The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1897-03-26
LIVING WORDS FROM THE PULPIT.
THE MARGIN AND THE RESERVES
"It is Better to Max, a Life Than to
Kake a Living"

"When Daniel knew that tho writing was
signed, he went into his house and his win
dcws being open in his chamber toward
Jerusalem, no kneeled upon his knees three
times day and prayed and gave thanks be-
torc his God as he did aforotimc.'-Dan.
6:10.
Some years ago Gen. Garfield delivered a
striking address to a body of students on
Margins. When In college he discovered
thnt the young man who CAME up to class
with the best preparation burned the study
lamp an hour longer than his companions.
The secret OF mastery was out. That mar
gin of time and toll made the Inference be-
tween tho average student and the genuine
scholar The truth applies itseif in many
ways. 1t was tho margin, the gain in time
in the mobilization of the German army on
the Rhino that was decisive in the Franco
German war. few strategic moves were
swiftly made and France was in the dust.
In business 1t Is the margin, the extra time
and thought and energy that constitutes en-
terprise and wins fortune. Ono must rise
usual things. 1t is the old lesson Of the re-
serve as brought out In the parable OF the
ten virgins. Out OF the margin comes the
reserve, and hidden away in the reserve lies
victory. Sooner or later the battle OF life is
won or lost on the reserve-the reserve of
capita! in business, of strength il health, of
character In temptation.
Emergency tests the reserve; It shows what
ones past has been and what he now is. Tho
most valuable thing in life j. the trial that
proves and develops character, that brings
out tho reserves.
Place an unsound apple under an exhaust
ci receiver and so long as the air Is out the
apple appears plump and firm but let in tho
mir, Gods true pressure, and it shrivcls up,
because 1t Is not sound through and through.
Baalam. Saul and solomon 20 down under
temptation. They have no reserves of
strength. Job, Moses, Daniel, stand the
II
within themselves. When prosperity slipped
away from job, the man himself survived
and the whole of him. Moses with the shop
herds crook in Miiian is tho same Moses
WHO wore tho purple in Pharaoh's halls.
when Daniel lost the royal favor he did not
lose himself. In purpose, in thought and
feeling he was the same man through every
crisis He lived at the top OF his being, on
the spiritual heights however disastrously
things might fall 10 pieces around him. He
s"rcnr!y held on his way as he did aforetime.
He had the reserve.
This principle of tho reserve, q mans
ability to endure, to survive, to overcome,
gives us an insight into the philosophy OF
Jcsua. Count it all JOY when YOU fall into
divers temptations, into new experiences rs
we may read it. Lifo IL not measured by
length OF years, not by accumulutions, not
Ly events, but by heart experiences. A
man : supreme achievement is himself. The
ono treasure one can carry out of this world
is what he carries out in his own soul. The
monotony and dead level of life may defeat
its higher purpose. Most people need to be-
into genuine sympathy. Abraham must get
out OF his old surroundings before he can
get the new revelation. 1t is this truth
doubtless the advantage OF u jolt-that lies
under Pau!s saying that he rejoiced in
tribulation. l presume he did not covet
trouble or desire disappointment, or hunger
particularly after sorrow and pain, but he
patiently received them when they came and
In time even rejoiced that they had come be-
cause o; the outcome
The discovery OF gold in California was
really the outcome OF a slight mishap. A
| shrub which man had grasped on the side
OF bank In order to raise himself up gave
way, and In giving way revealed the preci-
Gus ore beneath And so it often happens
underneath the roots lies the gold. The plan
that failed, tho uprooted project reveals
treasure undrcamed Of before.
Quite frequently we hear 1t said. "Well II
l gained nothing else by the venture got
some good experience" 4 good experience,
is rot that the best OF all? II one fails to get
that. whatever else he may gain does he not
in the end lose all? "What shall it profit
| man II he gain the whole world and lose
his own soul?'- gaining no growth Of soul,
no splendid sef-hood in the use Of things:
but rather marrying his personality with
then. Here Is principle more valuable
than any ever patented. yet free to all,
principle that turns ali that comes in life in
TO something better than gold. Even into
charactor-it is the principle Of n great re-
serve within ones SELF Governor RUSSELL of
Massachusetts, said cnce and the saying
ough; to make him immortal among mem
1T is better to make u life than II living"
Sometimes we see people who have a great
deal to live on and nothing to live for-no
reserve OF truth or honor or love, bankrupt
in soul. That dark and silent tragedy of life
is by no means uncommon. 1t was II diff
cult pa!h from The palace to the lions den
but tho pGthway from Righteousness was
vastly moro difficult and hopeless. No
event OF Daniels life yielded him so much
within and without as that soro trial. The
secret OF tho great reserve is in the daily
margins OF life. The man can not be sure
OF himself in an emergency who is not sure
OF himself every day. There is an un
told preservativc power in habit. Out
OF the margin comes the reserve. Tho
daily acts of faith and prayer and loyalty
grow into habit OF righteousness which in
the great emergency stands Gibraltar-lik
against the fierce assault Of the sea-
"As no did aforetime, there lies the
secret. NArnrAM LUCcoCK.