Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1908-05-29
@HE@~ ~,
- POPULAR
Io'1U-JIIl5biHC.SS'
NO SHORT CUTS TO TRIUMPH.
49,:

By Rev. George Clarke Peck.
And King David said to Ornan. nay
but 1 will buy it of thee for the full
price, Chronicles 21: "a
Thus did one man decline to take adj
vantage of what the world would call
a bargain" Such refusal. however,
might be little better than Qui1otic.
One needs a good reason when he per-
sists in making things costly to him
self David evidently thought he had
such reason.
He had gone up to Ornan's thrashing
floor for the purpose of there erecting
an altar at his own expense. The
shame of his recent crime was so keen
that he was willing to pay any reason
able price for expiation. Judge then
his surprise to be offered the property
without cost to himself What a chance
to econOmize!
But David knew thing that we
sometimes forget. The souls processes
can never be cheapened. To shave the
cost of one altar is to cheat ones self.
Life has no real short cuts to triumph.
God appoints no bargain days on which
the shrewd trader may enrich himself
at the expense of the Almighty. To at
tempt the payment of ones spiritual
debts in the property of another, to
offer the sacrifices of a contrite heart
without personal drain, is a specious
fraud.
What is the spelling" Of a child?
What but the payment by parents of
the price which the child ought to pay?
"My child does not know the meaning
of self-denial," said mother overload.
Pity such a child! Missing the mean
ing Of self-denial, he will miss all the
real prizes of life. I knew a young
man who made hit" at his first pub
lie venture But that first hit was his
last; he has never found the range
since. Easy success ruined him. The
short cut was blind alley. The sor-
riest thing that ever happened Cole
ridge was when his friends guaranteed
him against rainy day. His muse
sickened with the absence Of bracing
airs. Hardship had kept his soul
awake, but ease drugged him. Oh, the
cheats we practice against ourselves by
our economies
The last place for a man to save mon
ey is on his gifts. Let him wear the
old oyercoat another season If need be;
let him reduce the length Of a bill of
fare, but let him not shave the cost
Of oil 70 which IpT-o h11i1HS Tho
dearest economies we ever practice are
those which. touch our benefactions.
Our loss is greater than that of the
cause we refuse to help. Charity can
better stand my Withholding Of help
than I can stand Withholding it. To
let another do my giving is to let him
have my blessing. If Ornan builds my
altar for me he also takes my joy.
That man who asks how much he
must give up in order to be good man
has gotten hold Of the wrong end of
the matter. The question rather is how
good he wants to be- a disciple who
finds that his path includes no crosses
may well pause to ask which master he
is following. Life's real affairs repre-
sent the shedding of blood.
To repeat then, David's great renun-
citation at Ornan's thrashing floor, to
hold braveIy to the sacrificial quality
of human life at its best, to refuse all
ignoble Tightening of loads, to bleed
that we may bless-in spite of all COM
placent voices to the contrary-this is
one Of the rich truths Of life