The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-11-06
THE SUNDAY PULPIT.
SORROWS AND TROUBLES.

connection with the spiritual life is this
| Why are there so many troubles and
| sorrows in the road to heaven?
| No thoughtful soul ever bowed under
an affliction without wondering why the
| Lord thought it best to make suffering
| so large a part of our experiences. He
! could have arranged matters very differ
emily if He had wished TO do so. but He
| chose to have them as they are. There
must therefore be II very important sig
| niiicance in our burden bearing but
what is it? We may be perfectly re-
| signed to His will, and may believe,
without the shadow of Il doubt, that
| wrenching griefs and heart struggles are
| all right. but we cannot suppress the
| query, Why are they all right?
TO the mere onlookcr from another
| planet the situation would be interesting,
curious and painful. He would see men
wrestling with the most perverSe circun-
| stances, and apparently conquered b.
| them, and women weeping over SORROWS
| too deep for sympathy to reach. To him
| this would be the oldest Of I'LL worlds.
| administered on Il plan which he might
| find it difficult to understand.
| But it seems to me possible to get q
glimpse of the meaning of it all. to so far
| comprehend it that we are able to say,
perhaps in feeble accent, Thy will, not
mine be done. If it is possible to do
that we shall be greatly comforted and
our powers of endurance will be largely
increased.
The golden key to the mystery is found
in the apparently cruel statement made
in the Book of Revelations: ''As many
as | love | rebuke and chasten." The
Lord is our Father, and if you are a
parent you will readily see what is
meant. If you are Indifferent to the
welfare of your children. caring more
for your own pleasure than for their
good. YOU will allow them a very large
license, let them go their own way, even
though it be the wrong way. But if
you have the true parental heart and
wish to insure for the dear ones that
integrity and sturdiness which are neces-
sary to a noble character you will mt
only watch over them with solictude
during the formative period, but you will
rebuke them, and even sternly deny
them certain undesirable qualifications
You chasten them in order to make them
chaste or pure, for that is the meaning
of the word. To chasten is to purify by
or perfect is the chief end to be sought
and if it be true that if left to our own
impulses or passions we should never be-
come pure, but that by discipline we may
become so, then God would either cease
to love us or else cease to be good unless
He allotted such pains and grefs rs
would make the soul stronger by its
endurance of them. 1t tmay seem Il
a.; hut is NnI
would not be a father if He failed in
that sharp discipline which in this life
causes regret. but will some time prove
itself to have been blessing in disguise
| suppose that the bar of gold which is
placed in the smelling pot may be very
unhappy for time 1t does not know
very much about the worthless and de-
basing alloy which is mingled with its
very substance, and it therefore cries
ont against the cruelty Of the fire which
heats it to the melting point But the
goldsmith loves his gold too much TO
heed its cries. The fire is the chasten-
ing element, and he plies the be lloWs
with Il rugged strength. But when the
end comes and the pure metal has been
separated from the alloy, will it not be
seen that a hot fire, a consuming flame,
is proof of the goldsmith's skill and wis
dom and love?
If the ingot of gold not quite under
standing the process of publication.
could have had Il perfect faith in the
goldsmith it would have suffered less
during the ordeal Of fire. In like man
ner if we could believe that our suf-
ferings have a grand mission to achieve
that they are under the guiding hand of
the Master of our souls, i would largely
alter our attitude toward them and also
toward Him who has ordained them
To weep without hope or trust is to
break your heart. Even though you
cannot see the meaning of grief, if you
believe there is one and that He sees it,
you can summon your best strength.
and you can be brave. But what of that
man who neither sees any light in the
darkness nor believes that there is any?
A tempest with home in sight is one
thing; Il tempest with no resting place
to look forward to--could any fate be
harder than that or any coalition more
pitifu?
Whatever else may be said of our
religion this one thing at least is true
that it gives good cheer when good cheer
is most needed. In your direst strivings,
when you are like to fall by the waysde
weary and worn, you may see the
shadowy form of the Christ beneath the
branches of the olive tree. He is rent
and torn by unspeakable anguish, but is
whispering to the unseen messengers
who will carry the words to the Father,
Not my will, but thine, be done" He
went from under the oyerhanging clouds
to the better land, and if our wildly beat
ing hearts will listen we can hear Him
saying: Let not your heart be troubled.
| go to prepare a place for YOU"
GEORGE II. HEpWORTH.
FROM NEW ZEALAND.
90