SERIOUS THOUGHTS.

Waikato Argus, Volume VI, Issue 408, 11 March 1899, Page 2 (Supplement)

SERIOUS THOUGHTS.

' PERFECT THROUGH SUFFERING." Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress.—Psalms iv. 1. Tins is one of the grandest testimonies ever given by man to the mortal government of God. It is not a man's thanksgiving that he has been set free from suffering. It is a thanksgiving that_ he has been set free through suffering. " Thou has enlarged me when I was in distress." He declares the sorrows of life to have been themselves the source of life's enlargement. And have not you and I a thousand times felt this to be true? It is written rf Joseph in the dungeon that " the iron entered into his soul." We all feel that what Joseph needed for his soul was just the same. He had seen only the glitter of the gold. He had been rejoicing in youthful dreams and dreaming hardens the heart. \\ e need the iron to enlarge our nature. The gold is but a vision ; the iron is an experience. The chain which unites me to humanity must be an iron chain. That touch of nature which makes the world akin is not joy but sorrow ; gold is partial, iron is universal. My soul, if thou wonldst be enlarged into human sympathy, thou must be narrowed iuto the limits of human suffering ; Joseph's dungeon is the road to Joseph's throne. Thou canst uot lift the iron load of thy brother if the iron hath not entered into thee. It is the shadows of thy life that are the real fulfilment of thy dreams of glory. Murmur not at the shadows ; they are better revelations than thy dreams. Say not that the shades of the prison-house have fettered, thy fetters are wings—wings of flight into the bosom of humanity. The door of thy prison-house is a door into the heart of the Universe. God has enlarged thee by the binding of sorrow's chain. G. Mathesou, D.D. (F) " Thy heart shall tremble and be enlarged" says the prophet Isaiah—and how many have welcomed the wider view of life that comes after seasons of trembling and sorrow. How differently we see things, and looking back we wonder at our narrow vision. " Perfect through suffering "—thus it is written of our Master and can we hope to attain perfection by any other way ? So we are content with all God sends. "All God does if rightly understood Shall work thy final good." As we climb hills and mountains to obtain a fine view of the surrounding country we ascend the hill difficulty, mount even to Olivet and Calvary in order that our spiritual vision may be enlarged. Let us welcome each obstacle to be overcome, each pain to be endured as a means to obtain large views and larger hopes. And in the " larger life of the hereafter" when we shall see clearly what are mysteries now and know perfectly what we only can guess at here, we shall bless God for each wave of trouble that bore us onward and for every cross that raised us. " Nearer my God to Thco, Nearer to Thee." (F) CARE AND WORRY. You have heard of Care and Worrydark visitors, they say, Who stalk about familiar as Hamlet's ghost at play. They come and tarry with you unbidden and unasked, And flaunt their gaunt arms round you—add weight to every task. They watch the rays of sunshine, and guard your open door, Lest Light and Hope may enter and sing the songs of yore. Close friends are Care and Worry, they laugh and dance with glee, And bile the faggots higher at each white lock they see. Ttiey giory~ nr tiro snacrowstneir black robes fling about. And when the cloud is o'er you they laugh and dance and shout. They ever walk before you, for should they fall behind. Their forms would vanish from you like mist before the wind. But over on the other side wait Love and Hope and Joy, Mother aud wife and sister, and little Bob, your boy. The robin sings iu the willow aud the skylark chants his lay, And flowers blossom about you from the morn till close of day. Fling back at Care aud Worry the black robes of despair, And know as the years pass swiftly God's hand hath rested there. Smooth out the great deep furrows cut wide on brow and cheek, For trouble lies in the valley—you are nearing the mouutaiu peak.