Don't spurn to be a rushlight
Because you are not a star;
But brighten some bit of darkness
By shining just where you are.
There is need of the tiniest candle
As well as the garish sun;
The humblest deed is ennobled
When it is worthily done.
You may never be called to brighten
The darkened regions afar;
So fill, for the day, your mission
By shining just where you are.
Just where you are, my brother,
Just where God bids you stand,
Tho down in the deepest shadow,
Instead of the sunlit land;
You may carry a brightness with you
That no gloom or darkness can mar,
For the light of a Christlike spirit
Will be shining wherever you are.
(Text.)
(1870)
Living in the Faith of Jesus—See Christ, Faith in.
LIVING IN THE SHADOW
The second Duke of Wellington inherited
a great talent for reticence from his father,
and did not succeed to his title until he
was forty-five. He had served in the army
and in the House of Commons without
making his mark in either save by conscientious
attention to duty. In the House of
Lords, however, shortly after taking his
seat, he delivered a speech revealing such
an intimate knowledge of public business,
and of such luminous good sense, as to
occasion surprize. Among those who congratulated
him was "the candid friend" always
present on such occasions. This
"candid friend" explained to the duke that
the latter had been generally regarded as
a "colorless" man, and congratulated him
on disproving the charge. The duke made
a reply, applicable to many, saying, "If you
had sat in the shade of a great tree for
almost fifty years very likely people would
have regarded you as colorless, too."
George V, like the second Duke of Wellington, has for almost half a century lived in the shadow of a great tree. From infancy up to his twenty-seventh year he was in the second rank of public interest. Not a negligible quantity, he yet could not be, while the Duke of Clarence lived, conspicuous. Moreover, he was wise to sink his royal personality in the discharge of his duty as a naval officer. The British have peculiar tastes and standards, and they do not altogether like to see a younger member of the royal family very conspicuous in public affairs. A "pushful" prince would be almost obnoxious to their traditions. A royal general or a royal admiral must not lead too much, or the old jealousy of militarism might crop out in the nation, which licenses the existence of its standing army only from year to year. Consequently George V, when Duke of York and subsequently when Prince of Wales, may have been called upon to dissemble, and he may yet demonstrate that his reputation as a colorless man is due to the public inability to understand what constitutes the spectrum of character.—Boston Transcript.
(1871)
LIVING, STRENGTH FOR
There was a time when low on bended knee,
With outstretched hand and wet uplifted eye
I cried: O Father, teach me how to die,
And give me strength Death's awful face to see
And not to fear. Henceforth my prayer shall be;
Help me to live. Stern life stalks by
Relentless and inexorable, no cry
For help or pity moveth her as she
Gives to each one the burden of the day.
Therefore, let us pray:
Give us the strength we need to live, O Lord.
—Julia C. R. Dorr.
(1872)
Living, The, as an Asset—See Motive, Mercenary.
LIVING THE GOSPEL
An American teacher was employed in
Japan in a government school, on the understanding
that during school hours he should
not utter a word on the subject of Christianity.
The engagement was faithfully kept,
and he lived before his students the Christ
life, but never spoke of it to them. Not a
word was said to influence the young men
committed to his care, but so beautiful was
his character, and so blameless his example,
that forty of the students without his knowledge,
met in a grove and signed a secret
covenant to abandon idolatry. Twenty-five
of them entered the Kyoto Christian Training
School and some of them are now
preaching the gospel which their teacher unconsciously
commended.
(1873)
