The Globe-republican., 1899-10-19

The great wheel turns, and through
my hands
feel the swift threads run;
My sightless eyes can never see
In warp and wool Of tapestry
The tissue Fate has spun.
know not what blindly weave.
And yet dumbly pray
That when the shadows closer
creep
Some bit Of beauty may keep
For all the toiling day.
Sometimes the thread Is silken soft
As thistledown afield:
tremble-is it Love at last?
A light for vision overcast
And has my heart a shield?
The wheel waits not. and toll ON
Along the vast design;
From coarse to fine the woof.
threads range
change
For wish nor prayer Of thine!
The night draws near. My tired soul
Is rent with sudden fears:
The wheel Is still-the broken
thread
That through my weary fingers
sped
Is rough and stained with tears.
Ny bleeding hands. know. have
grasped
A web of somber hue
Pass not the sightless weaver by!
o Master. chide me not, for
Have done as best knew!
We usually think of defeat as dis
honorable. Sometimes it Is. It Is dis
honorable when 1t comes through COW
ardice or lack of effort We ought to
train ourselves to be overcomers. But
when one has bravely done his best,
and. after all. has gone down in the
struggle, there is no disgrace in his
failure. A twofold battle is going on
whenever man is fighting with hard
conditions or adverse circumstances.
and it is possible for him to fail In
one and be victorious in the other. Too
often a man succeeds in his battle with
the world at the cost Of truth and
right. That Is defeat, indeed, over
whose dishOnor heaven grieves. But
when a man fails In his struggle with
circumstances, and yet comes out with
his manhood untarnished, he is a con-
queror indeed, and his victory gives
Joy to the heart of Christ. In such
failure there Is glorious success, and no
dishonoring of the life in heavens
sight.
Defeat is the school in which most
OF US have to be trained. In all kinds
OF work men learn by making mis-
takes. The successful business man
did not begin with success. He learned
by experience, and the experience was
very costly. The true science of liv-
ing Is not to make no mistakes, but
not to repeat ones mistakes. Defeat,
when one has done ones best, and
when one takes a lesson from his de-
feat, is not something to be ashamed
of, but something to be glad for, since
it sets ones feet on a little higher
plane. Defeat which makes us wiser
and better is blessing to u.s. We owe
more to our defeats, with the hum
blings Of the old nature the cleansing
Of motive and affection, and the deep
ening of trust in God, than We owe to
the prouder experiences which we call
our successes. 1t would be easy to fill
pages with the names of those who
nave gone down in defeat, and who in
their very failure have started infiu-
ences which have enriched the world.
In the center of this great host is Je-
suS Christ. The story of his blessed
life is the history of a failure and de-
But did the cross leave a blot on
Christ's name? Is it not the very
glory of his life that he died thus in
the darkness that day? Was his ca
reer a failure? Christianity is the an
swer. He is the captain, also, of a
great host who. like him, have been
defeated and have failed, but have
made the world richer by their sacri-
fee. Let no man speak of such de-
feats as blots on fair names: rather.
they are adornings Of glory. There Is
another application Of the same truth.
The world regards adversely and sor-
row OF every kind as misfortune. It
would never call man blessed or hap
by whose life is full Of trial and tears.
But the gospel turns a new light-the
light from heaven-upon earthly life,
and in this wonderful light af-
Fiction and sorrow appear beautiful.
One Of our Lords beatitudes is for the
life, BLESSED are they that
In the light Of the gospel, it
is not a favor to be without trial;