“Ask God to give these skill
In comfort’s art,
That thou mayst consecrated be
And set apart unto a life of sympathy,
For heavy is the weight of ill,
In every heart;
And comforters are needed much
Of Christ-like touch.”
It is a sin to be a hinderer. You who make it harder for others to live are doing the adversary’s work. We are in this world to lighten burdens, to gather the stones out of the way and to make the road of life a little easier. This is the law of Christian life. Noblesse oblique, we say, as we us (both men and women) enjoying rare privileges of any kind. They cannot live for themselves; if they do they must lose all. They must hold all their gifts and powers for the blessing of others.
“If I am weak and you are strong,
Why then, why then.
To you the braver deeds belong;
And so, again,
If you have gifts and I have none,
If I have shade and if you have sun,
‘Tis yours with freer hand to give,
‘Tis yours with truer grace to live,
Than I, who giftless, sunless, stand
With barren life and hand.
‘Tis wisdom’s law, the perfect code,
By loved inspired;
Of them on whom much is bestowed
Is much required.
The tuneful throat is bid to sing,
The oak must reign the forest’s king;
The rustling stream the wheel must move,
The beaten steel its strength must prove.
‘Tis given unto the eagle’s eyes to face the midday skies.”
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