p. 338 | In Bonds by Christian Union

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jun 4, 1885

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 22.

In Bonds.

By Christian Union

THE world will never forget the homeward march of the ten thousand Greeks under Xenophon. It was not a victorious advance; it was not a fruitful conquest; it was a retreat, and yet forever memorable among all the brilliant exploits of valiant men. It was a great and unforgettable achievement because of the numberless and terrible obstacles which were overcome. The Greeks were more than a thousand miles from the sea which washed their native shores; deep, swift rivers, a wild country, mountain ranges, hunger, thirst, and interminable marches, lay between them and any hope of safety; they were an insignificant band of ten thousand among hostile millions. What wonder, then, that when they saw at last the vision of the blue Ægean the tears sprung to their eyes, and they cried aloud in their joy? All the world has heard their shout, and remembers how they turned defeat into immortal victory.

Paul was all his life confronted by tremendous obstacles; weakness of body, hatred of Jews, misconception of Christians, bonds, scourgings, imprisonments, trials, shipwrecks, crowd the few chapters which tell the story of his active life. He never had a free field on which to display at leisure, and in the order of a deliberate planning, all the forces and gifts of his nature; he was always in bonds of some sort; and yet, shackled, cramped, and burdened, what a triumphant life was his! What a victorious march was that which began at Damascus, on the borders of the oldest civilization, and ended at Rome, on the confines of the great new world that was rising in Western Europe! Paul, a prisoner, was more potent than the Roman emperor with the resources of the world in his hand!

No man lives whose life is entirely free from limitations, restrictions, and burdens; in one way or another we all are crippled, disabled, hampered; bonds are part of the universal experience. This is a dark fact, but not a discouraging one; it weakens only those who choose to be made weak by it; to all others it is a source of power. The measure of success in life is not clear, symmetrical achievement; it is the result attained as against the obstacles in the path. The man who starts with bad blood in his veins, bad surroundings in his childhood, imperfect education, and advances to honesty, honor, and influence in a humble sphere, has done a far greater deed than he who, starting with good influences rocking his cradle, overshadowing his childhood, and opening all the gates of opportunity as he advances, moves to the front rank and dies in the fullness of a rounded career; the first and less apparent success required the greater forth-putting of power, and was therefore the greater achievement. When drifts lie piled upon the track the locomotive puts forth as much mechanical energy in going a mile as would be required for the swift journey of a hundred miles along an unobstructed road.

In every community there are men and women painfully conscious of their limitations, defects of nature and training, and who are tempted to fold their hands in despair because they are too feeble to advance the world's work. If they were rich, they say to themselves, they would give bountifully; if they were educated, they would stand bravely at the front; if they had social position, they would make noble use of the influence it gives; if they had even inherited a good name, they would do something worth doing; but none of these things are theirs, and therefore they are useless to their fellows! They are prisoners, but, unlike Paul, they sit and look at their chains, instead of standing erect, and letting their bonds emphasize the victory of the spirit.

It is to just such lives—lives hampered, limited, burdened—that the noblest heroisms and the most honorable achievements are possible. To inherit a blemished name, and yet to be sweet, patient, and silent, is to draw healing waters from a bitter fountain, and to turn weakness into strength; to be without education, and yet to strive constantly for enlargement of life, is to develop that intelligence which is the supreme result of the highest training; to be poor, obscure, and without social recognition, and yet to be helpful, without malice or envy, doing one's work with scant recognition, but in the spirit of Christ, is to add another to the careers which enrich and redeem the world. To be in bonds, and yet be strong, is to achieve a success such as greatly endowed natures often miss. Noble in the vision of God, and in the light of eternity, are they who, being hampered and burdened, strive heroically, live hopefully, and die triumphantly.—Christian Union.