Give Way a Little

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 14, 1863

Give Way a Little.

In the crowded streets of a great city, where multitudes are passing in opposite directions, while some are passing obliquely, and others at right angles, it is necessary for every one to give way a little to those he meets, by which means they can have a free passage. Were the whole multitude to pass directly onward, without any one's yielding an inch of ground to anybody else, all would be obstructed more or less, and confusion ensue.

Or if a churlish individual should take it into his head to march forward in a straight line, and in no case make way for man, woman or child, or even for a procession, he would be sure to jostle some one or other, at almost every step, and would receive an insult, and perhaps hard blows, for his obstinacy and impudence. And very much is it so in the journey through life, and with respect to our general intercourse with mankind. In the march of life, no one's path is so clear as not in some degree to cross another's; and if each is determined with unyielding sturdiness to keep his own line, it is impossible but he must give and receive many a rude shock. In society, in neighborhoods, and even among close friends, there will spring rivalries, and be sometimes a close line of opinion; and if we were naturally obstinate, there could be no bounds or ends to contention. Whereas, by the bonds of natural condescension, social harmony is preserved, and the pleasure of society enjoyed.