The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1910-09-29


Of me, and ye shall find rest unto
your souls"
Now for some people 1t is harder
TO believe in obedience than to be-
lieve in work. They toss their heads
like the wild steer and say, "No,
we never will obey anybody. We
will do as we please. We propose to
be free and independent" That sounds
well, let us look into 1t.
Here are a party Of travellers on
their way to the gold mines of Alaska.
They have never been there before.
The way is dangerous, and hard
to trace and follow. One man knows
the way. Now shall the other men
follow him, or shall they be free
and independent, and go each man
for himself?
Here are a company of people on
a ship. No one Of them can manage
the ship alone. One must hold the
rudder, and another must take obser-
vations of the stars, and another must
spread the sails, and so on. They
must work together II the ship is 10
be driven to the desired haven. Now
people cannot work together without
a captain, and there cannot be a cap
tain unless there is obedience.
Here is one of the great differences
between a civilized man and a savage.
The savage Is free and independent.
He will not obey a captain, and so
he never can have a big ship. And
he never can have anything else
that is big for the same reason.
What is the use of freedom and indie
pendence unless we can have the bless
ing Of safety and society? We use our
freedom when we choose our guide,
but guide we must have. We exer-
else our independence when we elect
our captain, but the captain is nee
essary, and he must be obeyed.
Obedience is not slavery. The slave
follows a command through fear. The
soldier follows a command through
choice. The soldier does not and
cannot choose each particular march
and evolution, but he has chosen his
side in the war, and he freely leans
upon the wisdom and experience Of
his general. The child does not, and
cannot, choose each little household
task, but he is a loyal member of the
family, and gladly does the things as
signed him by his parents. The stu
dent of his own choice enters a
school in which there is an orderly
and regulated life. He desires TO
learn how to live by rule. He can
not at once understand the full rea-
son for all the rules, but he is like
the child and the soldier, loyal to
the institution TO which he belongs.
The child, the soldier, the student do
not submit to authority-they choose
the guidance of experience in those
above them.
And more and more with the
child and the student there is IN
understanding OF the reasons for the
things they do. Thus they come to
obey not the parent or the teacher
but their own idea of the will of
God. Parents and teachers have
done their work when the young peo-
pie become as we say conscientious
that is, when they learn to obey
God directly as his will is revealed
in their own hearts.
And we do not obey God, except
sometimes at the very first, through
fear. We see his goodness; we share
his great desire for the good of all
creatures. We are identified with
him as a child with a parent, as a
soldier with a great commander.
And then there is the obedience to
ones own best purposes-the repres-
sion of hayward impulses, the man
agement of our own nature. We must
put the yoke OF control and reason
upon our impulses and passions.
We must be strong willed but not
willful. And for this we need cap
tain.
Parents and teachers, here is your
highest function-to bring the young
souls that you love into lives Of
obedience to conscience and to Christ.
Young ladies and gentlemen Of Berea,
this is the greatest thing you have
to do-to put on this yoke-to learn
to manage yourselves-to bring all
your impulses and desires into obedi-
ence to the rule of your conscience,
your reason, and your God. We can
show you and teach you; we can
love you and pray for you; but you
must do this great thing for your
selves.
But the last part Of our text is,
for tonight, the most important. II
tells us that the yoke is good for a
man in his youth.
This matter of yoke-bearing is not
to be put off. Work is good for all
and obedience is good for all; but
g.