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Page 20
These conclusions have many confirmations, and with some of them it will
be worth while to spend a little time. Every thinking man's experience
assures him that he grows by overcoming. Emerson has finely said that we
have occasion to thank our faults, by which he means limitations; and he
has also reminded us that the oyster mends its broken shell with pearl.
We do not like overmuch to read with care our own experiences; but, when
we are honest, we see that every struggle has left a residuum of added
strength, that every loss has been a gain, that every calamity has
opened doors into a larger world, and that what has been dreaded most
has really most enriched us. Experience is a wise teacher.
History confirms the witness of experience. The strong man has always
gained strength by struggle. The story of a few of the pre�minent
teachers is impressive reading. Mahomet knew the bitter pangs of
poverty; Epictetus was a slave; Socrates was regarded as a fanatic, if
not a lunatic, by most of the people of Athens; Siddhartha is said to
have been a useless and luxurious young man until, wearied with the
monotony of his father's palace, he ventured into the larger world and
saw wherever he went poverty, sickness, death. He was startled into
activity by the want, woe, and misery through which his pathway led.
Nearly all moral and spiritual leaders have had to suffer and thus grow
strong. Mere genius has done little for human progress. It has made
physical discoveries, but seldom touched the sphere of the soul. Elijah
heard the voice of God in the midst of the terrors of the wilderness in
which he was ready to die; Isaiah shared the usual fate of reformers and
spoke his message into the ears of those who returned insult for
warning. The story of Job is a long tragedy,--the world's tragedy, the
tragedy of the soul in all ages. What deeps of anguish Dante fathomed
before he could begin to write! Who can read the story of "Faust," as
Goethe has interpreted it, without feeling that in it he has given the
world in thin disguise much of his own life-story? Shakespeare alone, of
men of genius of the first rank, seems to have learned comparatively few
of his lessons in the school of suffering. But, possibly, if more were
known of Shakespeare, it would be found that Lear, Macbeth, and Hamlet
are but the expressions of lessons learned as he fought life's battle.
The "In Memoriam" of Tennyson, the "De Profundis" of Mrs. Browning, and
the rich and glorious music of Robert Browning could have come only from
souls which had been profoundly moved by grief and pain. All men listen
most attentively to those who have gone farthest into the dark shadows.
The austere in human experience always accomplishes a purpose of
blessing; and the soul comes into such an environment, not for the
purpose of being humiliated, but in order that its strength may be
developed, its sight clarified, and its powers perfected.
Thus we reach a rational basis for optimism. It has been said that
optimism must not only show that beneficent results are being
accomplished in human life, but it must also justify the means by which
such results are achieved. It is not enough to show that all will be
well in the end; it must be shown that even grief, pain, loss, and
death are ordained to be the servants of man. This is evident to all who
allow themselves to reach to the deeper meanings of their limitations
and sufferings.
Opposite conclusions have been reached by some of those who have studied
the hard and harsh phenomena of human life. The dreamy Hindu mind at
first seemed to discern the truth that suffering is but the under side
of blessing, and the hymns of the Vedas are full of hope and
anticipation of better times; but, under the stress of prolonged
disappointment and measureless calamities, bewildered in his attempt to
explain the mystery of suffering, the Hindu at last came to deny its
reality. But no bitter trials can be escaped by denial, and in India,
to-day, disappointment and calamity are no less frequent than in elder
ages. Refusal to believe in darkness effects no change in a midnight.
The negation of precipices makes the ascent of a mountain no easier,
and the denial of sickness, sorrow, and death deliver none from their
presence. On the other hand, the very rocks that are the most difficult
to scale will lift the climber toward an ampler horizon; and he who
places his feet upon his temptations and sorrows will see in his own
life the increasing purpose that widens with the suns.
Slowly, and over many obstacles, the soul rises from its humiliation and
presses toward the heights, and every forest passed and every mountain
scaled adds to its stature, to the swiftness of its advance, and to the
glory of its vision.
The teaching of Jesus concerning the ministry of the austere has greatly
changed the popular estimate of the value of many of the experiences
through which men pass. Sorrow, pain, and death were formerly regarded
as enemies, and only enemies, and they are still so regarded where the
full force of His message is either not welcomed or not understood. The
common opinion in many quarters, even to this day, is that suffering is
either a hideous mistake in the universe, an awful nightmare, or a cruel
mockery. Paul, using language as men used it in his time, spoke of death
as an enemy. That he was speaking popularly, rather than technically, is
evident because he also said that the sting of death--that which made it
dreaded--is sin. Jesus, however, justified the method by which men are
perfected; and His teaching harmonizes with what may be learned by a
reverent scrutiny of the nature of things. The more carefully "the
Cosmic process" is studied, the clearer it becomes that events are so
ordered that, sooner or later, everything helps toward richer and better
conditions. A tidal wave or a pestilence may seem to be inexplicable,
but even pestilence teaches men habits of thrift and cleanliness, and
tidal waves warn them of their points of danger.
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