The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-06-09

world reads failure IN an empty Loat:3
God. in an empty heart. We nave
toiled all the night and taken moth
ing" Well. what Of that? That 10 no
tragedy II we can say. We have foileo
all night and lost nothing This -
where we begin to see right into the
heart of the workers failure--not the
thing we did not win. but the thing
we did not lose. God is concerned. to
be sure, about the work-the net ana
ashes But also about the men at the
net. The accomplished worker is not
less than the work accomplished
QUE cast his net at morn when fishers
At eve he drew 1t emptye to the
shore;
He took the divers plunge into the
But thence within his hand no pearl
he bore
He ran a race, but never reached the
God:
He sped an arrow, but he missed his
And slept at last beneath Simple
stone
with no achievement carved about
his name.
Men called 1t failure. but for my own
part.
I dare not use the word; for what II
heaven
Shall question. ere it's judgment shall
be read.
Not hast thou won7 But only, Hast
thou striven?"
There Is something greater than ex-
perience. momentous S that is and that
greater something is faith in God
which inspires obedience, no matter
what the past has been or has wit
messed. Obedience Is success There
can be no greater failure than putting
experience before faith Some fail be-
cause they are ignorant. Some fail
because they are too wise. They know
too much about the past Some people
are too historic to be prophetic. obe-
dience to the command of heaven al
ways uncovers the real and unseen pos
sihi1ities of the situation No man is
ever conquered who can say, Never
theless at thy word, l will let down
the net
But notice the common placeness Of
this obedience This is obedience rem
dered by the same men, working in
the same place, and busted with the
same task. The men who went back
to the nets were the men who had
brought them in empty awhile ago.
Failure Is not disability in the SER
IL sometimes a final disqualification,
an objectionable sin. The world says,
stand aside and let someone else try,
You have had your chance--Now make
room for a better man" OF course he
is always a better man who hasut
tried The world is quite agreeable
that the boat should ne launched
again but ii stipulates for different
crew The minister sometimes feels
. y oil Ia q t.Yts
his people save him the pains Of feel
ing that way Al any rate Christ says,
in effect. you discouraged men, hat
fed defeat who came in last night
with an en4r'tv net and aching heart,
cast 1t out again, II was the same Old
( crew.
Then they went to the same place.
To the old sphere Of their lahors they
returned Some have but one sug
sSestic1 10 offer when they have failed,
we will try 1t somewhere else" Re
cause they have caught nothing they
conclude that there is nothing TO
catch. That is often the logic OF the
! self-infated and the impatient. hat
in some way or other the thought
comes 10 most Of us again and again,
It is perhaps only natural that we
should dream Of better work in "a new
field. Men imagine they Will pos
sibly escape the atmosphere OF the un-
congenial and adverse. We tire OF
] the setting of our task. Any place is
/ a good field If Christ sends us 10 II
and any hour Is a harvest hour II
/ Christ bids us let down the net.
Let us observe that they returned
to the same old task. That is thought
/ for the noVelty-mongers and the SEN