Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1901-05-18
BE OF GOOD CHEER.
Courage and Hope VIII Crown Our
Lives with the Best and
Truest Success.

For what I would. that do not: but
| what hate. that do I.-Romans 7:15
BY thatconfessionS St. Paul unwilling
ly endeared himself to all the genera
lions of men. There is not only salts
| faction but encouragement in the fact
| that person as large as he had occa-
| sion to reproach himself for his short
comings, just as we of smaller stature
do. When the teacher who has en-
ioyed the privilege of special COM
munion with the Most High admits
| that it is extremely difficult to always
live on the level of his ideal we can
take heart, because, though we lapse
every now and again, there is no rea-
| son why we should not succeed in the
| end. The master of the violin may
once in awhile strike false note, and
still be master; so the pupil may only
once in awhile strike the true note and
yet make good progress toward per-
| lection.
The best is our rightful possession,
but we must earn it. The religious life
is one of the few things in this world
which cannot be bought, The good
father cannot leave it as an inherit
ance to his son. Lands and other
riches can be left by will to whom
soever the testator chooses, but
noble character goes with the soul
when 1T leaves the body, and If the
heirs desire the same distinction they
must work for it and deserve IL. No
bility, honesty, self-control, kindness,
charity are strictly personal posses
sions, and those who have them have
fashioned them out of the raw mate
rial OF human experience.
Our 40 years are simply workshop
supplied with whatever is necessary
for the construction of perfect char
acter. God furnishes the model in tn
Christ, and Christ has left us the rules
by which the ideal is to be attained.
We make thousand failures before
1t is possible to achieve success, hut
each failure is milestone showing
how far we have advanced.
The sculptor does not make a statue
which gave him fame at the first
trial He wastes time and clay and
marble, and frequently feels like sur
rendering In despair. But IL ambition
or genius keeps aflame he forgets the
things that are behind, presses for
ward with renewed endeavor, and at
last, after struggles which test his
endurance. cuts bis dream out of the
block of stone and writes his name
I'm tracings of eternal light"
There is no doubt that life is hard,
This is true Of us all; not of the poor
alone. but of the most gifted as well.
For reasons OF His own God has made
the way to Heaven very rough. II is
not steady upward climb. We may
be helped and cheered by those who
love us, hut the higher level is never
reached without personal effort
There are moments when we are
ready to give up, with the dread feel
ing that life Is not worth living. HUI
man nature has it's moods, its discour-
agenents. and at such times we are
hopeless. God only can sympathizs
with US. and He pities Us, even as an
earthly father pities his children, and
only God has hope of our final achieve
ment.
There is no human being who has
not passed through this experience.
1t Is the way the crude ore feels when
1t is being smelted or when Il is placed
under the trip hammer and the very
life Is with seeming cruelty crushed
out of it. But the crude ore is purified
by every stroke, though 1t knows a
not, and when the hammer ceases to
smits the metal Is worth a thousand
times more than when 1t slumbered
on the mountain side In its natural
state.
so Gods providence places us In hard
straits, forces the tears to our ewes.
burrows our brows with MANY a care.
robs US of the presence of dear ones
and darkens the sky with clouds. You
do what you would not, and what Won
hoped to do seems impossible. And
yet, II you are broad enough and clear
sighted enough to see into the center
OF things. these evils are all good; be-
hind these tears you will find smile.
and beyond the vale of separation rises
the sunny land of immortality which
will reunite the broken ties and give
you rest after honest toll.
The religion of the New Testament
reveals the possibilities which can
only be realized by just such expert
ences as those through which You are
now passing. God expects that we
shall be discouraged, that we shall
sometimes be at cross purposes with
life, that we shall stumble and fall.
But above all this lies the fact that
Heaven beckons us, that out of everv
sorrow we can wiring a higher hope,
and that the view from the mountain
top is worth more than the effort we
make to reach it.
Give us the divine optimism which
insists that all is well whether it seems
SO or not, give us the unfaltering faith
that at eventide there shall be light, |
and then we shall find ourselves close
to the Throne. With courage comes
hope and with hope comes success.-I
George FL. Hepworth, In n. Herald. |
Fear and Fatfrue