For one thing it tells us that we may have some rugged pieces of road
before we get to the end of our life-journey. If not, what need would
there be for iron shoes? If the way is to be flower-strewn, velvet
slippers, as Dr. McLaren somewhere suggests, would do. No man wants
iron-soled shoes for a walk through a soft meadow. The journey is not
likely to be all easy. Indeed, an earnest Christian life is never
easy. No one can live nobly and worthily without struggle, battle,
self-denial. One may find easy ways, but they are not the worthiest
ways. They do not lead upward to the noblest things. One reason why
many people never grasp the visions of beauty and splendor which shine
before them in early years is because they have not courage for rough
climbing.
"I reach a duty, yet I do it not,
And, therefore, climb no higher; but if done,
My view is brightened, and another spot
Seen on my mortal sun;
For be the duty high as angel's flight--
Fulfil it, and a higher will arise
Even from its ashes. Duty is our ladder to the skies,
And climbing not, we fall."
We shall need our iron shoes if we are to make the journey that leads
upward to the best possibilities of our life.
But the word is not merely a prophecy of rugged paths; it is also a
promise of shoeing for the road, whatever it may be. One who is
preparing to climb a mountain, craggy and precipitous, would not put on
silk slippers; he would get strong, tough shoes, with heavy nails in
the soles.
Pages:
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190