The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1903-12-17

mat vo may b able - remove from
our friends' paths some Of the impedi.
msntr over which we ourselves have
stumbled.
The true friend u one who rejoices
with u In our successes as well us
sympathizes with us In our failures.
"Oh," you say. ''that Is a universal.
self evident desire. There Is no danger
Of any friend not rejoicing with US
when we succeed In life. The only dan
ger Is Aat these friends will turn their
backs upon " when we are defeated" Z"
Steady, brother, steady. am surpris.
ed at your answer. am amazed, firs.,
that you are such q poor analyzer Of
human character and, secondly. that
you have not found out the error Of
your belief by personal experience.
Ready are you TO grant that enemies
rejoice at our overthrow and are sorry
at our triumphs. But In one sense
many Of our acquaintances are actual
ed by the same motives. When tripped
up In the race OF life many Of our
friends are ready to say: Poor fellow,
Is II not too bad that my friend So-and,
so failed in business? Is 1t not too bad
that John lost all the money he inherit.
ed from his father?" But they often
sympathize with us in the self compla-
cent way which, translated In the ordi-
nary language OF life, means: 1T is too
bad. but IL John had only been as
smart as l am he would never have
lost his money. Now he Is Just as poor
as the rest Of us. and he can no longer
live In a fine house or have his daugh
ter taking music lessons or his son 20
TO college" But let man make a sue.
cess; let him strike big profit in n
real estate investment; let him have Il
$4,000 income when we have only
$1,000 and ii will take n mighty on.
to throttle the demon of envy gnawing
within our breasts.
The true friend is never "out of sight.
out of mind" His love can be likcned
TO the trembling movements of the
magnetic needle. No matter which
way the ship turns, that needle always
turns toward the north pole. No mat
ter which way the true friend goes,
his hearts needle always points toward
his absent brother
But, oh, how easy it is to forget our
absent friends! How easy to get care
less about sending the tender saluta-
tions of affection which st. John sent
to his beloved Gaius when he wrote,
Greet the friends by name" How
easy when sickness comes or death
comes into the home to neglect the
written words Of sympathy! When
we are afar Off, how easy amid pressing
cares not to send the letter of encour-
agement and advice and warning
which would help keep that young
man from turning to the left into the
path of sin when he should keep
straight in the narrow path of virtue.
My brother, are you doing your duty,
your Christian duty, to that absent
friend? You know you had a mighty
influence for good when you were by
his side. Shall you drop that influ-
ence for good merely because, you can
not touch his hand or appeal to him eX-
cept through the influence of-the writ
ten page?
True friendship is proof. also, not
only against absence, but survives
death itself. The widow of your friend
and his fatherlesS children. his brother
and sister and all whom he loved will,
if you are true friend, have claims
on you which you will recognize. When
David became king of Israel one of the
first things he did was to send mes
of his kingdom TO see if there was any
Of SauIs family living to whom he
could show kindness, for his friend
Jonathan's sake. One was found, a son
of his dead friend. He was a cripple,
and David took him and made pro-
vision for him in his palace. He did
this for the sake of his dead friend.
o brother, is there in your life friend
ship that death has sundered? Was
there some Jonathan who loved you
anu NuOlu yOu lON tu w as tHcTe Out
who helped you when you were start
ing in business or who stood by you in
some trouble? Perhaps that friend has
left q wife who needs help, a son who
is struggling with the world, daugh-
ter who needs protection. let your love
20 out to them in loving service. You
can do nothing for Jonathan dead, but
for those whom he loved better than
his life you may do much. How better
can you prove yourself a true friend
than by helping them for his sake?
He may be awaiting their arrival in
the land Of blessed reunion. Let them
go there to tell him how your love for
him frightened their lives.
Thus the "love altar" is not to be
despised altar. We should love the hu-
man race collectively. We should love
the Lord our God with all our strength
and our neighbOr as ourselves. But
that does not mean all the members OF
the human family should occupy the
same sacred thrones i'm our hearts
Christ came to save world, but Christ
apaiD and again wended his Way ont