Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1914-02-11
MEANING IN FAILURE
Surely There Must Be a Place TOR
! the Defeats as Well as
!, the Victories.

ico small q thing has prevented
~ achievement. A man has been sue
Sessful in a moderate way in business
Hor a number OF years, and moment
lof weak Judgment scatters his gains
tand reduces him to condition OF
"a beginner. Or IT may be that health
gives way. One waits In the rain
IA few minutes, or gets chill at
station, or slips crossing the road, and
khe hopes of life are frustrated.
Sometimes, of course, the failure is
not small-in fact. small and great
In such matter are largely mean
hngless terms. One goes forward to
service in writing or speech with much
promise of success. Good influences
seem to attend first efforts, and for
a time work is fruitful. Men and Wom-
len welcome what promises to be
new lead. But by and oy the hrst
influences fade, the fruit is no longer
forthcoming The speech ceases to
be an inner weakness unconQuered,
a spirit unsanctiied--and the man
Hakes his place among those concern
ing whom the prophecies which went
before them remain unfulfilled
The point is that for those who be-
Hieve in what Stevenson called AN
ultimate decency Of things mean-
sng in failure must exist. If there
ss rational scheme of the universe,
~ NJ for defeats
as well as the victories of the mol
Tidual.
Two Points Of View.
To fail is not to be failure. One
must distinguish. Did failure come
from within or from without? This
lis the first question for the man who
mas been defeated to answer. It
means at bottom, was the defeat real
or not? To fail is not to be failure.
But to take the case Of failure that is
real, where there has been unfaithful-
mess, dis,oyalty, yielding to besetting
sin. Then is much gained to have
fastened on the root Of the failure;
at requires honesty with oneself And
where man thought he had no need
TO guard, he may find the enemy has
come In.
Sometimes the first intimations Of
failure may arise within ourselves.
Failing short is one thing, transgres-
sion is another; both are defects, for
both are sin. There is no such de-
seat as this. When a man has made
IA good fight against harsh circum-
stances and failed. there : no dis
grace; he has not lost honor. The
battle is his Pavia. But when we
9have been untrue to conscience, there
is no citadel Of peace into which to
Ienter. The misery is with us at bed
,and board; there is no remedy, but
a secret transaction of the heart with
Sesus Christ.
Is there gain out Of the loss OF fall
ure? IF men are driven from unsound
confdcnce to true, something has been
won. It need not have been won st
such cost There is nc reason why
our experience generation after gen
eration should go on verifying with
q dull regularity the lessons OF the
.past. yet it does. But it is better so
learned than not learned at all.
And ont OF the recovered life so
much may come. when thou art
converted strengthen thy brethren"
Sometimes a proud man can learn
humility no other way than by humi!-
dation. Sometimes very strong. ten
sder help can be given to tempted
life by one who has once fallen him
lself being tempted" but has now
learned to stand. John Wesley never
knew what evil living was, or swear
ding or any form OF vice, and God
used him to convert some Of the low
lest sinners. Samuel Hadley had been
an offender himself. and God used his
Bitter experience Of the hardness OF
the trarsgressor's way. and his Joy
ious experience OF the Christian faith,
ito save many who had sunk lower
than he had once done. The disciple
'of failure will not teach US that il Is
seetter to fail to gain experience: that
theory belongs to az unsCund view
iof sin. A man who knows what sin
Ks will be inclined to say with Angus.
time. 20 beata culpa:" but he will
thank God that. having brought him
self into region of bitter expert
+ence. God can still use his manned
4ife. and turn its shadow Of death
Unto morning"
Striving Never in Vain.
The land of unfulfilled desire is not
a wholly barren country; the life
dearns to look beyond itself What
sroubles multitudes is not the sense of
Aisloyalty, but Of utility. They feel
ahey have done nothing. but the striv-
hngs Of such lives are not In vain. II
u sours force has been largely used up
-kzp in maintaining the moral average
5snd atmosphere 30 as to make the eX-
Do1oib1o Por opoSbor fha life