Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1897-1902, 1900-12-07
hand" and with one stout grip lifts

MIN up TO GOQ ana heaven. 1ueTe are
wounds Of the world that need the
probe and the sharp knife and severe
surgery, but the most of the wounds
want an application of ointment or
salve, and we ought to have three
or four boxes of that gospel medica-
ment in our pocket as we go out into
the world We all need to carry more
of the balm of Gilead" and less caus-
tic, more benediction and less anathe-
ma When | find a professed Chris
tian man harsh and merciless in his
estimates of others, l silently wonder
if he has not been misusing trust
funds or beating his wife. There is
something awful the matter with
him.
We also have need of patience with
slow results of Christian work. We
want to see our attempts to do good
Immediately successful. The world is
improving. but improving at so delib-
crate a rate Why not more rapidlty
and momentum? Other wheels turn
so swiftly. why not the gospel chariot
take speed electric? l do not know.
only know that it is Gods way. We
whose cradle and grave are so near TO-
gether have to hurry up, but God. who
manages this world and the universe,
is from everlasting to everlasting. He
takes 500 years to do that which He
could do in five minutes. His clock
strikes once in a thousand years.
m
the world for human residence, geol-
ogy reveals that the foundations OF
the world were cons in being laid, and
God watched the glaciers and the fires
and the earthquakes and volcanoes as
through centuries and milleniums they
were shaping this world, before that
last week that put on the arborescence.
A few days ago my friend was talk
ing with a geologist. AS they stood
near a pile of rocks my friend said
to the scientist, 81 suppose these rocks
were hundreds of thousands of years
in constructions" And the geClogist
replied, Eyes, and you might say mil
lions of years, for no one knows but
the Lord, and He won't tell" 1t 1t
took so long to make this world at
the start, be not surprised if it takes
long while to make it over again
now that it has been ruined. The Ar
chitect has promised to reconstruct 1t,
and the plans are all made, and at
just the right time it will be so COM
plete that it will be fit for heaven to
move in, if, according to the belief
of some of my friends, this world is
to be made the eternal abode Of the
righteous The wall of that temple is
going up, and my only anxiety is to
have the one brick that L am trying
to make for that wall turn out to be
of the right shape and smooth on all
sides. so that the Master Mason will
not reject it. or have much work with
the trowel to get it into place. 1 am
responsible for only that one brick
though you may be responsible for a
panel of the door or carved pillar or
a glittering dome.
Patience Under Injury.
Again. we have need of patience I'M
der wrong inflicted, and who escapes
it in some form? 1t comes to all pe0-
pie in professional life in the shape of
being misunderstood. Because of this
how many people fly to newspapers for
an explanation. You see their card
signed by their own name declaring
that they did not say this or did not
DO that They fluster and worry, not
realizing that every man comes to be
taken for what he is worth, and you
cannot by any newspaper puff be taken
for more than you are worth nor by
any newspaper depreciation be put
down. There is a spirit of fairness
abroad in the world. and if you are
a public man you are classified among
the friends or foes of society. If you
are friend of society, you will find
plenty of adherents, and if you are the
foe of society you cannot escape repre-
hension. Paul, you were right when
you said, not more to the Hebrews
than TO us, Eye have need of patience"
| adopted a rule years ago which has
been of great service to me, and it
may be of some service to you: Cheer
fully consent to be misunderstood.
God knows whether we are right or
wrong, whether we are trying to serve
Him or damage His cause. When you
can cheerfully consent to be misun-
derstood, many of the annoyances and
vexations of life will quit your heart,
and you will come into calmer seas
than you have ever sailed on. The
most misunderstood being that ever
trod the earth was the glorious Christ.
The world misunderstood His cradle
and concluded that one so poorly born
could never be of much Importance
They charged Him with inebriety and
called Him a winebibber. The sanhe-
drin misunderstood Him, and when it
was put to the vote whether He was
guilty or not of treason He got but
one vote, while all the others voted
Aye, aye" They misunderstood His
cross and concluded that if He had di-
vine power He would effect His own
rescue. They misunderstood His
grave and declared that His body had
been stolen by Infamous resurrection-
lists. He so fully consented to be mis-
understood that, harried and slapped
and submerged with scorn, he an
swered not word You cannot come
up to that, but you can initiate in
some small degree the patience of
Christ
Patience Under Physical Pain.
Again this grace is Dppdpd IN hoIp