The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1902-04-18
PATIENT ENDURANCE.
ing-A Law of Christian
Living.

Patience is generally classed
among the minor virtues but so
much of lfe's happiness and useful
ness depends on it that we ought to
give it a more prominent place. To
patiently endure an environment
which includes suffering and hard
ship is nothing less than heroism,
and there are unseen and unrecorded
instances in which men and women
have even shown the courage of
the martyr.
Patience is always yoked with
other high qualities of character.
Its nearest ally is self-control, and
self-control is as important when
you are building a character as
rudder is when ship is launched.
1t is literally the steering appara
tus which keeps US clear of the
rocks and shoals of an impetuous
and reckless temper. I would rather
have patience with perfect self-con-
troll than to have genius, for while
genius is erratic and often unbal-
anced, these other qualities give us
poise and equilibrium. Patience is
grounded on resignation to the in
evitable, which results in a calm en-
durance under exasperating circum-
stances, and in the conviction that
it is safer to bear ills we have than
to fly to those we know not of.
When man cultivates patience,
therefore, he becomes master of
himself and master of whatever may
possibly happen. 1t is kingly, a
royal virtue, and more depends on
its possession than we are apt to
think.
You can reckon its value by con-
sidering it's opposite. Impatience is
a dangerous quality. It constantly
places your self-respect and your
relations to your dearest friends in
peril. Moreover, it makes unhappy
circumstances more unhappy still.
You can't rebel against your sur
roundings with complaining heart
without rendering yourself weak to
oppose or change them. Look your
life over calmly and impartially and
you will find that where you have
been at odds with your lot you have
made that lot so much the worse
and more difficult to get away from,
whereas if you had accepted the
bitter experience and made the best
of it you would have reaped ben
eft otherwise impossible. 1t is
equally true that where you have
been impetuous of speech you have
had cause for regret, while curbed
tongue has been the cause for re-
joicing. When you have been silent
you have done better than when you
have spoken. A bitter word sup
pressed strengthens the character,
while reckless utterance is like a
bomb which is sure to iniure if it
does not kill friendship.
| 1t is an memorable law that three
quarters of the world must drudge
in order to live. You may wonder
why this should be so, but you will
find no solution of the puzzle. The
simple, stubborn fact faces you, and
it ends all controversy. Moreover,
all the world, without exception,
must sooner or later bear heavy
burdens of sorrow and bereavement.
The normal condition of man is to
be burden bearer, and I had al
most said it is the only healthy con-
dition. There is no smooth road
laid down on the chart of life. We
all trudge through storm and sun
shine. Poverty, sickness, trouble,
death are to be found everywhere
Kings and peasants alike have
their sorrows. 1t is the common lot
There is only one question to be
asked and answered.: How shall we
make these experiences contribute
to strength of character, and pos
sibly to our welfare? Not, surely,
by restless controversy with the
inevitable and memorable. That
state of mind only aggravates the
evil without even the shadow of a
good result 1t is your attitude of
mind and heart which decides your
| happiness or misery.
Fight fate and you will surely be
defeated; not only defeated, but
soured. On the other hand, make the
best of the worst, calmly and pa
tiently use events, and extract from
them whatever of good they may
contain, and your days will swing
along with a smoothness that will
surprise you. More and better than
that, your calmness and patience
will have a tendency to draw to you
the help of the other world, and if
you and the other world come to a
harmonious understanding the very
complexion of your adverse circum-
stances will change.
In a word, the soul which follows
In the footsteps of Christ and in
poverty and hard work and misfor-
tune bravely meets and nobly en-
dures will find light in unexpected
places and joys where only fears
were looked for. There is a subtle
law here, and if we can discover it
and be guided by it the clouds will
have silver lining and even our sor-
rows will prove a blessing.
God is still with us, and so are the
angels of God. With patience and
courage we may fit ourselves for
their kind services and so make use
of the toughest places over which
we must travel to the rest and re-
ward of the glorius future.-George
H. Hepworth, in N. Y. Herald.