The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-08-25
9bort 9ernrons
For
5unnap Dalf=Dour
Theme:
THE POWER OF
GENTLENESS.
1, T. T.
BY Rev. Frank M. Goodchild.
+ + i,
Text: Thy gentIeness hath made me
great.-ll. Samuel, xii, Sc.

/
/ 1t is easier to recognize mans
| greatness than TO discern the secret
OF ii. And yet men are always very
| clt.Css about the process by which
stcaL man has reached his emincnce.
y man was curious to know the
| secret OF Paganini's power over the
| violin. He got a room next to Pagani-
mis- al an inn and watched him. He
saw the great musician when he arose
in the morning take the precious in.
suuAent, place it under his chin,
make Il few passes over 1t with the
| bow, kiss the back OF it and, looking
up, murinur prayer over it. Then
he locked it in its DO. again. No one
ever showed the possibilities there
are in violin a5 paGlniui. He could
make it souAd ike Il vail from the
lost world, and lie could make it ring
With joy so tnat YOU would think you
heard the songs of paradise. And the
secret OF it Was that he loved the in.
| stIuIlent.
In this little text, Thy gentleness
hatu made ne great" one of the
greatest men OF the world speaks to
lis. He was 80 great Il ruler that
many men look back to him as the
ideal king. He was SO great a poet
tnar all ages since have used his
SONGS to express their worshipful emo
tiCns. He was SO great a man that
God conferred upon him the title,
The man after Gods own heart"
And the secret OF his greatness is re-
realed to us in the text. The psalm
from which ii is taken sketches his
lie. 1t tells in musical words the
story OF David'S career, and it reaches
its climax when David looks up into
Gods face ard acknowledges that all
that he has and is came from Him.
Thy Sentleness hath llade me great" "
he says. Just as Il mother broods
over her child and shapes his charac-
ter 80 God brooded over David, and
by gcntleness and forbearance that
surpass anything that a mother ever
felt He loved David into greatness.
Perhaps we never know very much
about how God loves us until we have
how dear it is TO us.
Once let a man get it into his soul
that God really cares for him more
fondly than any mother ever cared
for her child and his heart will have
a lightness it never had before, his
soul will know a peace that the world
is an utter stranger to, his cares will
be transformed so that they will have
little power to distress him and life
| Cn n hnn
will seem only continuation of it.
Perhaps the most crying need Of
our time is a revival of this grace OF
gentleness. We are very quick and
cruel in our judgments to-day Men
who are sincerely trying to do good
are vilified and caricatured. No man
in the public view escapes the most
brutal criticism, and We are just as
severe on each other in the private
walks of life Perhaps no other evi
in the world produces so great har
vest of wretchedness as this habit oi
harshly judging one another.
Some men are ashamed of tender
ness and gentlenes5. But a man is
sadly deficient who lacks feeling. Gen
tleness not only makes us great, but
it is sign of greatness in the man
who has it. And, happily, it is form
of greatness that all can achieve. We
may never be able to acquire wealth
We may not have great thoughts tc
write. We may not have the skill tC
paint scenes of beauty. But gentle
ness and goodness all can attain by
Gods good grace if we will, and they
are more potent in the world thar
any other form of greatness we know