ON SETTING A GOOD EXAMPLE.
"Poor indeed thou must be, if around thee
Thou no ray of light and joy canst throw,
If no silken cord of love hath bound thee
To some little world through weal and woe.
If no eyes thy tender love can brighten,
No fond voices answer to thine own,
If no brother's sorrow thou canst lighten
By daily sympathy and gentle tone.
Daily struggling, though enclosed and lonely,
Every day a rich reward will give;
Thou wilt find, by hearty striving only
And truly loving, thou canst truly live."
Harriet Winslow.
There is no subject of those on which I have written as yet in this book, or of those on which I shall write, that I believe to be of greater importance than that of setting a good example to others. Amongst other things our influence on one another has been compared to the action of the sea. And indeed the comparison is a good one. The sea is a mighty power, stronger perhaps than any other natural force. It is constantly and silently at work. We stand on a rock in the midst of the ocean; a rock that looks so firm, and seems so hard that it blunts the sharpest tools to work it. And yet, quite silently, the restless sea is eating into its very heart with its ceaseless beatings. And so is it with influence, or example. Silently, but none the less surely, do we make our influence felt upon each other. The influence may be bad or good; it may be a bad or good example we are setting, or a bad or good word that we speak, still there are always plenty of people ready to take it up and copy it. Probably for every person we can see to be influenced by our example, there are at least ten of whom we know nothing. Reader, these are solemn thoughts. The idle word you spoke yesterday has gone beyond recall; but God heard it and noted both it and its effect upon those who stood by. And you may one day find that that word has caused a world of sorrow to spring up around it. Yes, we cannot unspeak a word carelessly spoken, or unthink one evil thought. How often we hear it said, "Alas! I possess no influence, what can I do?" Now it is true that many have no wealth, no beauty, no rank, no intellect, no learning; but there never has been a heart created since the world began, that has not received and exerted the precious, though much-abused gift of influence. How is this? Just because every heart has the power of loving! There is a story told of Cecil's little daughter, who was asked by her father how it was that everybody loved her so much. "I think, dear father," replied the child, "it must be because I love everybody." Here, then, is a work we all can do, and we all have to do. "Love is power." The sunshine has to do its work; it penetrates the darkest places, the dirtiest streets, the most dismal prisons; it brings light and heat to the chilled and cold; it gives colour to the flower, and ripeness to the fruit. And so it is with good influence. The influence of one loving heart may do a world of good. It may not be a powerful heart; it need not be the heart of a learned man; still less need it be the heart of a rich one; so long as it is a loving heart it will go about cheering and lighting up, warming and colouring and ripening all things like the sun.
Many good people seem to think it a duty to keep their hearts locked up tight from their fellow men. Have you ever thought seriously of the sin of doing this? Have you ever thought that such a course makes the religion of your gentle, kindly, warm-hearted Master appear in a cold and disagreeable form? Have you ever thought that as the Lord Jesus looks upon the cup of cold water bestowed on a neighbour as given to Him, so He will look upon the wounded feeling, the repulsed confidence, the bruised spirit, you have occasioned as given to Him too? Oh! it is a sad thing to fold up in a napkin the talent of manner; to lose, as it were, the key of the door which opens the hearts of men.
But if you are using your influence, don't be afraid to use it for Christ; to be an out-and-out Christian! Those are the sort He always blesses in the end, and their works follow them long after they have passed onward to their reward.
Not long ago, in a Sussex village, there lived a young man, a farm-labourer. He had often wished to stay in church for Holy Communion, which he knew well would help him, beyond all else, in the good and earnest life he was trying to lead. Still the fear of his companions' laughter held him back. One Sunday morning, however, after praying much for God's help to aid him to do what was right, he knelt on, when the others had left the church, and went up to receive the Holy Communion. On coming out of church his friends began to laugh at him for staying, but he said nothing, and walked quietly home. Sunday after Sunday he persevered, though it was hard work, and he was often tempted to give way. Months passed, and one Sunday another boy came and knelt down beside him, instead of leaving church, and he too received the Holy Communion. A few Sundays after they were joined by another, and after that more and more of the young men of that parish began to follow their example. Nor did the good resulting from this end there. These young men are now banded together in that parish, working together for the same great Master Christ, each in his own occupation, and leading others to the knowledge of the Saviour. And all this came from the courage of that one brave soldier of Christ, who used his influence in his Captain's cause. Reader, will not you go and do likewise?
Hitherto I have spoken only of the good influence we may exercise upon our companions and on strangers. What shall I say of the influence we may exercise on our home? Ere this, one Christian man has been known to change the whole manner of life of a household. St. Paul tells us in his Epistle to Timothy to "shew piety at home;" and after all it is in our own homes that we must bear witness for Jesus Christ. Speak up for Christ when occasion demands it, above all live a Christian life, and then the lives of those around you will be brought more under the influence of religion. But to young men particularly is the call to influence others loudest and clearest, and to set a good example their plain duty--
"Young men be strong for Jesus,
To toil for Him is gain--
And Jesus wrought for Joseph
With chisel, saw, and plane."
HELPING OTHERS.
"The cowslip and the spreading vine,
The daisy in the grass,
The snow-drop and the eglantine,
Preach sermons as we pass.
The ant within its cavern deep
Would bid us labour too,
And writes upon its tiny heap--
'There's work enough to do.'
To have a heart for those who weep,
The sottish drunkard win;
To rescue all the children deep
In ignorance and sin;
To help the poor, the hungry feed;
To give him coat and shoe;
To see that all can write and read--
Is 'work enough to do.'"
John Burbidge.