Durango semi-weekly herald., 1906-05-31

aration for great event and its ac
complishment, but that is largely due
to the fact that the preparation often
takes place many years before
| Wellington was accustomed TO say
that the battle of Waterloo was won
on the cricket field at Eaton, meaning
that those sturdy qualities which
made the successful soldier were
trained and developed upon the play
ground of the great English school.
The civilian oftimes looks upon the
minute regulations of the army and
navy with somewhat of feeling of
contempt and he is accustomed to
| sneer at, and complain of the great
abundance of what he calls red
| tape II is hard for him to under
stand the need of all this careful
| training in minute details. But some
| day Manila, or a Santiago comes,
and then amid. the crash of the shot
and shell he learns the value to the
man behind the gun" of all this care
full training and preparation in the
quiet day of peace.
| You see the great ship out upon
| tho ocean. being buffeted by the fierce
| winds and the great waves. You
| hear her simhers crelking and groan-
| ing as she hurls herself against the
| fury of the elements. You hear the
cries of the panicstricken passengers
rising above the shouts of the officers
and crew in that awful time of
storm at sea, and you say that tine
great ship is battling for her life.
But the real struggle was long years
before on the quiet hillside where her
giant timbers grew and In the snip
yard where they were joined together
by the master builder.
Nearly 1000 years ago, down in an
obscure little corner of the earth,
Man appeared who instantly chal-
lenged the attention of every one who
came in contact with Him. For three
brief years He went in and out among
the people of that little country.
Sometimes we find Him addressing a
great multitude upon the shore of the
beautiful sea of Galilee, or on some
quiet sillside. drawing the illustrations
for His wondrous lessons from the ia
miliar phenomena of nature, teaching
the great eternal vereties of life in
words and language that the simplest
mind could comprehend. Again we
find Him addressing the educated
Scribes and Pharisees in the courts
of ~ Temple at Jerusalem. Again,
we see Him going in and out among
the poor unfortunate, downtrodden
men and women of His time-shed-
ding abroad the sunshine Of His pres
ence, inspiring them with new hopes
and new courage and new ambitions
and ideals. And the influence and
power of that brief ministry changed
the whole course of the worlds his
tory. Wherever His message has
been accepted 1t has purified and up
lifted and ennobled humanity. And
for those three short years that He
spent among men, He spent 80 years
in preparation, in that obscure little
village of Nazareth-thirty years OF
preparation for three years work,
In this strenuous age In which we
live, in these days OF busy activity.
when the struggle OF life makes men
rise up early and SO late take rest, we
sometimes dispise these quiet, un-
eventful days and hours that we
must spend in training and preparing
ourselves for our vocations In life.
NVp arc lilo tha imnatiant I;ttIn ohitJ
who wants to play Beethoven and
Chopin before she masters the simple
finger exercises. We want to rush
into the thick of the battle without
the routine of the barracks and the
drill ground. The world Is filled with
men and women who have made fail
ures of their lives simply because
they have despised these quiet hours
oi preparation and training. And
they are the ones who swell the ranks
OF pessimism and complain of the
hardsbips and lack of opportunities
in life. The world never offered so
many and so great opportunities as
II does today. But 1t never Sfequires
so careful training and preparation az
it does today
Some years ago ship bound for
one of the South American ports was
wrecked by one of those great trop-
ical storms which she encountered.
A few OF the crew escaped in an open
boat, and for days drifted helplessly
and aimlessly about upon the great
sea. Their scanty store OF provisions
and their little supply OF fresh water
were soon exhausted and hour after
hour as the fierce tropical sun beat
down upon them they scanned the
horizon for some sign OF land or a
sail. At last their hearts were glad
dened by the sight Of great snip
approaching them. As she drew near