| Strength and Beauty |
Chapter 21 |
Page 4 |
In all our life we need to cultivate a restful spirit. No duty is enjoined in the Scriptures more frequently than the duty of peace. Worry is one of the things that are not worth while – it never brings any good; it never adds to the happiness; it never blesses. Worry must be left out of the ideal life. Worry rushes on unquietly and does not mind the rests. Peace, on the other hand, is an essential element in all beautiful, strong, and happy life. Peace carefully observes all the rests and produces perfect music. It knows how to be quiet and still as well as how to speak or sing.
Sometimes we are compelled to take rests in our busy life, even when we have no thought of doing so. We are in the midst of a rapid movement, hurrying on with great eagerness, when suddenly we find a rest written on the staff, and we must pause in our music. One of the most suggestive words in the Shepherd Psalm is the phrase, “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.” Sometimes God has to make us lie down, for if he did not we would never pause for a moment. We really need these rests to make the music full and rich, and God can get them into our hurried life in no way but by compelling us to take them.
Nature teaches us the necessity for periods of inactivity. Winter arrests the growth of trees. The long months when there are no leaves and no fruits seem to be lost. But we know that winter is no mistake, and that the time is not lost or wasted when the tree is resting. It is only gathering the forces for next year’s growth and fruitage. Every life, too, has its winters, when everything seems to stop; but there is no loss in the quiet waiting. One writes:
“In every life
There’s a pause that is better than onward rush,
Better than hewing or mightiest doing;
‘Tis the standing still at sovereign will.
“There’s a hush that is better than ardent speech,
Better than a sighing or wilderness crying;
‘Tis the being still at sovereign will.
“The pause and the hush sing a double song
In unison low and for all time long.
O human soul, God’s working plan
“Goes on, nor needs the aid of man!
Stand still, and see!
Be still, and know!”
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