--All around us, laws, iron laws, which we
do not make, and which we dare not try to break, lest they go on
their way, and grind us to powder.
Then comes the awful question, Are we at the mercy of these laws?
Is the world a great machine, which goes grinding on its own way
without any mercy to us or to anything; and are we each of us parts
of the machine, and forced of necessity to do all we do? Is it
true, that our fate is fixed for us from the cradle to the grave,
and perhaps beyond the grave? How shall we prevent the world from
overcoming us in this? How shall we escape the temptation to sit
down and fold our hands in sloth and despair, crying, What we are,
we must be; and what will come, must come; whether it be for our
happiness or misery, our life or death? Where shall we find
something to trust in, something to give us confidence and hope that
we can mend ourselves, that self-improvement is of use, that working
is of use, that prudence is of use, for God will reward every man
according to his work? St. John tells us--In that within you which
is born of God.
3. Then, again, in the world how much seems to go by selfishness.
Let every man take care of himself, help himself, fight for himself
against all around him, seems to be the way of the world, and the
only way to get on in the world.
Pages:
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63