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A CHRISTMAS THOUGHT
By Alferd Iberson 'Branham, L.L.D.
HAVE heard that a busy man always
finds time to do a little more than his
allotted share of work. I am sure this
is true. I have known many busy men,
but not any that were too busy to do
whatever they were called upon to do,
whether in the course of their regular
daily tasks or in the course of extraor
dinary circumstances.
r*~ —
I have been thinking about W. D. Upshaw. I
have known him many years. I have never
known him to be idle. What a wonderful work he
has done, and what a wonderful work he is yet to
do!
W. D. Upshaw is a shining example of the right
sort of success, and he is a success because he has
had a righteous purpose in all he has done. There
has been no luck, no magic, in his development from
boyhood to his present state of manhood, but much
sacrifice.
The tribute I have paid to W. I). Upshaw in the
foregoing lines was suggested by the following
strikingly truthful editorial from the Boston Jour
nal of Education of December 10, 1908:
4 ‘There are three phases of the public view of
bringing up a boy, —luck, magic, and sacrifice. It
■would be amusing were it not so alarming to see
how many parents, teachers, and preachers regard
it as a mere matter of luck how a boy turns out
after the home, school, and church have brought
him up.
“Test this for yourself. Take a good man and
woman, with four boys and three girls, —this is a
real case, —and the girls do well and marry well,
while the boys amount to nothing and marry un
wisely. Talk with ten men and women about that
good man and his worthy wife, and at least nine
will say: ‘They have had hard luck with their
boys.’ Had they'? Was there any luck about it*?
This luck sentiment is the bane of life as relates
to the children.
“ ‘The ’s have drawn blanks in their
boys,’ was said recently. A lottery, pure and
simple, was the bringing up of a child in that man’s
estimation. There is no luck, no lottery, no gam
bling in the bringing up of children, and the sooner
this is accepted and appreciated the better. Until
it is so accepted and appreciated, all work in home,
school, and church is handicapped.
The "Blessing of Unrealized Ideals.
dreams come true. She died before the dawn of the
morning, but the dawn is now breaking, and we are
realizing something of the blessedness of her sow
ing. We are now teaching in our public schools
and in our colleges and seminaries and universities
the scientific principles that she tried to have
worked out; these scientific principles with refer
ence to the evils of strong drink. They are being
enthroned in the hearts and brains and the conduct
of American youth; and as they become citizens
they are working out these principles at the polls.
The spirit of Frances Willard is beginning to shine
out in this country. They did well when they built
a monument over that grave to mark the resting
place of the pioneer prophetess of the cause of tem
perance. But the citizens of this country can do
far better than that in calling again to life the de
parted spirit of Frances E. Willard in living prinm
pies 2nd deeds reincarnated in conduct and char
acter.
I am thinking of another prophet in the same
great battle, whose remains lie yonder today in Car
tersville. It was the longing of the life of Sam
Jones to see his state freed from the legalized liquor
traffic. He fought for it and talked for it a*,
to it as no other man ever did. They called him a
crank and a fanatic. They said he was a drcamei.
but the dream of the dreamer has become a fact in
the law of his state; and today Sam P. Jones walks
“Do you say that you do not mean luck in the
gambler’s sense, but merely as a phase of misfor
tune? In that sense there may come into your
boy’s life accident, disease, uncontrollable condi
tions, but even then, rightly trained, he may often
make infinitely more of himself because of mis
fortune.
“ ‘lt is nothing against you to fall down flat,
To lie there, that’s disgrace.’
“In a Western State normal school I saw a young
man, as wrecked a physical being as I ever saw.
My heart ached for him, and I showed it, could but
show it, until I was told of the uselessness of his
life prior to the accident and the immense success
thereof since. Then I rejoiced. His writings bring
him fame and fortune. ‘I never had time to do
anything well before,’ he said.
“Buch instances are innumerable. It is safe to
say that from any point of view not one boy in a
thousand is in the most remote way affected by
luck in his bringing up or coming up.
“When a boy goes to the bad it is luck. When
he comes out well it is magic. Over some boys
and girls is a magic wand. Astrologers, fortune
tellers, thrive in vicious fashion because so many
foolish people believe that in some way success
must come by magic. We teach it and preach it
unwittingly. Listen to the teaching and preach
ing about Lincoln and Garfield, Grant and Sheri
dan, Farragut and Dewey, Carnegie and Rockefel
ler, Bell and Edison, and other men who are lion
ized because of their unexpected success, choosing
as types wholly exceptional instances in which pecu
liarly forming circumstances played a part. Infin
itely more important is it to teach by precept
and example, in pulpit and press, that it is better
to be a success and laugh at the world for not
knowing than not to be a success and laugh at the
world for not knowing it. There is no more magic
in success than there is luck in failure. It is as
vicious to have a boy dream of one as to have a
nightmare over the other.
“Train a boy to look to himself and not to his
stars. ’ ’
What better “Christmas Thought” can one have
than that inspired by the life and work of such a
man as W. D. Upshaw?
§j§3)
and talks incarnate in the citizenship of his be
loved state.
VISIONS AND DREAMS.
Do not let any man becloud your vision. The
world is what it is today because of visions and
dreams of which the dreamers never saw the vcali
zation. And if you have such a man in your midst
be far from criticizing him for his imperfect realiza
tion of his ideals. Rather thank God that there are
those who have visions that are far in advanc? o p
what is being actually accomplished, for the day
will come when the world will see of the travail of
such souls and thank God.
The same principle applies to our spiritual life.
If this were not true we would all be converted into
spiritual pessimists. If we are to equal the holi
ness of character, the perfection of life that char
acterized our Lord and Savior, then w r e of all men
are most miserable. I say to you that it is impossi
ble for a poor, weak, trembling, mortal man, to
equal the holiness of that character, the unselfish
ness of that life. It cannot be. Jesus is given as
the expression of the Father’s ideal for humanity,
and the ideal must be beyond the possible realiza
tion of mortal man. Jesus would not have been
Jesus, He would not have been God, if He had not
been superior to the best. But, oh, my brethren,
God does not excuse the shirking of those of us who
might, better. Man is held responsible for the
failur^ o : 7fc .triumph over every known sin that be
sets b ! and the more he sees of Jesu§ and th?
The Golden Age for December 24, 1908.
more he aspires to be like Him, the better will be
his life, the higher will be his achievement and the
more blessing the world will receive from His lifo.
This is not the day of reward. This is the day ,of
record, and when the day of reward comes around
you and I are not going to be rewarded simply
for what we have done, we are going to be reward
ed for the passion and the purpose of our hearts;
things that we would have done that we could no L .
do because our hands were tied.
I have had my day of dreams. Some have been
partially realized; others may be, and as I thin 5 '
of this, I thank God for this text. It shines int~»
my soul and thrills and nerves me as nothing else
ever has. Thou seest it, Lord; enshrined upon my
soul a veritable stigmata*; the marks of a holy pas
sion, unrealized, but not forgotten.
Oh, young man and young woman, aspire to the
best! Seek that which is highest and purest and
holiest. Never be content with the life lived by the
men and women around you; aspire to that life
which is so high above you.
This thought was deeply imbued in the mind and
heart of Browning, the sweetest of all our poets,
and he speaks words that seem to me to have been
coined out of the very heart and power of God:
“All we have willed or hoped or dreamed of good
shall exist.
Not its semblance, but itself; no beauty, nor good,
nor power
Whose voice has gone forth, but each survives fo~
the melodist
When eternity affirms the conception of an hour.
The high that; proved too high, the heroic for earth
too hard,
The passion that left the ground to lose itself in
the sky,
Are music sent up to God by the lover and the
bat’d,
Enough that He heard it once; we shall hear : t
by and by.”
* *
"The Captain *s Surprise .
(Continued from Page Three.)
impulse, she took her hand from her attendant’s
arm and walked quickly back to the woman’s side.
Laying her hand on the slender shoulder, she said:
“You are in trouble; it may be I can help you.
Come to me early tomorrow morning. You will see
my address on this card.”
She pressed a card, and with it a two-dollar bill,
into the cold, bare little hand, and patting the boy’s
curly head, said, “Take him out of the cold at
once,” and hastened back to the carriage. When
she rejoined Captain Ligon, she saw from his face
and manner that lie was disturbed and displeased.
Glancing at the purse in her hand, he said scornful
ly, “So you salved her grievance with money; that
was what she was after. Tt is impulsive women like
you who keep impostors going. ”
“Oh, well,” she answered, “it is better to be
imposed on in many instances than to miss one
chance of helping a distressed fellow mortal!”
He made no reply. Handing her to to a seat in
the carriage, he bowed and with a brief good-night
was turning off, when she leaned from the carriage
window and, holding out her hand, said: “Don’t
forget that you are to dine with us tomorrow even
ing.”
Her cordial tone reassured him. He raised her
hand to his lips, murmuring passionately, “Do I
ever forget any opportunity to be where you are?”
When he had gone, and the horses were about to
start off, she caught sight of John Knox, who was
passing. Their eyes met and he bowed slightly and
was walking on when she called to him. After hesi
tating an instant, he came up to the carriage. She
held out her hand to him, saying: “I was so sur
prised to see you among the audience; when did you
arrive?”
“This afternoon.” He coldly took and dropped
her offered hand; had he not just seen it bent over
devotedly by another man?
“I know Eleanor was overjoyed to see you. Your
coming will give her and the children a happy holi
day.”
(Concluded next Week.)
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