
vantage. There was born that interest in
prison reform which made him the worlds
greatest benefactor. Some noble soul like
his had actually to partake of those hor-
rors of prison life before the battle for
humanity could begin. Disciplined by that
sorrow, Howard became the apostle of
mercy.
The same lesson we read in the life of
Pinel. severe grief fell upon him when
his dear friend became insane and he
sent to the asylum. But his friends sick
ness was not visitation of wrath to pun
ichb i'm fpr haIi
dence contrived especially to discipline him
in sympathy. 1T a sorrow that went
deep into his heart, not to abide root
of bitterness, but as a seed of life. Ii was
a door of opportunity through which Pinel
passed to one of the divinest ministries OF
human life--the better care of the insane.
He was taught by his own heartache to
do monumental deeds for the afflicted chill
dren of men, He was disciplined by his
own tears to do something to wipe away
tears from the eyes of the unfortunate.
Thus sorrow often opens before q
new point of view from which our esti-
mate of life is corrected and enlarged 1t
introduces US to ourselves and the world
in such a way as to teach us the wisdom
of humility and tenderness. 1t challenges
new activities and brings up from unstirred
depths of our nature a strength of ps tience
and endurance of which we had not
dreamed. 1t opens doors of service before
unseen, 1t gives opportunity to powers be-
fore unused. Neither to be foolishly
sought, nor to be unherocally Stunned. yet
when sorrow by the inevitable
pressure of circumstances, it is to be used,
conquered and turned to account for the
glory of God, which is the good of
What / see when 1 appeal to human
perience is this: Sorrow does often bring
an enrichment of life to be derived from no
other source The mystery of ii is often
dark the reason of ii is not always clear.
but the result is evident. Through that
discipline man does ascend to a diviner
life. The invalid in the leisure of weakness,
in the solitude of privaton and in the
struggle with pain, sees and feels and
learns and grows along lines of life which
bring wisdom and grace and SYM
pathy and strength than come to the
man who has never felt grief shed a
tear. Through SORROW and suffering the
heart is softened; we learn to feel for
others; our selfshness loses itself in sym
pathy and thoughtfulness for those in
trouble affliction and pain. So true is it
that in the depths of sorrow men often
pI Iepar I'd for the nights of life, and by the
blows of adversely they wrought into
spiritual beauty.
We often exclaim: That person cannot
find life worth living; crippled. helpless,
or blind for years! Surely there is nothing
in life for such unfortunate! And yet,
how often a close acquaintance makes US
feel that after all we are the unfortunate
ones! For we find there. strange as it
may seem, a serene peace, deep
tentedness, a wisdom of the spirit before
which we stand in awe, mingled with
shame over the fretfulness of our own lives.
The fact is that this person has learned
the worth of life through its privatons.
and by the exercise of the will in meeting
distresses has found the secret of serenity.
The angelic faces are found where
worldly wisdom would never look for them.
They belong to the mothers who have
hardly known day without a heartache,
to invalids who have seldom known
-Four without pain, to children who have
never passed a day without burden.
Though regular in feature and perfect in
complexion, how meaningless are human
faces until nodded and lighted up by ex-
perience And whence come the light and
beauty when they do appear? From strug-
gle with adversely. from passion conquered,
from victory over selhshness, from bur-
dens borne and sorrows mastered. it is a
constant surprise 70 me. Illustrating the
marvellous compensations of providence. to
see the most beautiful smile where there
have been great prlVatlonS ana nardShlpS.
How often are we moved to say of some
person: He knows nothing about life. for
he has had no great sorrow. He has never
known what 1t is to surrender himself. to
bear burdens for others, to know him.
self through tears and heartaches. For
it is true that there are transporting vis-
ions of the spirit that are never beheld.
except as we look UP through falling
tears: there precious lessons that
never learn. except our hearts are
brought to feel the bitterness of defeat or
the agony of a profaned affection.
In the face of this problem we are, at
least taught humility and trust. We see
only the smallest fragment, not the uni
verse in it's entirety, and even the frag-
ment we only dimly comprehend. The boy
cannot see why he should study when Il
is such good weather for play; so what
seems very mysterious in our feeble twi-
light may In the light of eternity be swept
into the oblivious orbit OF an infinite love.
The solution which a practical common
sense finds and lives upon is this: In a
hundred incidents of life the loving kind
ness is evident, and in the one where ii is