p. 8 | Note and Comment

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Aug 27, 1914

Note and Comment

The High Cost of Success

WORLDLY success is oftentimes purchased at a terrible sacrifice. Men expend money and energy, and even life itself, for the attainment of some end which, after all, is of little worth when gained. This is exemplified particularly in the great world of sport. A recent number of the Christian Advocate tells of an instantaneous photograph which was taken recently just as the Yale boat crossed the finish line in the race with Harvard:—

The camera showed that no sooner was the struggle ended than, perhaps before they knew whether victory or defeat was theirs, two of the Yale contestants bent limply over their oars exhausted, while the oarsman who pulled the stroke fell back in complete collapse upon the bottom of the boat, where a comrade restored him to consciousness by dashing water in his face. The struggle had been terrific, and at its

climax the winning crew had almost succumbed to the frightful strain.

And this tremendous expenditure of nerve and energy was made, says the Advocate, to secure “a superiority over competitors which measured one fifth of a second in time and a few inches in space.” This spirit of competition and of reckless rivalry enters into practically all the great games of the present time. We see it not only in boat races, but in ball games, in horse races, and in every great competitive sport. It is a wild species of gambling. It brings no reward in the end, but a mere bauble of passing glory, while the contestants are oftentimes maimed or disabled for life.

If the followers of the Master manifested such zeal and enthusiasm in Christian service, the world would count them mad. But the Christian race should call out far more earnest effort than do the competitive tests of the world. See 1 Cor. 9: 24-27.