The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1900-07-10
christian Life Column.
urAvEN's DETERMINING JOY.

~o+r0Osphere, whose flowing Miss
.,r-es of power are so broad that
..r,r1s of worlds float on their
~ so strong that the Measure
1,ss might of our many forces can
:, civon out of that circumambiept
tronrth without loss or diminution ;
lasting that this world, stratifed
lie the leaves of a book, bears re-
,ords Of myriads of ages-and yet
tbov read not back to the beginning
md hearing such marks of intelIi-
,,oncp that any mere touch of that
I;fa on this world leaves signs of
,risdom so broad and deep that mans
ir+eTIigence does not avail, in thou
sands of years, to read its mere
alphabet.
How does itappear that that larger
world Of life and power is beyond
II ouestion?" Because this world
On which we live does not in itself
avail for its beginning, its continu-
ance and its supply of daily needs.
In regard to that coming of the
life Of the other world into this, the
Gamer declared, "Lo, l come. I de-
Frbt to do thy will, O my God"
the things into which he came were
NOT ar occasion of delight. They
brought humiliation, accusations of
every sort-of lying, of having a
devil. of herding with publicans and
sinner ignominy, and finally death
IF the most painful kind. But his
own innate JOY was so great that
these sorrows-nay, the whole
worlds woes that he carried
weighed not at all. For the joy that
was set before him as the legitimate
ou+coue of his life of self-renuncia-
tion under the laws of the world he
lived in. he endured the cross and
despised the shame.
What vOluminOus and inexplicable
iov must be in that other world,
when all the miseries, pains, agOnies
and shames that this world can in
fict cannot take it away. From
such a height of joy they are all
looked down upon and despised.
Even in the presence of the most
horrible death he had peace and
iOv not merely enough for himself,
but enough to give to a world,
enough to make its joy full.
He that lives in such a realm of
iOy can say to men to whom 1t Is
communicated, BLESSED are We when
men shall revile you and prosecute
you and shall say all name of evil
against you falsely for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for
great is your reward in heaven"
And the most prosecuted man who
ever lived, having experienced the
communicated joy of that other
world, could say, Therefore l take
pleasure in infrmitieS, inreprOaches,
in necessities, in prosecutions, in dis
tTeSSeS for Christ ; sake He GER
tainIy had enough of them to give
him a great deal of pleasure. like
his master, he was so greatly com
forted in all his numberlesS tribula-
tons that he had enough to comfort
others who were in trouble with the
same comfort wherewith he himself
was comfOrted of God.
Not only does the King of the cir
cUmambient realm Of life glow with
JOY. but the common inhabitants
share il. When he said, "LO, leone.
I 1g1Ir rh+ 20 do 49, ill n 49, H0I -
4 general intelligence cOmprehended
not only the humiliation but the
joyful occasion of it. That song
above Bethlehem was not for earth :;
only IL few shepherds heard it but
1t Was an outbreak of the life of
space. They sang not to be heard,
but to voice their exuberant, unre-
>trainuble joy:
Swift through the vast expanse it
flew,
And loud the echo rolled;
HE theme, the song, the JOY was
new,
Twas more than heaven could
hold.
Down through the portals of the sky
The mpetuOus torrent ran,
AnJ ANGELS flew with eager Joy
To bear the news to man.
What i the occasion of this tumul-
tu'u> sutbreak of joy? It was not
any personal gain Of "a new and
larger mansion not an enlarged
frontage on the river of life not the
creation of a new world, where vast
enterprises could be exploited not
l-" revelation of a new realm Of
hn'Wlcl-e Or discovery not a new
environment, ~pulsating with joy :;
but It was Il recognition of good pro-
u,,ed t.r others. This sublime al
.f1<'a Il the basis of the greatest
-.E Ill tie universe. 1t constitutes
4,.,' Joy Of God, and of all who are
like him.