Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1899-05-05


up the great obstacle in your life, and !
you tug and sweat along the pathway |
and wonder when the exhaustion will |
end. My friends, the brightest crowns |
in Heaven will not be given to those
who, in stirrups, dashed to the cavalry |
charge, while the general applauded,
and the sound of clashing sabers rang
through the land, but the brightest
crowns in Heaven, believe, will be
given TO those who trudgcd on amid
chronic ailments which unnerved their
strength, yet all the time maintaining
their faith in God, 1t is comparatively
easy to fight in regiment of thou
sand men, charging up the parapets TO
the sound of martial music, but it is not
so easy to endure when no one but
| the nurse and the doctor are the wit
nesses of the Christian fortitude. Be-
sides that, you never had any pains
worse than Christ's. The sharpness
that stung through His brain, through
His hands, through His feet, through
His heart, were as great as yours GER
tainly. He was rs sick and as weary.
Not nerve or muscle or ligament
escaped. All the pangs of all the ma
tions of all the ages compressed into
one sou.' cup. He took the vinegar!
There is also the sourness of poverty.
Your income does not meet your out
goings, and that always gives an honest
man anxiety. There is no sign of desti-
tuition about you-pleasant appearance
and cheerful home for you-but God
only knows what time you have had
to manage your private finances. just
as the bills run up the wages seem to
run down. You may say nothing, but
life to you is hard push, and when
you sit down with your wife and talk
over the expenses you both rise up dis
couraged. You abridge here, and you
abridge there, and you get things snug
for smooth sailing, and, 10, suddenly
there is n large doctors bill to pay or
you have lost your pocketbook, or some
debtor has failed, and you are thrown
abeam end Well, brother, you are in
glorious company. Christ owned not
the house in which He stopped or the
colt on which He rode or the boat in
which He sailed. He lived in bor
rowed house; He was buried in bor-
rowed grave. Exposed to all kinds-of
weather, yet He had only one suit
of clothes. He breakfasted in the morn
ing, and no one could possibly tell
where lie could get anything to eat be-
fore night. He would have been pro
nounced financial failure. He had to
perform a miracle to get money to pay
tax bill. Not dollar did He own.
Privation of domesticity, privation of
nutritious food, privation of a comfort
able couch on which to sleep, priva-
ton of all worldly resources! The
kings of the earth had chased chalices
out of which to drink, but Christ had
nothing but plain cup set before Him.
and it was very sharp, and it was very
sour. He took the vinegar.
There were years that passed along
before your family circle was invaded
by death, but the moment the charmed
circle was broken everything seemed
to dissolve. Hardly have you put the
black apparel in the wardrobe before
you have again to take it out. Great
and rapid changes in your family rec
ord. You got the house and rejoiced
in it, but the charm was gone as soon
as the Grape hung on the doorbell. The
one upon whom you most depended was
taken away from you A cold marble
slab lies on your heart to-day. Once,
as the children romped through the
house, you put your hand over your
aching head and said: "Oh, if could
only have it still" Oh, it is too still
now! You lost your patience when the
tops and the strings and the shells were
left amid floor, but, oh, you would
be willing to have the trinkets scat
tered all over the floor again If they
were scattered by the same hands.
With what ruthless plowshare be-
reavement rips up the heart But
Jesus knows all about that. You can
not tell Him anything new in regard
to bereavement lie had only few
friends, and when lie lost one il
brought tears TO His eyes. Lazarus had
often entertained Him at his home
Now Lazarus is dead and buried, and
|, Christ breaks down with emotion, the
convulsion of grief shuddering through
all the ages of bereavement Christ
knows what it is to go through the
, house missing a familiar intimate
Christ knows what it il to see an unoc'
cupied place at the table. Were there
not four of thenl-Mary and Martha
! and Christ and Lazarus? -Four of them
But where is Lazarus? Lonely and af'
ficted Christ, His great, loving eyes
filled with tears! Oh, yes, yes! HC
! knows all about loneliness and The
| heartbreak He took the vinegar!
Then there is the sourness of the
, death hour. Whatever else we may es
. cape, that acid sponge will be pressed
to our lips. | sometimes have q curl
osity to know how will behave wher
| come to die. Whether l will be calm
! or excited, whether will be filled with
!, "Reminiscences or with anticipation,
cannot say. But come to the point
must and you must. An officer from
/ the future world will knock at the door
: of our hearts and serve on us the wri
of ejectment, and we will have to sur
e render. And we will wake up after
, these autumnal and wintry and verna
. and summery gloiies have vanished
: from our vision. We will wake up into
a realm which has only one season an,
| that the season of everlasting love.
0 But you say: II don't want to breal
e out from my present associations. /