The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-09-21
Great Work.

The best work of the world has been
done by men who magnifed their Office.
1t rs one thing for a man to have an exag-
gerated sense of his personal importance;
it is quite another thing, and vastly wiser,
for a man to have an exalted sense Of the
sacred character Of his Office, his mission
in the world.
Any work is great if it only fit into the
plan of a well-ordered and benefcent life.
is not the nature of the work itself, but
the spirit in it, the purpose of it.
A young man about to graduate from
the mechanical engineering course in a
great university enlisted in the Spanish
war. He became a common soldier and
never got farther than Chattanooga. It
was there he wrote to a friend: Il am
shoeing Government horses; not a very
attractive occupation. but anything l can
do is in the line of duty. and l am con-
tent" Such a mind as that dignifes the
humblest labor. The line Of dutys-it is
straight, but it leads straight to peace and
power.
The common tasks of life are not COM
eyes. Every mans work is noble If it be
his work. And since the majority OF us
have our lives in fields where God alone
observes our course. it is well for US to
remember that character is the result OF
the methods We employ and of the spirit
we exemplify in doing ordinary things.
School days are more important than
they seem to the scholar who sights his
tasks and tries to see with how little ap-
plication he can get through" When he
writes a line in a copybook he is writing
something for life-not the sentence he
copies, but himself. He is making a rec
ord, good or bad. He will go through life
as he goes through school.
The apprentice thinks he is getting only
a trade in the workshop, but he is getting
vastly more. He is acquiring habits Of
carelessness or of thoroughness. The clerk
who came to his work ten minutes late and
made it up by leaving his work ten min
utes early" is losing more than his employ
er loses. The employer loses the equlva-
lent of a little time; the clerk is losing
power, loyalty, his grasp of things most
valuable. his hold OIL the biggest factor in
the problem CT life, namely. faith.
Some one asked a philanthropist: What
do we need most in order to accomplish
this OF that REFORM" He replied: We
need q mans life blood" That is exactly
what all great tasks need-the spirit that
but "What can I put into it; what OF
courage, wisdom, self-denlal?n
All truly patriotic work, all educational
and charitable work, all humanitarian and
religious work, is great in so lar as they
who do it give themselves to it, put all
there is of them into it. The most ire
m0dous work ever given to man is that
of extending the kingdom of God, build
ing the invisible church OF Jesus Christ.
More depends upon it; greater and more
permanent good issues from it,. :,
Lucy Larcom, in an "IArbor Day Poem,"
praises the philanthropy, of one who plants
a tree that may give shelter or fruit to the
children of a coming age. I would cele.
brate the philanthropy of all who plant
the seeds OF truth in human hearts. L
would wreath the brows Of all who shape
the lives Of others SO that they are fit to,
take their places as living stones in the ris.
ing temple of q new humanity. l would
number among the worlds greatest bene-
factors him who counts his work, whatever
it may be, a sacred trust not to be sighted,
not to be despised, not to be laid down I'M
til the Master Workman says, Come up
higher."-Philadelphia Ledger