Everyman’s Hut

Camp News, Volume 3, Issue 147, 6 November 1942, Page 4

Everyman’s Hut

THE PATHS OF YESTERDAY. I trod again the paths of yesterday, The paths I knew before I went away; I walked once more the road I walked before; But no one came to greet me as of yore, - y ■ For they had gone, my friends of other days, And I was left to muse upon life’s ways. I saw again the scenes of long ago, My yesterdays when I, with heart aglow, *; Looked out upon the future, all unknown, . ! • And felt the arm of God around me thrown; When destiny called loudly at my door, And I, responding, followed on before. My dreams, ambitions, visions of the past, Again they came and o’er my spirit cast A spell of mystic sweetness, hope and love, Like angels singing softly from above, I saw the forms of those I used to know, And heard again their voices, soft and low. —Oswald J. Smith. As we gaze at the distant views, their harsh features are smoothed and softened to a pleasing beauty, which gradually dispels as we come closer. “Distance lends enchantment to the view,” the poet has written, and those things which seem unattainable appear to be the most desirable. Forbid a child to touch green apples and to the young mind one bite of the hard green fruit seems more to be desired than the sweetest, juiciest one that can be had for the asking. And as our minds wander back over

the dead and gone years, the memories that revive, and the scenes which pass before us are more tender, more beautiful than ever they were in reality. The , mellowing haze of time clothes that which was hard and unpleasant with a soft beauty which is pleasant to dwell upon. Now we look back from the vantage point of knowledge and we understand the meaning of many , things which at the time was hidden from us. The fears and tears of childhood’s days now fill us with quiet amusement as we . see how groundless, how needless they were. Now we see all those things in their true perspective. What seemed such an important thing then, is now known to have been a very trivial affair after all. How much worry and anxiety we might have been spared if only we could have seen what the purpose. of things was. And . have we not a lesson to learn from all this ? “Men are but children of ' a larger growth.” If we are spared for another generation, to see today’s events in- their true proportions and perspective, will be laugh at our many fears,' will we marvel at. our lack of understanding, our lack of faith which prevents us grasping the purpose behind all these events? Gold cannot be refined except it pass through the crucible. The dross in our natures cannot be eliminated except by purging. Is the purging to be of no effect? .Are our crucible experiences going to refine us? If we will just leave ourselves in the Master’s hand, to be treated as He knows we need to be, then all will be well. The experiences will last just as long as is necessary for our good and no longer.