Monday, October 20, 2008

"Train up......"

“Sometimes soldiers going into battle shoot into the ground instead of into the hearts of their enemies. They are apt to take aim too low, and it is very often that the captain, going into the conflict with his men, will cry out: “Now, men, aim high!”
The fact is that in life a great many men take no aim at all. The artist plans out his entire thought before he puts it upon canvas, before he takes up the crayon or the chisel. An architect thinks out the entire building before the workmen begin. Although everything may seem to be unorganized, that architect has in his mind every Corinthian column, every Gothic arch, every Byzantine capital. A poet thinks out the entire plot of his poem before he begins to chime the cantos of thinking rhymes. And yet there is a great many men who start the important structure of life without knowing whether it is going to be a rude Tartar’s hut or a St. Mark’s Cathedral; and begin to write out the intricate poem of their life without knowing whether it is to be a Homer’s Odyssey or a rhymester’s botch.
Out of one thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine have no life-plot. Booted and spurred and caparisoned they hasten along and I run out and say: “Hello, man! Whither away?” “Nowhere!” they say. O young man! Make every day’s duty a filling up of the great life-plan. Alas! That there should be on this sea of life so many ships that seem bound for no port. They are swept every whither by wind and wave, up by the mountains and down by the valleys. They sail with no chart. They gaze at no star. They long for no harbor. Young man, have a high ideal and press toward it, and it will be a mighty safeguard. There were never grander opportunities opening before young men than now. Young man of the strong arm and of the stout heart and of the bounding step, I marshal you today for great achievement.”

T.De Witt Talmage - Photo by Vrindavan Lila



3 comments:

Mel said...

I pray that the Lord will open the eyes of our childrens' hearts to see this truth! I feel their childhood slipping away, and with each passing day I feel the weight of my responsibility as a mother to teach them, train them, and model for them what it looks like to love Christ above all else. So many opportunities for learning and growth pass by every single day. I pray that God will open my eyes, too, to see those opportunities for observation and discussion, and will give me the words to say that will awaken them to all that is truly valuable. I'm not doing a very good job yet, I'm afraid. May He have mercy on me, and on them...

Unknown said...

Excelllllenttttttttt...as Mr. Burns would say.

FCB said...

Hi Mel,
I think half the battle is won when we recognize we need improvement. Another good thing about blogging is all the insights and good ideas we get from one another. It is a strange thing that we come to parenting with so little experience, but a mother's love covers a multitude of deficiencies. Take heart.
God bless.


Hi Joseph,
Thanks for your kind comments, I'm afraid I had little counsel as a boy growing up, and I paid dearly for the lack. So I like to find what I think are good teachings on this all important subject. Like you say, it is easy t forget our main goals.
Warmest regards.


Hi Eric,
Wish I had known more when you were young, but His mercy filled in many of the blanks.
Praise Him.
Dad