Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1903-09-17

this nfe.- Dut what a contrast they pre-
sent! for their life note is Joyous and TIL
umphant, notwithstanding the cross on
their backs. Simon is the man who is
bearing his lot in gloomy and sullen ST.
lence, and bearing it in way that makes
YOU feel he is none the better for having
to do it, Paul is the man whose sufferlnrgs
and losses you can plainly see are tne
explanation of his buoyant and courageous
spirit His lot, disagreeable and difhcult
as it is, lie accepts, not as the other man,
with bitterness and resentment, but IN tliat
spirit of faith and obedience that God
has right to expect from all His chll-
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 fact that men
must expect to be suddenly halted in life,
~, like Simon. of Cyrene, made to bear
some heavy and humiliating cross, and they
endeavor to be stout-hearted and brave
under the ordeal, but it is always and only
a dsagreeable and unfortunate circum..
stance in their lives; and they resent it and
hate it as did Simon; and that is all. They
never seem to find the source of strength
and happiness in their cross. Now, i IT
true that the Paul attitude and the Paul
spirit are possible? Possible to the aver
Paul conversion and the Paul visions? ls
it true that the Paul spirit is possible in
ordinary life, or must one have first caught
q glimpse of the third heaven? l ask you
to ponder this query, in the hope, that we
may clearly see and be convinced that it
is no unattainab.e principle for any man,
anywhere in this world.
Here are two young men-c:assmates at
college, or shopmatcs, if You please, in the
scme Office or factory The one is about
as dilisent as the other and about as sue.
cessfu. Nevertheless. there is a marked
difference The one finds study or bust.
ness, as the case may be, irksome and
slavish, it neither inspires nor develop.
him. He simply does what he does be-
cause he ought to or must, and his whole
life is nothing more than a stold persist
ence lacking thu, heart!ness and the hope.
fitness of the other. The other man is no
better scholar, no better workman or bust
ness man, hut 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 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 fnl Of resentment.
anu IS Ill no way DcUciltfu. w hiic thS ohS
9 full of enthusiasm and anticipation. the
other is heartlcss and crushed. The one IS
Paul. the other is Simon.
People used to wonder why George Will
liam Curtis. the dist 'nguished and gifted
editor of Harpers Magazine, entered TIE
lecture field. He was known to have 4
lucrative position and considerable in.
come from his writings; and so it seemed
strange TO many people that he should
H. ,,.,t |, -, ,pnn ,pna
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 bust.
ness enterprise with friend which proved
unfortunate for both 1t was in order to
meet all the obligations incurred by the
firm which bore his name that necesstated
his goin: on those extended lecture tours;
and Mr.. Curtis lived long enough to retire
from the lecture platform-and that, too.
after he had paid every dollar of indebted
ness, with interest. Some might say that
is supertiuous honesty, and yet many men
there are to-day who would do this very
thing Mr.. Curtis did, and as a matter OF
fact the number of men who have done
80 in the past is not small. Indeed, there
IRE men living lii our midst who are strIv-
ing to do this self same thing. But all
men do not manifest the same spirit in
W
act as il he were bond slave, and while
he ia faithful to his duty, does it in a
rhepriess heartlcss manner, apparently
finding nothing in his hard experience to
rcoice in or be thankful for. He goes
about his task as Simon bore the cross &,
,ursing the luck that brought him to thu
hour, and full of bitterness and resentment
IN accor It of it. Withou heart or in.
spiration, and without comfort or 10Y he
!, he and trrIunc iowa rI
alvary On the other hand, there are
men to whom these heavy tasks become an
inspiration and a source OF strength: who
,re finding their happiness and their de.
vclopment i'll carrying the cross, hap:
piness and DEVELOPMENT that they would
otherwise never have known.
# YOU and are TO have the Paul spirit
# courage and contentmert even while
We stagger under the heavy cross, 1t can
only be bv the way of the Paul attitude
toward God and the Paul relationship to
Jesus Christ This is the same Paul who
wrote. 1--WE are children OF d and il
children then heirs: eirs of God and Joint
heirs with Christi the same Paul who
Nrote. "All things works together for
rood to them who love God. Afterward
Simon of Cyrenc understood the cross OF
Christ, and then he became Pau Though
he authorities turned him out of the syn
became ostracised, it mattercd little to
them. since they could clearly see how
great good had come to them in the form
If misfortune.
And do we not see bow true this ia of
many people about us? DO we not see that
he burdens of the family to that young
mother and that the new and heavy re-
ponsbility to others were just what they
needed to round out their characters and
to fill their careers with force and
'trength?
And whatever may be the form of the
weight of the cross laid upon us in this
lie, nv friends. let us remember these
Two things That it is possible: like Paul
If our lives in the cross; and, further, that
i must be so if our attitude toward God
: one of faith and obedience and our
relationship to Jesus that OF loyal aEl
owing disciple.