EVERY MAN’S BURDEN

Taranaki Daily News, 15 September 1934, Page 14 (Supplement)

EVERY MAN’S BURDEN

EACH MUST BEAR HIS OWN. BALLAST OF SHIP OF LIFE. “Every man shall bear his own burden.”—Gal. 6-5. This has appeared to many a hard saying. They have felt it almost as a rebuff from God, and consequently have been inclined to modify it or to turn aside from it. They prefer to remember the comforting words of the psalmist, “Cast thy burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain thee”; or to believe that Christian sentiment is more truly expressed in the verse, “Bear ye one another’s burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ.” ’ Nevertheless the word of the text abides as a true word of God. Everywhere Christ expects His followers to stand erect upon their own feet, fo bear manfully whatever might befall thehi. • The verse is thus a challenge to the disciple of Christ to futil completely all that life entails for him, without whimpering, bravely, as under God. The tendency everywhere is to evade responsibility, and to shuffle off our obligations upon others. Thus we would thrust upon church and minister the culture and care of our souls instead of “working out our own salvation with fear and trembling.” We would saddle the Government or the legislature with the task of protecting us in life and limb; educating us, attending to our health and pleasure, providing us with old age pensions, etc., forgetting that e en the ideal state is not that in which the citizens live in adult infancy, fmd that whatever lessens the sense of personal responsibility is evil. We would lean upon friends and family, expecting them to shelter us in life’s storms and to make our path straight and pleasant for usto the grave loss of ”jr self-respect and personal integrity. There is something singular and incommunicable in each individual life, and in a very real measure the text is absolutely true—every man must bear his own burden. Now it is a strange fact in human experience that most people believe their lot in life to be mo|e burdensome than that of their fellows. Not that they would suggest Providence has deliberately loaded the dice against them; nevertheless they are convinced a more oppressive circumstance, or possibly a Divme purpose beyond their comprehension, has laid upon them the heavier load. We need not say that were it possible for all to meet in some market plaqe and have opportunity for universal exchange of life and let few, if any, would be found willing o accept the personality, the relationships and the complete circumstances of another for his own.Fundamentally life is the same for all, and to the Christian there is the special promise of God, that whatever the situation, however the day, so shall the strength be. . There c.re, however, trials and hardships, bitter experiences and onerous burdens, which weigh heavily upon all at some time or other. Some of these we may properly ask God our Heavenly Father to carry for us; others we rightly may share with our neighbours; but some remain as our own just portion.

Findlay in the. Expositors Bible suggests that for each of us there is a triple burden which we must carry. It consists of the reproaches of the past, the stern demands of the present and that summons to our final reckoning. Dr. Hastings finds in the oppressive circumstances of life,.in the nature with which we were born, or in some sad consequence which has been visited upon us, the burden of life. Thus some physical

disability or disfigurement, such as lameness, blindness or deformity of any sort, some mental weakness or deficiency or some sequelae from sm (personal 01 otherwise) may be the wearisome load we alone must bear. More simply, and perhaps more familiarly, our burdens are of personal sorrow or sickness, or from life's drudgery. How vexatious and wearing these may be some of us know poignantly. Believe me, each heart knows its own bitterness, and there are internal griefs and hidden wounds rubbed raw of which others know nothing and possibly care less. Let me say definitely there are burdens in life none can carry for another. How willingly, for example, would David have died for his son Absalom, but it might not be. With what joy would countless mothers have carried their children’s trials and troubles, and with what satisfaction would innumerable daughters have taken upon themselves the painful closing hours of a mothers life, but ’twas impossible. There are circumstances and burdens which a man cannot place upon friend or Maker. He must carry them alone—bravely and without any querulous plaint as to “Why must I the burden bear?’ Now we, with our meagre understanding of life's mysteries, are sometimes apt to pity ourselves or others whose lives are full of trial and hardship. We are persuaded God’s angels have a wiser appreciation of reality, life’s true values, and the purpose of the heavy yoke. There is a beautiful story told in one of Schiller’s poems of how when God made the birds, He gave them gorgeous plumage and sweet voices, but no wings. He laid the wings on the ground and said, “Take these burdens, and bear them.” They lifted- them, struggled along with them, folding them over their hearts. Presently the wings grew fast to their breasts, and spread themselves out, and' they found that what they thought were only burdens were pinions by which they might soar aloft. Too often we are like Spencer’s woeful figure of care. We nurse our troubles, rock our burdens, upon our shoulders, and then wonder why they chafe us and bring us down in despair to the dust. The cares and infelicities of life are not meant to be hindrances to character, disabling handicaps in existence; they have divine utility. That is why we must welcome each rebuff that turns each smoothness rough. That is why we must count the very blows of ill-fortune as no more than the tempering of our life’s Excalibur. You perhaps may not have noticea that the Greek -word in the text _ is “phortion,” and conveys a suggestive figure. It calls up that of the “burthen 2_the lading, the ballasting load necessary for the ship’s safety, without which indeed it might easily founder or turn turtle. The “burden” of the text, then, is to do for us what the “burthen” does for the ship, and what the haversack does for the soldier—providing something essential for very existence. The text assuredly indicates a law of life, and the purpose of it is for our good; for real personal advantage and not for evil or harm. , , , e You have all seen how the burden of parenthood causes to appear in the hearts of parents altruism, devotion and willing sacrifice. So the burden of our appointed lot will cause to spring forth in us the graces and the fruits of the spirit. We recall that one of the* old Scottish martyrs had this motto: “Sub pondere cresco”—l grow' under a weight; I grow beneath the load. And on his crest was a palm tree with weights depending from the branches. But despite, the weights the tree, as is the manner of the species, was straight as _an arrow, lifting its graceful foliage high in the serene air. Thus it is there are certain loads and cares which rightly we may cast on God; there are others which we may share with our brethren, but there are yet others which we must courageously carry—for our own good and God’s glory. . “Every, man shall . bear his own burden.”