hallowed, and thus to find lingering fragrances and hidden strengths
in the remembrance of Him as 'in all points tempted like as we are,'
bearing grief _for_ us, bearing grief _with_ us, bearing
grief _like_ us.
Oh, do not, do not, my brethren, keep these sacred thoughts of
Christ's companionship in sorrow, for the larger trials of life. If
the mote in the eye be large enough to annoy you, it is large enough
to bring out His sympathy; and if the grief be too small for Him to
compassionate and share, it is too small for you to be troubled by
it. If you are ashamed to apply that divine thought, 'Christ bears
this grief with me,' to those petty molehills that you sometimes
magnify into mountains, think to yourselves that then it is a shame
for you to be stumbling over them. But on the other hand, never fear
to be irreverent or too familiar in the thought that Christ is
willing to bear, and help you to bear, the pettiest, the minutest,
and most insignificant of the daily annoyances that may come to
ruffle you. Whether it be a poison from one serpent sting, or whether
it be poison from a million of buzzing tiny mosquitoes, if there be a
smart, go to Him, and He will help you to endure it. He will do more,
He will bear it with you, for if so be that we suffer with Him, He
suffers with us, and our oneness with Christ brings about a community
of possessions whereby it becomes true of each trusting soul in its
relations to Him, that 'all mine (joys and sorrows alike) are thine,
and all thine are mine.' II. There remain some other considerations
which may be briefly stated, in order to complete the lessons of this
text. In the second place, this community of suffering is a necessary
preparation for the community of glory.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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