The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-04-07
Christian Tranquility.

That We may study to be quiet
Thessalonians, All. s
Anxiety involves extreme pain. II
comes from the same root as anguish.
The pain, however, is not physical
but mental, and for that reason all
the harder to bear.
How prevalent in society is this
form of mental pain! How infre-
quent is a tranquil face! Anxiety
seems to be a kind of hysteria to
which Americans are peculiarly sus-
ceptible. In suicide, at least, we
ping the rest Of the world. Some
Hindus that Professor James was
showing about Cambridge remarked
upon the strained faces of Americans
and their distorted limbs, in contrast
to Oriental placidity and grace. They
said that it was the custom OF 'Hindus
to retire at certain times every day
to relax their muscles aud mediate
on eternal things.
Has Christianity cure for anxiety?
The Christian is tranquil as regards
provision for the future. He pro-
vides for the future. but without
anxiety. Over and over Christ bids
His disciples be not anxious. This
does not mean that we are not to
work hard and lay up against a rainy
day. But it divests work Of the fuss
and fret that impair our vigor and
~disqualify US from doing our best.
The Scriptures teach that right
eousness is the parent Of comfort.
Seek first the Kinkdom of God and
His Righteousness, and all these
things shall be added unto you. The
universe Is on the side of; the man
who does right. Exceptions to this
are only apparent. The life Of the
individual is too short for the priu-
ciple to work itself out completely,
so that 1t stands out more clearly
in the history of a family or Of a
nation.
1t is not only provision for the fu-
ture that is apt to make us anxious.
We worry over our past. Now the
Christian revelation provides a drug
for these painful memories. We
learn, like st. Paul. to forget the
things which are behind. We can
not change the past. but we believe
that all our sins are forgiven be-
cause of Gods unconditional love,
revealed in Christ. Our very sins
then become stepping stones. They
prevent presumption. They fill US
with sympathy for the erring. We
love God because He first loved us.
Our work, too, often makes us anx-
fous. We thirst for recognition or
else we grieve yer the meagre and
in]conspicuous results Of all our eff
forts. But the value of our work
is determined not by the bulk Of the
result achieved but by the spirit in
which the work is done. 1t Is only
as W. go deep into the work ITSELF
without thought Of the consequences,
that we vitality affect the lives Of
others. Besides, the chief value Of
our work is that it promotes ample
and symmetrical self-development.
God thinks more of a man than Of
his work. The work may be wood,
hay or stubble, in the end burned
up, but the man is saved. so as BY
fire. We are employed by our great
Master to work by the day. not by =
the piece. Every day should have
its ritual, and it is more important
to live by rule than to accomplish
some great result. This is the secret
of "toil answered from tranquility"
The supreme crises Of life are an
even more fruitful source of forebod-
ing than our past or our work of pro-
vision for the future. The mind IL
infested with thoughts of bereaye-
ment and poverty and sickness and
old age and death. Here again the
Christian is claimed by faith in the
love of God. Providence is only
another name for the love of God
which anticipates these crises, so that
when we arrive at them we see the
traces of the Fathers hand that has
arranged them for us beforehand,
either Tightening the burden or
strengthening our shoulders to bear
it. Some of these things we may
never have to experience at all: and
why should We allow ourselves to
suffer them in imagination We
have no right to occupy the mind
with unpleasant things. The mag
ination has power to mass untoward
events so as to produce the effect Of
their occurring simultaneously. Real
evils come to us one by one, and
grace is promised for each days
need.-Rev. Edward Judson. Memo
rial Baptist Church, New York, in
the Sunday Herald.