| The Way of Victory |
Chapter 4 |
Page 5 |
Those who live in accordance with the principles laid down by the Wise Man will grow old in peace; they will be valued counsellors; for them the hoary head will be a crown of glory. White hair is not dishonourable; it is something to be venerated and respected if the man be a good man. Old age ought always to be beautiful. The young people who study this lesson may imagine that they have nothing to do with this verse; that it belongs only to the old. But all of us may be old some day, and our old age will depend upon the way we live from our youth up. Old age is the harvest of all the years from childhood. A wasted youth and early manhood embitter life’s advanced years. If we would have our hoary head a crown of glory, when the hairs whiten on us, we must live a beautiful life, an unselfish life, a holy life, pure, true, useful. Robert Browning says in one of his poems:
“Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made.
Our times are in His hand
Who saith, ‘A whole I planned.’
Youth shows but half; trust God, see all, nor be afraid.”
As long as there are those who will speak evil of their acquaintances there will be need for those who will oppose them, not by anger and malice, but by quietness and calmness. “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” The greatest victories are not won upon battle-fields, with roar of cannon and rattle of musketry, but in human breasts, where no one hears the noise of the struggle. It is a nobler thing to conquer one’s self than to conquer any human foe. There are men who can command an army, but cannot command themselves. We should train ourselves to be slow to anger. We must learn self-control. The highest ability in manhood and womanhood is the power of ruling one’s own spirit. An apostle tells us that the tongue is the hardest thing in all the world to tame-harder than lions and tigers or other wild beasts. Nevertheless the lesson can be learned. Here is a good chance for everyone to become a hero.
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