Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1913-10-02
BRIGHT DAYS
AND DARK
b REV. DONALD SAGE MAcxAY
b. D.. LID.

b REV. DONALD SAGE MAcKAY
But whore sin Aboundsd, grace ala
much more abound.--Rom. E:1o.
How much the counterbalancs plays
Its part in the activities Of human Incl
Our bright days are counterbalanosd
by dark days. Our times Of prosper
ity are Offset by times Of adversely.
For every sorrow there IL in the d.
VIM providence. . corresponding gain.
n at the heart Of every defeat theirs
Is for the man OF faith The
prophecy Of . victory. 90
where we will in the great universe
OF love and we ind everywhere The
working Of this divine law of counter.
poise-the divine love compromising
Of every earthly loss. where sin
abounds grace doth much more
abound" Where death walks with
insolent feet life triumphs in exultant
song. When earthly Joys wither heav-
emily hope blooms In eternal beauty.
When time wears out it, venture into
threadbare> decay eternity robes her
self in immortal splendor.
We want to realize, Of course, that
these bright days and dark Id life
which alternate in such swift success
sion arc all part Of q divine plan.
These heeting changes Of prosperity
and adversely. JOY and sorrow. life
and death. are not haphazard. They
are not the chance happenings Of .
cruel and needless fate. Nor are they
ebulhtions nckleness In God, or for.
.ge%tfulness Of his children. Not to
tantalixe and tease the soul, not that
We may take our Joys with trembling
and u sorrows with cringing does
our Heavenly Father set the dark days
over against the bright days in life,
God sends these seasons for the
growth of what 10 worthless and best
within US. The dark days and the
bright days are as necessary to the
poise Of your character a the counter.
balance is necessary to the equflibri:
OF the wheel. It needs no pro.
found thinking to realize what a grind.
ing monotony life would be II there
were no shadows to Offset its sunlight.
What an insipid thing Joy would be.
come-a surfeit In the banquet II life
III there no bitters to cleanse
the palate Of the soul.
These bright days and dark dayn
In life - they come and 20, some;
times in rhythmic cadence and some
times in bewildertng confusion. are IL,
so part Of q divine revelation. They
are days Of revealing as we'll a. days
OF discipline. God sends these alter.
mating seasons into your life4to reveal
certain qualities within you, to call
into play certain capacities, DO make
vital certain possibilities In your ma
ture which the monotony Of an un.
broken experience could never bring.
The changing days of life unmask the
reserves9of character. It Is. Of course.
. truism that 4 man never knows how
much he IAN endure until tho day Of
adversely comes It has been pointed
,out that Walter Scott became great ~
70 man and realized the highests a.
preston Of his genius not untl tho
wave Of adversely swept over His life.
A writer has pointed out the common
place character OF SCOTS personal
journal up to the time before the fail.
ure OF his publishers took place. But
after that failure . new note became
vocal in the great writer's journal, .
new personality emerged. Ono 70
members In this connection the letter
which upon the day succeeding the
news Of the disaster Scott wrote to
an intimate friend: II have walked
nor the las. time in these halls which
I have built, looked for the last time
in all probability ct the domain which
I have planted, but death would have
taken these things from me II mis-
fortune had not" The lsttsr concludes
with the words. .Adversity 10 30 me
Q tonic and . bracsr." Look at that
manuscript" nays Ruskin, referring to
SCOTS novel Of Woodstock which
was In course Of writing ct tn time.
written In the very maslstrom Of that
adversity and not By the CULVER az .
hair stroke, not BY the s~uggsstioa Of
single trsmor In the hand, not BY IN
srasure or change. not By any falling
on In the creative interest Of ths STORY
could any one detect that whom Sect
wrote the second part q that novel
he did 10 under . cloud Of biktsr ~
sversity."
And biography n fun oe ssoA m
maakings OF the pressure az the dark