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FORBEARANCE

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 13, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 40.

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FORBEARANCE.

QUARRELING is impossible in the presence of sweet unselfishness. Charles Kingsley tells a true story which exemplifies the spirit of renunciation for others, which is the very opposite of the selfish spirit. It is that of two hermit monks who had lived together in closest friendship for years, with no thought of envy or selfish rivalry in the mind of either. At last it occurred to them to try the experiment of a quarrel after the common fashion of the world. "How can we quarrel?" asked one. "Oh," said the other, "we can take this brick and put it between us and each can claim it! Then we'll quarrel over it." And that plan was agreed on. "This brick is mine," said the one. "I hope it is mine," said the other gently. "Well, if it is yours, take it," said the other, who could never hear his companion express a wish for anything without having a desire to get it for him. So the quarrel failed through the unselfishness of both.—Selected.