I do not see
Why God should e'en permit some things to be,
When He is love.
But I can see
Tho often dimly through the mystery,
His hand above!
I do not know
Where falls the seed that I have tried to sow
With greatest care,
But I shall know
The meaning of each waiting hour below,
Sometime, somewhere!
I do not look
Upon the present, nor in nature's book,
To read my fate;
But I do look
For promised blessings in God's holy Book,
And I can wait. (Text.)
(2716)
Paul Laurence Dunbar, the negro poet, occupied a unique position in the literary world. W. D. Howells called him the only man of pure African blood and of American civilization to feel the negro life esthetically and express it lyrically. While he was dying of consumption,
he contributed to Lippincott's this verse-sermon of resignation:
Because I had loved so deeply, Because I had loved so long, God in his great compassion Gave me the gift of song. Because I had loved so vainly And sung with such faltering breath, The Master in infinite mercy Offers the boon of death. (Text.)
(2717)
RESISTANCE Sit upon the shore close to the water's edge, and let the sand teach you how to resist. It runs out underneath the water, and just lies there; and when the wave hurls its tons upon it, the sand gives way, but makes the water move it. When the water rushes furiously landward, the sand goes with it, but not quite so fast; and when the wave retreats, the sand runs back, but not quite so far. It always stands close to its enemy, and a little in front of him, never lets him strike from a distance, and never allows him to make any permanent mark. It never runs away, and never melts, and it always separates itself from its antagonist and lies ready for another attack. Always prepared for a blow, it never gives one.—James M. Stifler, "The Fighting Saint."
(2718)
The modern treatment of moral germs should be similar to that used in modern surgery: The new era, which is to succeed the present or "pathologic" era in surgery, is the "physiologic," and in it we are to take less care about the entrance of possible germs into our surgical wounds and more about keeping the patient in such condition that he can resist them if they do get in.—Literary Digest.
(2719)
It is said that Napoleon once ordered a coat of mail. When the artizan completed and delivered it, the emperor ordered him to put it on himself. Then Napoleon, taking a pistol, fired shot after shot at the man in armor. It stood this severe test, and was accepted.
(2720)
RESISTANCE AS A LEVERAGE
I know not how the stork, "leaning upon
the sirocco," makes a leverage of the opposing
element for her swift flight. I leave
the naturalist to explain that. But I do
know that the sirocco is a challenge to her
unerring instinct and strength of wing. God
manipulates the wind. The stork manipulates
her wings. And the working of the
combination results advantageously to the
stork. She does not lean upon the sirocco
wind as you would lean upon a couch. That
would result in a fall and the bird would
be dashed in pieces. The leaning is accompanied
by action. While the buoyancy of
the air bears her up, the balancing of the
wings bears her on. That air-cushion is no
"downy bed of ease." It is a thing to be
encountered and overcome. She makes the
adversary contribute to her progress. The
thing from which men shrink is the thing
the bird dares.—C. J. Greenwood.
(2721)
Resistance by Softness—See Substances, Penetrating.
RESOLUTENESS
The famous antarctic explorer, Sir Ernest
Shackelton, has astonished his friends by
his persistency of purpose. He was long ill
