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Introduction
The
Christian life is not all sunshine and roses; neither is
it all shadows and brambles. All our skies can not be
cloudless; neither can all our roses be without thorns.
The pilgrim's way to the Celestial City does not lie
across a low, flat plain: instead, it leads through a
great variety of scenery. Now we walk a smooth way, sunlit
and bright, with a splendid vista outspread before us.
Further along we pass into the foothills and our pathway
rises and falls. Now we stand upon the su mmit and feast
our eyes on the broad expanse and the glowing hilltops
around us, basking in the sunshine of noonday. Again we go
slowly down into the valley and walk beside the still
waters, amid the green grass, and breathe the air perfumed
by the flo wers and hear the carols of the birds as they
merrily pass the hours. Farther on we have a bit of steep
climbing, with perchance many stones along the way, and
here and there a thornbush catches our garments and pricks
our feet. Sometimes th e way is toilsome, but presently we
reach the top, and there in the clear air, under the dome
of heaven, our souls are hushed and awed and filled with
holy inspiration. Down from the mountain sooner or later
we must go, sometimes over crags and whe re it seems no
feet have trodden before us. With the outlook of the
mountaintop left behind, our vision becomes narrow, and we
make our way slowly and painfully down into the darkened
valley. There are shadows in the valley. Sometimes a great
cloud s ails overhead and the sunlight disappears. The
bird-songs resound no more. The warmth is gone, and the
chill of the evening comes on apace. The night falls; but
the Celestial City lies still far away, and we must walk
in the night as well as in the day. Sometimes then our
footsteps falter. Sometimes strange shapes appear, and we
hear voices that can not be interpreted; but we must walk
on. When the daylight comes again, there is joy and
sunshine once more.
So is the journey of life - infinite in its variety. No
matter how much of the old, there is always something new.
No matter how much we understand, there is always that
which is mysterious. Whether upon the mountain or in the
valley, whether by the silent waters or by the gushing
waterfall, whether in the calm sunshine or in the beating
storm, we must press ever onward. Now and then we may
stand upon some mountain of transfiguration and see all
things illuminated with a heavenly glory and hear words
impossible for man to utter. But we must come down from
that mountain and go upon our way again. Sometimes we may
catch a faint distant glimpse of the Celestial City, which
is the goal of all our hopes; but much of the time it will
be beyond our vision, and much of the time we shall see
only the ordinary things of every-day life.
The path of life has, as it were, two sides - one
bright and attractive; the other with its shadows, from
which we instinctively shrink. But it takes both these to
make up life's pathway. As children of God, we are still
human. And with others we must bear the things that belong
to human life - its cares, its perplexities, its unsolved
problems, its frailties, in fact all those things which
fall to the lot of other mortals.
So it would seem best in this volume that I should walk
upon the shadowy side of the path, rather than upon that
which lies in the sunshine, if perchance the rays of my
lantern shall fall upon some of the dark places and shall
make the footsteps of the pilgrim more certain and help
him to define some of those shadowy shapes that trouble
him. The bright side of life needs no illumination, and
when the pilgrim walks through the sunshine on a plain
path he needs no instructor, he needs no one to interpret
life to him. It is when the shadows fall and perplexing
things come, when he hears strange voices, and when he
feels his need of counsel and of comfort, that he welcomes
some one to interpret for him the things of lie, and to
point out a safe and sure pathway. And so, reader, I offer
to walk with you through some of these places, and I trust
that we shall be congenial companions and that at last we
shall both safely reach the Celestial City and join the
white-robed throng in everlasting praises before the
Majesty that sitteth upon the throne eternal.
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