The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-01-12
VOICE OF THE PULPIT
A PERTINENT DISCOURSE CONCERN
ING BORROWED TROUBLES.
Herbert Mott. of Westminster ConEre-
gatienal Church. Providence, r.
T. Rebuf<e< the Pessfmist.
Murmurcrs and cOmplainers-Jude is.

There are troubles which come to us. and
some which we must meet and endure at
the call OF duty: there are others which
we go out Of our way TO seek.
These are what 1 mean by borrowed trou-
bIes. The mother OF certain little boy gave
him dime TO spend. On his way TO the
store 1t s&nehow slipped from his fingers
and rolled away out OF sight
He searched and searched. but IT was OF
no use, the coin was nowhere TO be found.
Here was sad misfortune. He wept with
sorrow AMI vexatiOn-
Presently a kind woman. touched by these
signs OF woe. stopped 20 inquire what the
matter was and on learning OF his loss she
opened her purse and gave him 10 cents.
Eagerly the boy grasped the kindly gift.
his eyes Frightened. a smile began to creep
into the corners OF his mouth and then.
ali at once he broke out into fresh Iamenta-
tons.
why. what is the matter now?" ex-
claimed his astonished benefactor Haven't
you got your 10 centsT'
YES" soosbed the lad. but oh. IL only I'd
got the enc I've lost. too. then l should have
% cents
He had suffered loss. and it had been
fully made up TO him. That ought TO have
ended tie difficulty; but no. he must needs
80 back 10 what had been settled and atoned
for and borrow trouble out of the pasta
morbid. unreal. phantom trouble.
And such Is the strange constitution OF
the human mind that these phantoms are
often capable OF producing as much dis
turbanee. misery. unhappiness as real and
genuine calamity. We see this occasionally
in sickness.
Illness Is always a hard thing to bear.
q serious misfortune; but do we not some
times see IL made much more serious ard
much more hard TO bear by vain imaginings.
by useless excursions into the experiences
OF other people. by a minute and constant
dwelling on things that have happened 70
some one else. By a querulous nursing of
fancies about what may occur some time in
the future. by borrowing trouble when we
have quite as much as is good for US of our
own?
There is an old Persian fable which Illus
trates this:
An inhabitant of Teheran one evening
city. and asked him his name and business.
MY name is cholera and my business is
to destroy the Inhabitants of this town."
The Persian, who. for some reason or
other, had influence with the CHASTITY Wis
itor. ertreated him not to slay them all, and
finally extorted promise that the number
to be taken should only be two thousand
But 1900 died, and the Persian, meeting
the angel of death one night in the street
upbraided him with his breach of faith.
Man. he replied, know that L have
kept my word. 1 slew 1000 and no more;
the rest. 5000 in all. died of sheer terror"
Died. In fact. OF borrowed trouble. The
calamity would have passed them by harm
lessly; they made IL fatal by adding what
did not belong TO it or to them.
Half the ills that flesh is heir to
Wouldn't really be so bad
II we didn't always thereto
Add the Ills IL never had.
Another evil which results from this habit
Is that il gives US wholly wrong idea of
the nature of life. and therefore of the
nature Of Him whose gift life is.
1t makes US think existence Is a poor
kind or thing. I have noticed that those
who hold the gloomiest views are not those
who really have great burdens, but those
who fancy they have them
There Is a little Russian story that bears
upon this point. Human nature appears to
be very much the same there as here.
Once upon a time there lived a farmer
who went about complaining of the bur-
dens OF misfortune he had to carry.
One day he happened to stumble upon a
cave in which lived wise old man who.
when he heard the farmer grumbling about
his fate. upbraided him.
'sT should very much like 10 have a look
at these troubles that we all have to carry
said the farmer.
VERY well.'' answered the other; "come
to my cave at midnight of the fir st day of
the month and I will show you all the
troubles and burdens of the world
So away went the farmer. and he thought
the time went very slowly until the first
day OF the month. and then he was on hand
at L o'clock sharp.
Sure enough. the wise old man was there
and he made the sign cs the cross upon
him and blessed him. and then took him
into the cave
There he saw a number Of sacks. What
are taey?" he asked.
These are the troubles and burdens"
was the answer.
So the farmer began to try them all.
Some were little and some were large.
In many cases the smallest ones were
heavier than the largest.
They were all heavy however. and I'M
comfortable. Finally he happened TO pick
UP one large bag which was very soft. and
when he flung it on his back ne was de-
lighted to feel how nicely it adapted itself
to his shape. and il seemed quite light in
comparison with the others.
'Sow." he exclaimed. 'if I could only
have a burden ike this to carry instead OF
the sort have. life might be worth living"
20. foolish one" said the wise old man.
'-this is your very own burdenr'
Sure enough. when the farmer looked,
there was his name on the bag.
Since that time he has never complained
about what he had 10 bear. Observe, he
was cured of the unhappy habit of borrow
ing trouble, by striking a balance as be-
tween the realities OF his own case and
those OF others. and he had learned he was
carrying the burden he was best fitted to
bear.
There are many occasions when IL Is a
good thing TO strike a balance. and see how
things actually stand.
II gave this man new idea OF the worth
OF the life God had given him. he would
20 about his business ever after in differ
ent spirit.
think his faith in the goodness OF God
would be more firmly established. Faith
rests. in the long run. on our judgment con-
corning nature OF life.
This man had wrong and twisted view