Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-10-09
NOTHING
; BET TER

tional man. and we are the irrational,
because most Of us do not live up to
our Christian opportunities. We do
not do for Christ what we well know
we ought to do" The grandest oppor-
tunities Of Christian service demand
the complete and voluntary surrender
! of our whole lives to Jesus Christ.
They demand the same kind of volun-
tary sacrifice which Garibaldi made
in the cause Of Italian freedom. They
demand the same kind Of sacrifice Co
lumbus made when he went from court
to court begging money to buy few
ships that he might prove his theory
that the world was round. They need
the same kind of voluntary sacrifice
that Luther made, that Sayonarola
made, that John Knox made that Lat
inner made and Ridley made, all Of
whom were ready to lay down their
lives for the cause Of Christ.
Great opportunities often come in
unexpected places at unexpected times
to those whom they wish to honor
General y. S. Grant began his Mem
oirs Of the Civil War" with these sol
emn words: Man proposes, but God
disposes." Man plans, but the Infinite
is continually changing the plans Of
the finite. Man hopes. but God often
builds an entirely different superstruc-
ture upon the foundations OF those de-
sires than that which we ARCHITECTURE
ally designed. Samuel +. b. Morse,
the inventor of telegraphic commun!-
cation, started life as an artist. He
spent many years abroad In the study
of the old masters He was the found
err and the first president of New York's
National Academy of Design. But in
October. 1882. when he was forty-one
years of age and returning from his ar
tistic studies in Europe, he entered in
to conversation one day with fellow
passenger on board the packet ship
Sully. This conversation, which was
about the properties of the electro mag
net, led Samuel +. b. Morse then and
there to consecrate the rest of his life
to the establishment Of electric COM
munication between the distant parts
of the world. So the opportunities for
Christian usefulness may come In I'M
expected ways and at unexpected
times
Unexpected Opportunities.
Great opportunities for Christian use
fulness may come to you in an unex-
pected way, as they came to Chris
tian lady who was one day riding
along the streets Of Richmond. There
in the gutter lay young man stupidity
drunk. She stopped her carriage and
bnde her coachman lift him in. She
took that young man to her home. She
cared for him and started him out
again in life. By her Christian exam
pie OF love she started him forth in his
great career, until William Writ 5
name became that of one of the fore
most Americans of his day. They may
come to you in an unexpected way, as
they came to Stephen Merritt during
business hours, when. by the grace OF
God, he was instrumental in starting
John G. Woolley out Oh his career of
reform. They may come to you as
they are daily coming, in unexpected
ways, to thousands of lawyers and
merchants and ministers and doctors
and wives and mothers and servants
and clerks. Therefore, as our oppor-
tunties for doing Christian service are
coming in so many different and un-
expected ways. we should always be
on the lookout for them. We should
always be ready to grasp them and to
turn them to account at any cost, even
of life itself
Great opportunities always love com
pany and rarely travel alone. They
are apt to be gregarious in their hab
its. Like troubles, they swim in
schools. They travel In herds. They
fly In focks. Like the leader of flock
of sheep, each great opportunity seems
to be the bellwether Of a whole flock
Of other opportunities. Like the key
log in river jam, it seems to be the
precursor and sets free a whole river
full of other opportunities.
John j. ingalls, tried to convey the
Idea that If we would only seize the
one great opportunity of our life that
opportunity would lead US on from
power to power and from success tc
success. He tried to teach this lessor
In his poem called opportunity" Lei
me read to you from its magnificent
passages:
Master of human destinies am I!
Fame love and fortune on my footstep:
wait
Cities and fields / walk penetrate
Deserts and seas remote and, passing by
Hovel and mart and palace. soon or late
! knock unbdden once at every gate
IL sleeping. wake; If feasting, rise befor
turn away. 1t is the hour of fate,
And they who follow me reach every stat
Mortals desire and conquer every foe
Save death. but those who doubt or hest
tate
Cond emned to failure. perjury and woe.
Seek me In vain and uselessly implore,
answer not and ! return no more!
AS John ]. ingalls, taught that tn,
great opportunities Of temporal sue
cess are the central magnets abou
, which other great opportunities ar
/ apt to revolve, so every great sp&itua
| opportunity, II rightly improved, vii
: be the forerunner of others. God, fron
| one opportunity of Christian useful
ness. rightly served, will lead you OF
I to another, to another and another
= even as our martyr President william
; Mckinley year by year was steadil,
promoted for his public services unit
: at last he received the highest homo
J., his countrymen could confer upon hin
+. and won worldwide sympathy by tn
: tragic close of life laid down In tn