The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-10-09

tne Lofd, Eanl reloiccd an and counted
most fortunate.
And now, ny friends. I ask you 10 con.
slider for a little while these two methods
OF cross bearing. The world Is divided
into Slmons and Pauls. i am almost tempt
cd 70 say equally divided but pfrhaps not.
On the one hand there are the people
whose lves are n perpetual groan aud
complaint, and their burdens are not imng-
mary, either. Their backs are bent aud
breaklng' their hearts are wounded 90 the
very core; their souls are crushed. Lille Is
? great disappointment. ~ was not ever
thus with them; no, 1t IS Of comparatively
recent happening Almost without note
| OFT torCWarnlng !n n moment in the twink
ing OF ana eve, they have had thrust upon
them On unspeakahle sorrow, or some ape
pallng responsibility, or some irksome re-
stralnt, or perhaps it Is an overwhelming
disgrace. Now are they like Simon Of
| Cyreue full of bitterness and resentment
/ struggling along under their burden with
logged persistence. but finding no JOY and
no profit in their cross. On the other hand,
there are the Pauls: the men and the
women that are bearing burdens just as
real and just as heavy as the others. They
| have their own responsibilities and re-
straints, their own sorrows and dsapDoint-
ments, and they are as heavy 10 carry,
| and az painful, too, as men ever have in
this life. But what a contrast they pre-
sentl for their life note is Joyous and tri-
umphant, notwithstanding the cross on
their backs. Simon is the man who Is
bearing his lot in gloomy and sulen ST.
lence. and bearing 1t in way that makes
! you feel he is none the better for having
to do 1t. Paul is the man whose sutferings
! and losses you can plainly see are the
explanation of ais buoyant and courageous
! spirit. His lot, disagreeabc and difficult
| as II is he accepts, not as the other man.
| with bitterness and resentment, but in that
! spirit of faith and obedience that God
| has a right to expect from all His chill
/ dren.
! l know there are some to whom this will
! sound strange and perhaps impossible and
/ / know they are conscientious and religious
| people. They accept it as a fact that men
/ must expect to be suddenly halted in life,
49,, Ike Simon of Cyrcnc, made to bear
! some heavy and humiliating cross and they
! endeayor to be stout-hearted and brave
| under the ordeal, but il is always and only
! dlsagreeable and unfortunate crcum-
/ stance in their lives and they resent il and
hate 1t as did Simon; and that is all. They
! never seem to find the source of strength
| and happiness in their cross. Now, Is it
! true that the Paul attitude and the Paul
! spirit are possible? Possible to the aver
/ age man, | mean2 Or de they require the
! Paul conversion and the Paul visionsy ls
1t true that the Paul spirit is possible in
ordinary life, or must one have first caught
glimpse OF the third heaven? | ask YOU
/ TO ponder this query, IN the hope thar we
may clearly see and be convinced that it
IS no unattainable principle for any man,
anywhere in this world.
Here are two young men-classmates at
college, or shopmates, if you please, in the
same Office or factory The one is about
as diligent as the other and about as sue
cessful. Nevertheless, there is a marked
difference. The one finds study OF bust.
| ness, as the case may be, irksome and
! slnTlsh, 1t neither inspires nor develops
him. He simply does what he does be-
cause he ought to or must, and his whole
life is nothing more than a stobd persist
ence lacking the heartiness and the hope
fulpess Of the other. The other man il no
better scholar no better workman or bust
ness man, but he Is contrast, notwith-
standing Whether it is study or business,
he finds his JOY and inspiration in what he
does, and does what he does from a spirit
of love There are the same restraints,
the same burdens upon both, but the one
eXults in them and is developed by them,
where as the other is full of resentment,
and is in no way benefited While the one
Is full of enthusiasm and anticipation. the
other is heartless and crushed The one is
Paul, the other is Simon.
People used to wonder why George Will
4. liam Curtis, the distinguished and gifted
editor of Harper's Magazine, entered the
lecture field. He was known to have a
lucrative position and considerable in
come from his writings; and so it seemed
strange to many people that he should
take up lecturing, with its inconvenience
and risks. Some were inclined to regard
him as mercenary, but on his death the
explanation appeared. Years before. so it
is said, Mr. Curtis had engaged in a bust
ness enterprise with a friend which proved
unfortunate for both. 1t was in order to
meet all the obligations incurred by the
firm which bore his name that necessitated
his goinS on those extended lecture tours;
and Mr. Curtis lived long enough to retire
from the lecture platform-und that, too,
after he had paid every dollar of indebted
ness, with interest. Some might say that
Is superfiuous honesty, and vet many men
there are to-day who would 60 this very
thing Mr., Curtis did, and as matter OF
fact the number of men who have done
so in the past is not small Indeed, there
are men living in orr midst who are striv-
ing to do this self same thing But all
men do not manifest the same spirit in
this otherwise noble task. One man will
act as # he were q bond slave, and while
/; he Is faithful to his duty. does it in a
cherries, heartlCss manner apparently
finding nothing in his hard experience to
reJolce IN or be thankful for. He goes
. about his task as Simon bore the cross
rursilg the luck that brought him to the
hour, and full of bitterness and resentment
! on accov 1t of it. Withou- heart or in
spiration, and without comfort or 10Y, ne
takes up his cross and trudges toward
! Calvary. On the other hand. there are
, men to whom these heavy tasks become an
inspiration and source of strength; who
, are finding their happiness and their de-
, veloDment in carrying the cross, hap
, piness and DEVELOPMENT that they would
= otherwise never have known.
/ # you and are to have the Paul spirit
: | Of cnnrAna md cnntnntmnnt oven while