The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-05-04
BE OF GOOD CHEER.

tFor what 1 would, that do 1 not; !
bur what l hate, that do 1. "-Romans /
Wills.
BY that confession st. Paul unwit- |
tingly endeared himself to all the gem |
erations of men. There is not only sat
isfaction but encouragement in the
fact that person as large as he had
occasion to reproach himself for his
shortcomings, just as we OF smaller
stature do. When the teacher who
has enjoyed the privilege of special
communion 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 reaS-
on why we should not succeed in the
end. The master of the violin may
once in a while strike false note.
and still be master; so the pupil may
only once in while strike the true
note, and yet make good progress to-
ward perfection.
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 In
heritance to his son. Lands and other
riches can be left by will to whom
soever the testator chooses, but no.
BILE character goes with the soul when
it leaves the body, and if the heirs de-
sire the same distinction they must
work for it and deserve it. Nobility,
honesty, self-control. kindness, char-
! ity are strictly personal possessions,
! and those who have them have fash
! toned them out of the raw material OF
human experience.
| Our seventy years are simply
workshop supplied with whatever is
necessary for the construction of a
perfect character God furnishes the
model in the Christ, the, Christ has left
us the rules by which the ideal is to
/ be attained. We make a thousand
| failures before it is possible TO achieve
success, but each failure is mile
stone showing how far we have ad-
/ vanced
The sculptor does not make statue
which gives him fame at the first trial.
He wastes time and clay and marble,
and frequently feels like surrendering
in despair. But if ambition or genius
keeps aflame he forgets the things that
are behind, presses forward with re-
neWed endeayor, and at last, after
/ struggles which test his endurance,
cuts his dream out of the block or
stone and writes his name in traclngS
of eternal light"
j There is no doubt that life is hard.
4 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. 1t is
| be helped and cheered by those who
love US, but the higher level is never
reached without personal effort. There
are moments when we are ready to
/ give up, with the dread feeling that
life is not worth living. Human ma
ture has it's moods, its discourage
ments; and at such times we are hope
less. Only God can sympathize with
u.s. and He pities us, even as an earth
ly 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 and the very life Is
with seeming cruelty crushed out of 1t.
stroke, though it knows it not, and
when the hammer ceases to smite the
. metal is worth a thousand times more
than when it slumbered on the noun
tain side in it's natural state.
So Gods providence places US in hard
, straits, forces the tears to our eyes,
. burrows our browS with many care,
robs us of the presence of dear ones,
and darkens the sky with clouds. You
, do what you would not, and what you
. hoped to do seems impossible. And
,, yet, if 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
J 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 experiences as
those through which you are now pass
l ing. God expects that We shall be
discouraged, that we shall sometimes
t 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 every sorrow we can
: wiring higher hope, and that the view
from the mountain top is worth more
. than the effort we make to reach 1t.
5 Give us the divine optimism which
insists that all is we'll whether it seems
so or not; give us the unfaltering faith
: that at eventide there shall be light,
l and then we shall find ourselves close
5 to the Throne. With courage comes
hope, and with hope comes success
George II. Hepworth in the New York
. ! Herald