The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-11-21
THE THINGS MEN DO.

Most Important Results ~ Life 0ften
Merely Incidental.
Sunday-School Times
The most important results Of our
lives are often those which we think
OF as merely incidental. II indeed we
notice them at ALI Men have shaved
on, year after year, .perfecting a
piece Of machinery which they dream
of the world. One day they stumbled.
seemingly, on simple contrivanoe
that they thought quite unimportant;
but that trivial device has later been
counted BY the world 90 the main
Men are nearly always mistaken in
the relative estimated they put on
different parts Of their work. This
Il ,,sp :ssa n rsaes Sss the ss gs' Of
poem which they held to be their
masterpiece has. not infrequently, re-
ceivei scant attention at the hands OF
competent judEes while verses they
leisure have spoken to mems hearts
and can never die. George Matheson
wrote many devotional and Theological
books each OF which required hard
time Of great mental sunsrins. ne
produced IN five minutes q little poem
that Is in the. hymn books OF the
world just at he wrote II AYE Tor
when he wrote these verses. he had
been asked what he considsred his
most important contribution TO the
religious thought OF his time. ne
Of his many yaiaaSi. pV yoiames = but but
while his Portraits OF Christ" may
be forgotten. whereever men and WOO
men have suffered and found conn
there will they sing, 70 love that wilt
cardinsi Newman was one of the
great religious controversialftsts Of
Volumes. who h reads Hs these ng now ss'1 He
wrote one little hymn. Lead Kindly
Light" and though II was one of the
smallest In compass OF any Of his
men Wherever The soul . ionss re FOR God Cod
Thomas Ken was prominent writer
Of the seventeenth century. Few to-
day even know that he ever published
nine nO0k PRAISE ns wso os from from n wso begin nj
blessings now" and millions Of hearts
each week come near to God In those
familiar lines.
The great work Of our lives. that
been forgotten, will more than likely
be one of the things that we do al
most, IL not quite, unconsciousiy. The
task we consider the very center Of
particular good. but some little for.
gotten kindness Will live Ia another
life forever.
That the enduring results Of our life |
will probably be what we consider its
by-products is no slave for the con-
science OF the lazy man who says,
What use. then, for me to keep on |
In my particular liner II ever ac-
compiish anything. Il will more than |
likely be something I never aimed to |
do" On the contrary. this very fact /
should call every one OF US TO honest. |
hearty toll; for Il 10 only In the path /
way Of duty well done that anything /
worth while Is ever accomplished. |
Matheson wrote his poem In q few /
minutes: but IL he had not trained his /
mind and heart by long years CT hard. |
toll. he never could have |
given the world these immortal lines. |
Perhaps the machinery we perfect |
through many weary months may |
never accomplish what we confidently |
expect Of II. but. II we are hidden 20 |
build II. let us DO Il at any cost. and
let 1t be finished '.as in the great
TO do with deciding the rewards that
come from Gods hands. He never
dissapoInts the patient plodder, and
never through all eternity will he give
his well done" to the one who shirk-
ed his assignment ana hoped that
some chance would bring returns
without the expenditure Of the very
best that God had given him.