The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1897-04-21
The Peace of the Soul.


For have learned, in whatsoevel
state am, Herewith to be content
Philippians, IT,, II.
1t is rot uncommon to hear 6
rich man say that his years o.
struggle were the happiest of hi,
life, thus proving rather conclusive
Iy that there is nothing in wealth
itself to make man happy.
The nope to attain is always al
inspiration, but actual attainment
is frequently "a disappointment and
sometimes a positive misfortune
The climbing boy who keeps the
summit in view and makes thous
and efforts to reach it is really lead
ing the ideal life, for every func
tion, physical and mental, work,
under a health giving and pleasure
giving excitement. When the mar
has reached the summit he too oft.
ell finds that his ideal has sudden
ly disappeared.
IL is rather evident that til,
chief purpose of this present life i,
to try to succeed, but not to sue
ceed wholly. The noblest man i,
he who has not yet done all he ex
poets to do, and whose soul is
lighted up with anticipation of bet
ter things to come.
The true philosophy of life
therefore, teaches us to do what We
can, but not to worry because We
cannot do more. A man needs am
biti0n, just as the horse needs the
spur, but you can spur horse un
til lie becomes nervously exhaust
ell, and a man cali be so ambition,
that he loses sight of honesty anG
moral principle and rectitude o.
character. In which case he ma;
be a millionaire, but he is at tbs
same time a spiritual wreck.
| should say to young man jusI
crossing the threshold, struggle fol
fortune if that is your dream, but
give the proper price for it, and NJ
more. 1t never pays TO exchange
self respect for anything which tht
world can offer. Keep your sou
pure, even if you are compelled tC
keep your body poor in order to dc
so. In the long run-that is, al
the end of forty years-when yor
shall have learned to take large
view of affairs, and when the gla
mOurs of youth shall have passed
you will discover that the thing,
which money cannot buy are :ht
things yOu want most, and thai
your bank account has much les,
to do with personal happiness thar
yOn thought possible in earlie
days.
And | would say to the man il
middle life who has fallen on de
spair because he must still wOrl
hard and spend with cautious car
that the best fate that can befal
is the necessity of earning a living
provided labor and cOntentmen
live under the same roof. 1t is no
labor that kills, but worry. Cheer
fulness can toll by day and sweet
ly sleep at night, but disconten
wears the body and annihilates eve
ry noble impulse. There is no dis
ease more harmful than this, non
that can make greater ravages. |
is the frost that nips the tende
shoots and makes a harvest impos
sible. 1t is the prairie fire tina
heats the soil until the very root
are killed.
Now, there are some thing
which you need not hope to attain
then be content without them. YO
must not wrench yourself in til
hope of grasping what is hopeless
ly beyond your reach, and if yO
have learned that fact and Civ
yourself to making the best of wha
you have or can have you are liy
ing on true Christian principles
you have something better tha
the philosophers stone, for if yo
cannot by your magic turn crude
metals into gold you can max
even adversely smile, and, like tn
bee, get honey from the thorn.
thistle.
The man who makes the most O
the little he has is of more intrin
sic worth than he who owns world
but is unhappy because he has n
more The only religion that
care anything about is that whicl
teaches me to be of good cheer ant
makes me grateful for what l pos
sess. We do not need the half O
what we demand in order to max,
life comfortable. A slender in
come with a warm heart is bette
than riches and "a restless soul.
Let your strivings, then, be afte
contentment. Get out of each pass
ing day all there is in it. Live i
the present hour as much as pOss
BILE, and if you live for characte
your foundations will overlast tC
morrow. 1t is when men bull
Without moral prlnclple that the
need fear the future.
If you have serene and quie
trust in God, without whose nc
tice no sparrow falls to the ground
the events of life will arrang
themselves into a kind of sympht
ny. l do not say that you will b
able to carry dear one to tn
churchyard with a smile on you
lips, but do say that the prospec
beyond the churchyard will nit
gate the pain of separation. An,
l assure you that there is notLin
in this wide world worth half a
much as that peace of mind wh:c
only faith III the good God can Civ,
/ II