Show I I HARD TIMES A BLESSING I t q 9 p Ii l I W M PADEN Pastor of First Presbyterian church It is an honor to be entrusted with witha a difficult position a knotty question or a hard piece of work When such a trust finds a man ready for it it is ismore Ismore Ismore more than an honor it Is a benedic benediction benediction benediction tion to him birn It makes him a bigger bi and a better man Hard service is the soldiers greatest opportunity hard problems are the students best discipline discipline pline hard work w rk Is one of the most necessary ne es ary things accompanying the de development development of character haM ha 1 times have hae more to do with revealing ones metal than easy times As Burke declares S One of the sources of great ness floss is difficulty it is also one of the delights and disciplines of goodness lines are true to life Does wind uphill all nit the way Yes to the end I Will the days das Journey take the whole long day I From morn to night my friend I see nothing to whimper about in inthis inthis this Like Montaigue I walk firmer and more securely uphill than down Christians hard ascent of the Hill of Difficulty wa was less perilous than his seemingly easy descent Moreover there is 1 something exhilarating in a climb A brave man need ned not x jt be afraid of that which Is high There Is such sucha a thing as a difficulty which comes corner as asa asa asa a cheer and a challenge We Ve fall to torise torise rise are two baffled to fight better With some seine this sense of difficulty begets discouragement murmuring or o even despair With others hardness s becomes an excuse for moral laxity But for men of good courage difficulty difficult is a wholesome challenge It acts on them as danger acted on Lord Napier as a tonic It gives them opportunity ty to at once serve God and their neighbors and to enrich and strength strengthen en their own characters But who are we to magnify our hard hardships hardships hardships ships and difficulties Think of the homes into which the devil himself seems to have thrust tragedy What are our sweet sorrows our burdens compared with theirs theira Think of the fine fellows who resist appetite till they are worn out and amI ready to drop down conquered What are our struggles with sin as compared with theirs For most of us our paths are arp arpIn In green grcen pastures and beside still wa waters waters waters our yokes are easy and our bur burdens bu burdens dens light ours Is the temptation of ease eale not hardness of ot pleasure not pain But be it hard or easy let us greet the unseen with a cheer W M 1 PADEN |