The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-04-21

ne became a parCaKer OIL suffering
with every other sufferer, and could
sign himself with kingly courtesy" L,
John, your brother in the kingdom
and patience of Jesus Christ"
Not only does patience thus en-
noble and exalt character, but it i'm
parts to life it's only true and abiding
perspective. An art student once said
to Titan, II saw it IN a moment"
"Oh, you did" replied the great mas
ter; at took me twenty years to see
it." You cannot stand before a work
of art, every square inch, every color,
every shade of which has been trans
figured by toll and tears, and gather
its wealth of meaning in a few Sec
onds. You must stand there, sit
there, surrender yourself to the
theme, until you feel like the pilgrim
before Reubens' Descent From the
Cross" who forgot time and comfort
and place, and after standing from
morning until evening and being re-
minded that the time to depart had
arrived, exclaimed, "Wait a moment.
until they get Him down." Such Is
the patience which brings to light the
hidden things of God, discloses the
divine intent in the workings of time
and enables US to hear what the CEN
turtles say against the hours, and thus
find deliverance from the tyranny Of
the instant" 1t is this spirit of what
has been called "immediateness" that
becomes our greatest peril. We be-
come impatient in awaiting results.
1t is the child who tomorrow digs
up the seed ne planted yesterday, to
see whether 1t is growing or not; and
in this respect, many Of US are chill
dren Of a larger growth. The effect
of this impotence ia disastrous in
many ways.
1t produces a distortion of vision,
substitutes a segment Of life's circle
for the whole, measures providence
By a few years of happiness, and
weighs the interests Of time against
eternity. How can these things be-"
we often ask. What things? The
woes of broken health, the agonies by
which human bodies are tortured for
many years, the wrongs of orphanage,
pestilence, fire, flood, famine and
earthquake. How can a merciful God
permit such seventies? Patience
comes to the rescue, and becomes the
Interpreter of Providence, explains
that they are parts of the "all things"
that work together for good"
lamentations to soften the calloused
heart, hammer blows to break the
hardened will, lightning flashes to
purify the atmosphere, m1llstones
grinding the hard grain, furnaces re-
fning the gross ore, grim schoolmas-
tiers teaching us in Gods great night
school the lessons Of love. o my
friends, let US give these teachers h
right Of way. Better for us to ask
ourselves, What new lessons do we
need? than all this meaningless talk
about accidents, and how they are
brought about.
Finally, patience means expectancy,
and there Is rest in that. 1t is the
sense Of uncertainty that begets un-
rest. We all. feel the power Of a man
who can keep still in the storm. His
position is supported by the facts,
and therefore his argument Is final,
and he can afford to wait. Power IS
never boisterous. 1t has no measure
in noise, but rather in silence.
That Jesus Christ, standing speech
less before PLATE while His accusers
rave in the fury of their passion, Is
the one supreme picture of power in
all human history. Calm in the wild
excitement of the Infatuated mob,
serene in the fierce overflow OF ma
lightly, with the repose Of eternity in
His face, His very silence was the
most searching speech that ever fell
upon a human soul. 1t crashed down
into the conscience of the heather
Judge, rang the alarm bell In the
camp Of his fears, filed his vision with
q thousand menacing terrors, AID
transformed him into a cringing
coward. He saw what all the ages
since have seen, that this quiet Man
who took up no defense, who meas
ured all the wrath of His enemies
and understood their worst weapon,
had a foundation in truth that could
not be shaken. He stood like one in
the midst of eternal realities, sur
rounded by immortal and Invisible
servants, One who knew that all
power was given unto Him, that He
needed only to speak and that all the
forces of, the universe would rush to
His defense. This assurance made
Him calm and crowned Him as the
one solitary King Of Patience for all
the ages.
Oh, let us gaze ane upon that
silent, serene, expectant face; catch
once more the inspiration Of His pa
tient life, and go forth serene in the
assurance of faith" and confident
and strong in the expectancy Of Jesus
Christ, the dawn Of whose second,
glorious coming, already throws its
CLEAN Of promise across the worlds
horizon.