Part 5 (2/2)

O ever earnest sea!

Constant in flow and ebb, Heaving to moon and sun, Unchanging in thy change, Teach me thy earnest ways, That mine may be a life of steadfast work and praise.

HORATIUS BONAR.

3. _We should carry earnestness into our religious life_.--This above all. There are many who tolerate earnestness in other things, but who look upon it as dangerous in connection with religion. It is regarded as of very questionable value, and spoken of with doubt and suspicion.

Let a man become earnest in prayer, earnest in work, or rise in any way above the dead level in which so many are content to rest, and he will be often spoken of in tones of pity, sneered at as a fanatic, or denounced as an impostor. This suspicion with which earnestness in the Church of Christ is often regarded may be accounted for. (_a_) There has been a vast deal of zeal in the Church about religion which has not been zeal for religion: about matters of ritual, Church government, and the like. (_b_) Zeal has been often expended in contentions about small points of doctrine; often about those very points which are shrouded in mystery. (_c_) Zeal has been often manifested in the interest of sect and party rather than of Christ. (_d_) Zeal has often taken persecution for her ally, and wielded among men the weapons of earthly warfare. For these reasons its appearance in the Church is often regarded as we might regard the erection in a town of a gunpowder magazine which, at any moment, might produce disorder, ruin, and death.

_Yet Scripture regards earnestness in religion as essential_.--Indifference and lukewarmness it regards as hateful (Rev.

iii. 15, 16). It calls us to a solemn choice and to a lifelong service. Its heroes are those who lived in the spirit of Brainerd's prayer, ”Oh, that I were a flaming fire in the service of my G.o.d.”

There is an allegory of Luther which may be quoted here. ”The devil,”

he says, ”held a great anniversary, at which his emissaries were convened to report the results of their several missions. 'I let loose the wild beasts of the desert,' said one, 'on a caravan of Christians, and their bones are now bleaching on the sands.' 'What of that?' said the devil; 'their souls were all saved.' 'I drove the east wind,' said another, 'against a s.h.i.+p freighted with Christians, and they were all drowned.' 'What of that?' said the devil; 'their souls were all saved.' 'For ten years I tried to get a single Christian asleep,' said a third, 'and I succeeded, and left him so.' Then the devil shouted, and the night stars of h.e.l.l sang for joy.”

There are three spheres of religious life in which earnestness should be specially shown.

1. _In prayer_.--This is specially inculcated in the two parables of our Lord, the ”unjust judge” and ”the friend at midnight,” and in His own words, ”Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” One, it is said, came to Demosthenes, the great orator, and asked him to plead his cause. He heard him without attention while he told his story without earnestness. The man saw this, and cried out anxiously that it was all true. ”Ah!” said Demosthenes, ”I believe you _now_.” The earnest prayer is the prevailing prayer.

2. _In sacrifice_.--This is in all life the test of earnestness. The student giving up time for the acquisition of knowledge; the merchant giving up his hours to the pursuit of business; the explorer braving the heat of the tropics and the cold of the arctic regions in his zeal for discovery. It is the same in religion. We must count all things, with St. Paul, ”as loss, that we may win Christ, and be found in Him.”

3. _In impressing others_.--It is ”out of the heart that the mouth speaketh,” and power to impress others is given only to those who do so with a full heart, and who are consumed with a burning zeal for the salvation of souls. These are they whom G.o.d has, in all ages, blessed in the conversion of men.

CHAPTER X.

MANNERS.

The word manners comes from the Latin _ma.n.u.s_, the hand, and literally means the mode in which a thing is handled--behavior, deportment.

Manners may be defined as the pleasing or unpleasing expression of our thoughts and intentions, whether in word or action. We may say or do a thing in an agreeable or a disagreeable way. According as we choose the one or the other, our manners may be said to be good or bad.

Good manners are the result of two things.--(_a_) Self-respect and (_b_) consideration for the feelings of others. The man who respects himself will be careful to say or do nothing that may seem to others degrading or unworthy. The man who has consideration for the feelings of others will be equally careful to do or say nothing that may give them pain, or be offensive to them.

Good manners beautify character.--It was a celebrated saying of an old bishop, William of Wykeham, ”Manners maketh man.” This is, however, only partially true. Manners do not make a man any more than good clothes make a man, but if he _is made_ they greatly improve him. Some have been truly excellent who have had an uncouth and unpolished address, but that was rather to their disadvantage than otherwise.

”Rough diamonds” are always precious, but a diamond that is cut and polished, while it retains its value, is much more beautiful. Civility of speech, politeness of address, courtesy in our dealings with others, are qualities that adorn a man, whilst rudeness, incivility, roughness in behavior, detract greatly from his value, and injure his usefulness.

Tennyson's words are true:

Manners are not idle, but the fruit Of n.o.ble nature and of loyal mind.

Good manners tend greatly to success in life.--Coa.r.s.eness and gruffness lock doors, gentleness and refinement open them, while the rude, boorish man is shunned by all. Take the case of a speaker addressing a public meeting. What he says is weighty and important. His arguments are powerful and well marshalled, but his speech is uncouth and disagreeable. He says things that are coa.r.s.e and vulgar. His bad manner vastly takes away from the impression which he desires to make, and which, if his manner had been different, he would have made.

Again, two young men serve in a place of business. The one is gentle in his demeanor, meets his customers with a pleasant smile, is always polite. The other is rough in his deportment, apparently does not care whether those he deals with are pleased or not. The one is a favorite with everybody; the other, who may be equally worthy as far as character is concerned, is disliked.

Good manners often disarm opposition.--People may have a prejudice against ourselves personally, or against the cause we represent. It is wonderful, however, how much may be done to soften them by habitual courtesy towards them, and by studiously avoiding anything calculated to offend them or rouse their anger. A wise man will always endeavor to be specially civil towards any one who differs from him. It is related that in the early days of the Abolition movement in the United States, two men went out preaching: one, a sage old Quaker, brave and calm; the other, a fervid young man. When the Quaker lectured, the audience were all attention, and his arguments met with very general concurrence. But when it came to the young man's turn, a tumult invariably ensued, and he was pelted off the platform. Surprised by their different receptions, the young man asked the Quaker the reason.

”Friend,” he said, ”you and I are on the same mission; we preach the same things; how is it that while _you_ are received so cordially, I get nothing but abuse?” ”I will tell thee,” replied the Quaker; ”thee says, 'If you do so and so, you shall be punished,' and I say, 'My friends, if you will _but_ do so and so, you shall not be punished.'

It is not what we say, but how we say it.” [1] In _The Memorials of a Quiet Life_ it is said of Augustus Hare that, on a road along which he frequently pa.s.sed, there was a workman employed in its repair who met his gentle questions and observations with gruff answers and sour looks. But as day after day the persevering mildness of his words and manner still continued, the rugged features of the man gave way, and his tone a.s.sumed a softer character. Politeness is the oiled key that will open many a rusty lock.

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