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TOPIC: Gordon, Samuel Dickey - Quiet Talks on Personal Problems (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 28. The Man Waiting to Go Along.
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The Man Waiting to Go Along.
It is good to know; it is better to do; it is best to be. To be pure and strong, to be honest and earnest, to be kindly and thoughtful, and in all to be true, to be manly and womanly and Christly —this is the greatest ambition of life. It is not in knowing or having or doing, but through knowing and having and doing the best, it is in being, in what a man is in himself. He can do most for others who has done most with himself. Mastery of circumstances comes only through mastery of self.
The highest sphere of action is within. The little Corsican Emperor of the French could win great victories on the battlefield, but he could not overcome the horribly selfish ambitions, hungrily eating the heart out of his human spirit; The man of Tarsus and Antioch had as intense an ambition, as great a grasp, and as strong a will, but his chief ambition was to be well-pleasing to his Master, his grasp was upon his own nature to bring it into subjection, and his will drove him over the world, that all men might know the same blessed self-mastery through Jesus.
He is aiming at life's highest goal who, knowing the most and best, and seeking to have all he needs and can wisely use, and doing the best and most, rests not content in any of these, but hungrily pushes on towards purity of heart and simplicity of life. The greatest ambition is not knowledge nor possessions, nor notable achievement, but it is in being pure, and strong, and gentle, and warm; that is to say, being Christly.
It makes the heart glow to remember that this highest achievement of life is open to all. Only the few, the very few, become widely versed in knowledge, or possess large means, or achieve the notable things. The great majority of us remain ignorant and poor and obscure. But any of us, and every one of us, may reach to the highest level in this highest sphere. The mountain white, the plantation black, the man crowded in the city slum or in roomier, pleasanter quarters, the savage just emerging from his generations of savagery, the cultured and university-bred, the money rich and the money poor—all may enter here, and reach to the highest rung. The one most limited in circumstance may touch the loftiest level. The one in most favored conditions may go as high, but can go no higher.
And mark keenly how this affects all the life in these other matters. Where the warm, vitalizing touch of the spirit of Christ is upon the life there is an eager thirst for knowledge. The new birth always includes a new mental birth too. There will be earnestness in the vocation, the occupation; a strong purpose to make things count for the most. There will be too an aggressive spirit of work and service, a desire to achieve the best possible within reach. But these will grow up out of that first; they will have the sweet wholesomeness of the dominant purpose of the life. The passion to be masterful in purity, in gentleness of strength, and simplicity of life, with Jesus as both example and inspiration, will be the dominant thing.
This is the mountain top. Here is the pure, invigorating air, the far view of great beauty and inspiration, the inward sense of strength from the climb, and rarest fellowship with like spirits. A man never gets to the tip-top, though. For as the top is reached a new top higher up comes into view, and then from that a higher yet. There is always the upward lift of a higher level just above.
But the climber can't get very high alone. He would better not try. He is apt to make some bad stumbles, and lose the main road. He does not need to go alone. There is a Man waiting at the beginning of the path, with a face that is scarred but rarely beautiful, and a most winsome way. He has been up the road with many others. Those scars tell the story of the road He has travelled. We may each go along with Him as our personal guide and friend on the way. Let us go.