"BEAR YE ONE ANOTHER'S BURDENS."
By E. J. Burnham
THE apostle exhorts, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." Gal. 6:2. Christ is the great Burden-bearer. The prophet says of Him: "Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. . . . And the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Isa. 53:4-6. In taking upon Himself our griefs and sins, He opened to us the door of hope for this world and the next. And as He has borne our burdens, He bids us follow His example in bearing the burdens of others. There are plenty of opportunities for burden-bearing. "Life is indeed no holiday; therein
Are want and woe and sin." Many a hand is stretched out for aid. "Ye have the poor with you always," the Saviour says. But there are other needy ones besides those who are suffering for the necessaries of life. To many a toiler "bearing his load on the rough road of life," a little help may make all the difference between success and failure. Our sympathy is called for. The world is full of people with sore hearts. "Who of us know
The heartaches of the men we meet
Each day in passing on the busy street,
The woes and cares that press them,
Forebodings that distress them—
Who of us know?" Some appeal for sympathy; others wear a smiling face. They do not like to talk of their own troubles, and are unwilling that others should make even a slight demand on their sympathies. They would forget sorrow. But in any case a few bright, pleasant words will awaken a quick response. The cheerful, sunny sympathy of unselfish love will touch the secret springs of the heart. And every attempt— "To help to bear the burdens of their care
By tender word, and loving look, and prayer,"
will make the life a little brighter. There are burdens of another kind that we must bear in some way, whether we will or not. The kinks and knots of human nature are past understanding, except by Him who "knoweth our frame," and "remembereth that we are dust." These infirmities of temper and disposition cause untold bitterness and heartache, and to meet them in the right spirit, a divine patience is needed. But we do not know "life's hidden forces." If we did— "Could we but draw back the curtains
That surround each other's lives,
See the naked heart and spirit,
Know what spur the action gives,"
often we should pity and forgive where now we blame. Deep, tender, impartial sympathy is not natural to the human heart. There are human loves that are "strong as death," and capable of great self-surrender, as the love of a mother. But the strongest love, if it is not refined and quickened by divine grace, may be blind and partial, and fall into serious errors; for it has only human wisdom as its guide. The results of misguided parental love are too often seen in the marred and deformed characters of the children; dispositions are formed that are a lifelong pain to those who must suffer from them. In Christ we have an example of ideal love. There was no admixture of selfishness in the pity that led Him to exchange the peace and joy of heaven for the strife and hate and cruelty of earth. And He says to us, "Love one another as I have loved you." When we have this divine love in our hearts, we shall know how to bear "one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."