Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1896-10-02

appointment. A FED gate. or what
Isaiah would have called a gate of car
buncles.
4 Life of Struggle.
Now, as l have already suggested, as
there are obstacles in all our paths, we
will be happier If we consent TO have
our life struggle. l do not know any
one to whom 1t is not q struggle.
Louis XIV thought he had everything
fixed just right and fixed to stay, and
so he had the great clock at Bordeaux
made The hours Of that clock were
struck by figures in bronze representing
the kings Of Europe, and at a certain
time of day William III Of England and
other kings were made to come out and
bow to Louis XIV. But the clock got
out Of order one day and just the oppo.
site Of what was expected occurred; as
the clock struck a certain hour Louis
XIV was thrown 10 the feet Of William
Ill And so the clCck Of destiny brings
many surprises, and those 20 down that
you expected 10 stand, and at the foot
Of disaster most regal conditions tum-
bic. In all styles Of life there come dis
appointment and struggle. God has for
some good reason arranged it so. II it
is not poverty, it is sickness. If it is not
sickness, ii is persecution. II il is not
persecution, it is contest with some Cyil
appetite. If it is not some evil appetite,
it ia bereavement. II it is not one thing.
IL is another. Do not get soured and
cross and think your case is peculiar.
You are Just like the rest Of us. You
will have TO take the bitter draft
whether il be handed to you in golden
chalice or pewter mug. A man who has
a thousand dollars year income sleeps
soundsr and has better appetite than
the man who has Ave millions. If our
life were not struggle, we would never
consent TO get out Of this world, and
we would want to stay here, and so
block up the way Of the advancing gem
erations. By the time that man gets
to be 20 years Of age, and sometimes by
the time he gets TO be so years OF age,
he says, 81 have had enough Of this.
and when the Lord wills it am ready
to emigrate TO a country where there
are no. taxes, and the silver Of the trum-
pet put to ones lips has no quarrel with
the gold Of the pavement under his
feet" We have in this world more OPP
portunity to cultivate patience than to
cultivate any other grace. Let that
grace be strengthened in the royal gym
nasium Of obstacle and opposition, and
by the help Of God, having overcome
our own hindrances and worriments,
let US 90 forth to help others whose
struggle is greater than our own.
A Story.
A friend told me the other day Of a
in Russian city whose
bench was in the basement Of build
ing and so far underground that he could
gee only the feet Of those who went by
on the sidewalk. Seated on his bench,
he often looked up, and there went the
swift and skipping feet Of children, and
then the slow and uniform step Of the
aged, and then feet with shoes old and
worn out, and then crippled feet and
he resolved he would do kindness TO
each one who needed il. So when the
foot with the old and worn out shoe
was passing, he would hail 1t and make
for it com Portable covering, for he
had the hammer, and the pegs, and the
shoe lasts, and the lap stone, and the
leather to do it. And when he saw the
invalid foot pass, he would hail 1t and
20 out and offer medicine and crutch
and helpfulness. And when he saw the
aged foot pass he hailed il and told the
old man Of heaven, where he would be
young again. When he saw the foot OF
childhood pass on the sidewalk, he
would go out with good advice and
laugh that seemed like an echo OF the
child's laugh. Well, time went on, and
as the shoemaker's wants were very
few he worked but little for himself
and most Of the time for others, and IN
the long evenings, when he could not
so well zee the feet passing on the side
walk. he would make shoes Of all sizes
and stand them on a shelf, ready for
feet that would pass in the daytime. Ot
course. as the years went on, under this
process the shoemaker became more and
more Christian until one day he said to
himself: IL wish among all those feet
passing up there on the sidewalk
could see the feet Of the dear Christ
passing. Oh, il / could only see his
feet 90 by l would know them because
they are SCARED feet" That night the
shoemaker dreamed, and in the dream
he saw the glorious Christ, and he said,
80 Christ, l have been waiting for
thee TO pass on the sidewalk, and l have
seen lame feet and wounded feet, ana
aged feet, and poor feet, but III vain
have / looked for thy scared feet.
And Christ said 70 the shoemaker:
Man, l did pass on the sidewalk, and
you did see my feet and you did come
out and hail me, and bless me, and
help me. You thought it was the foot
of a poor old man that went shutting
by; that Vas my foot You thought 1t
was the foot Of soldier that went limp
ing past; that was my foot You
thought that shoeless foot was the foot
OF a beggar; that was my foot The
shoes, the clothing, the medicines, the
cheering words that you gave to them
you gave to your Lord. 'Inasmuch as
We have done it unto one Of the least OF
these We have done it unto me. " My
hearers, with the humble spirit OF that
Russian mechanic, let US go forth aud
help others Having showed back the
carbuncle gate for yourself to pass in
and pass on and pass up, lend hand TO
others, that they also may get through
the red gate, and pass in, and pass ON,
and pass up.
Before Gate of Pearl.
But mark we'll and underscore with
heavy dashes Of the pen the order of the
gates. Gate Of carbuncle before gate OF
pearl. Isaiah the prince saw the one
rate centuries before ST. John the exile
raw the other The one you must push
,pen. The other stands open. Gate OF
. saviour's stonement before the gate
Of divine pardon. Gate Of poverty before
gate of afiuence. Gate Of earthly trial
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