Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-10-09
The y
National Bond
---ano---
St. Clair Linen,
Sold by the pound at the
Free Press AssO.

ry by mere haphazard chancef No!
Thomas A. Edison distinctly and en-
phatically declares that he never made
any great invention without the hard
est kind Of mental toll
One Of the greatest chess players Of
the world gave me the same testimony
in reference to his past life. He said:
81 came to the conclusion that no man
could make n great success at any
thing, even In game unless ne gave
himself up to a rigid course OF prepare
ton. So for three long years l used
to sleep and eat and exercise during
the day. Then alone In the quietude
Of the long hours Of the night, when
the whole world was asleep, l was
solving the different problems Of the
chessboard. At last by this work I SO
perfected my memory that blindfolded
l have met ten and fifteen different
ayers at the same time. l have car
ried all these different games In my
head at once and won them ALL" The
opportunity for great success In any
department of life never comes except
to him who has equipped himself by
rigid course of preparation and mex
orable training.
The Christians Preparation.
This premise being true, 1t Is essen
tlal that the Christian should conse-
crate his life to Christ in order to be
prepared for the great opportunities OK
Christian service 1t is very impor-
tant for you and me to live close to
Christ, to feel the touch of Christ's
amounting hands upon our hearts, to
feel the touch Of his loving lips on our
cheeks, the touch of his amounting foot
upon our feet, before we can go forth
successfully on our mission of Chris
tian service Many failures in the
Christian life can be traced directly to
this lack OF spiritual preparation. Fail
Ing such preparation. we cannot rec
ognize our opportunity wher 1t comes.
An ancient sculptor once chlseled the
statue of the NEUROLOGICAL goddess
called Opportunity" with yelled
face. He said. 1.-THE reason l covered
Opportunities face was because SO few
are able to recognize her when she
stands by their side" The sculptor
was wrong in part rs well as right in
part lie should have blinded the eyes
of the onlooker rather than the farsee-
Ing eyes Of the NEUROLOGICAL goddess.
The chief reason why some of us do
not see the sweet faced Pauline mes
sengers. which we may call the Oppor-
tunities of Christian service. Is because
most Of US are spiritually blinded by
our past sins, because most of us are
not willing by prayer and earnest COM
munior with God to make the spiritual
preparation that is necessary to fit us
Alright for gospel work.
But more than mere equipment Is
necessary Great opportunities are
willing to bless those only who are
ready to sacrifice and. If need be, to
die for the cause those opportunities
represent. There is a wide difference
between being mentally, physically and
spiritually equipped to meet a great
opportunity and being willing to make
the sacrifice that is essential for the
success Of that cause after the oppor-
tunity has arrived. Plate was mentally
and spiritually able to realize the ma
ture OF the opportunity of his position.
He knew that Jesus was guiltless. He
saw o,sarly ana distinctly what he
ought to do, but PLATE was not ready
to sacrifice for Christ his political ca
reer as governor of Judna. Therefore
PLATE. who saw his opportunity, en-
braccd 1t not, but shrank from IT..
Thomas Cranmer, when the days of
persecution came, saw what his oppor-
tun!ty was for true service for Christ,
but In order to escape the fires of mar
tyrdom he testified falsely concerning
his beliN in his Lord and Master and
when he WIS finally led to the stake,
In spite of his recantation, he gave this
as his va)edictory to the world: Now
come to the great thing that trou-
bleth my conscience more than any
other thing that l ever said or did, and
that Is the setting abroad of writings
contrary to the truth that / thought
in my heart, and, forasmuch as my
hand offended in writing contrary to
my heart, therefore my hand shall first
be punished. II / may come to the
fire, it shall first be burned" And his
tory declares that when the fires of
MartyrdOm were kindled about Thomas
Cranmer, in atonement for his past
sins and his failure to live up to his
opportunity, the dying prelate thrust
his right hand into the leaping flames
and saw 1t wither away. So there are
many men who are mentally equipped
for great opportunities of Christian
service who might also be spiritually
equipped for those same opportunities
were they not unwilling to make the
sacrifice which true conservation de-
mands. They are unwilling to do for
Christ that which they know they
ought to do.
Make the Sacrifice.
Christ's disciples today often shrinh
from making the same kind Of sacrifice
for Christian service which Richart
Fuller made when a young man. Al
that time he was the most promising
Junior member of the South Carolina
bar. He was the pride of the city ant
the future hope Of the state. But be