| The Every Day of Life |
Chapter 4 |
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Yet quietness is a lesson that is set for us with great frequency in the Bible. We are told that the effect of righteousness is quietness. The Shepherd leads his sheep by the still waters. We are told to study to be quiet, to be ambitious to be quiet, as a marginal reading gives it. The apparel of a meek and quiet spirit, St. Peter says, “Is it a womanly adorning which is in the sight of God of great price.” A dry morsel and quietness therewith, the wise man tells us, is better than feasting with strife. Then we are assured that in quietness and in confidence there is strength.
Thus the thought of quietness shines with very bright lustre in the scriptures. It is used sometimes in its literal sense. Evidently God does not like noise. Them sometimes it is used to denote the restful spirit. Restlessness it is not spiritually beautiful. Peace is a high attainment. Thus quietness indicates a rich Christian culture. It is not easily reached. Soldiers say that in war it is much harder to stand still under fire than it is to rush into the battle. It is easier to be in the midst of the active duties and struggles of spiritual life than it is to be compelled to wait and be still. Waiting is harder than working. For many people it requires more strength to work quietly than it does to bluster. It is only the great engine that runs noiselessly; the little machine fusses and sputters. Quietness in a man or a woman is a mark of strength.
Many persons suppose that noise indicates strength. They think a person is a great preacher just in proportion to the loudness of their voice. Eloquence is noise. Boanerges had great spiritual power. The noisy man was the strong one. People who make the most bluster and show are the greatest workers. But a closer observation soon shows us that this is an untrue measurement. Loudness is not power.
This great preacher was the one who most deeply and widely impressed other lives, turning them from sin to holiness and made them blessings in the world. Noise is impertinent in Christ’s work and only detracts from the preacher’s power.
“We mar our work for God by noise and bustle;
Can we not do our part and not be heard?
Why should we care that men should see us
With our tools, and praise the skill with which we use them?
And oftentimes we chafe and think it hard
That we should lay our ‘great’ and ‘costly’ stones
For other men to build on and get praised,
While our names are forgotten or passed o’er.”
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