| The Beauty of Self Control |
Chapter 20 |
Page 7 |
We come to the end, also, of many of our life’s visions and hopes as the years go on. Flowers are not the only things that fade: morning clouds are not the only things that pass away; sunset splendours are not the only gorgeous pictures that vanish. What comes of all childhood’s fancies, of youth’s day dreams, of manhood’s’ and womanhood’s vision fabrics? How many of them are ever realized? Life is full of illusions. Many of our ships that we send out to imaginary lands of wealth to bring back to us rich cargoes never return at all, or, if they do, only creep back empty, with torn sails and battered hulks. Disappointments come to all of us along life’s course. Many of our ventures on life’s sea are wrecked and never come back to port; many of our ardent hopes prove only brilliant bubbles that burst as we grasp them.
Yet if we are living for the higher things – the things that are unseen and eternal – the shattering of our life’s dreams and the failures of our earthly hopes are only apparent losses. The things we can see are but the shadows of things we cannot see. We chase the shadow, supposing it to be a reality; it eludes us and we do not grasp it, but instead we grasp in our hand that invisible thing of which the visible was only the shadow. A young man has his vision of possible achievement and attainment; one by one, with toil and pain, yet with quenchless ardour, he follows them. All along his life to its close bright hopes shine before him, and he continues to press after them with unwearying quest. Perhaps he does not realize any of them, and he comes to old age with empty hands – and unsuccessful man, the world says – yet all the while his faith in God has not faltered, and he has been gathering into his soul the treasures of spiritual conquest; in his inner life he has been growing richer every day.
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