Article December 4, 1909 Issue

HELP FROM OTHERS

WM. HART SPENCER.

WHEN Job was having the argument with his friends, he recognized some of the things that were brought to light as being disagreeably true concerning himself, while many things of which he was accused he could deny with a clear conscience. What effect Job's argument had in solving the difficulties of his friends we do not know, but Job learned one lesson from them which is also of value to us, viz., that he could not measure his spiritual growth by the related experience of others. Their experiences were of worth to Job only as he could apply them in working out his own salvation.

Many times it is necessary to guard against discouragement, when reading or listening to testimonies where the relator has gained a victory along some line of endeavor which we have a sense of its being impossible for us to follow; but it is wrong for us to allow a sense of limitation or self-condemnation to creep in and thus rob us of a helpful lesson. In a general way, the desirability of eradicating all that is unkind, intemperate, and unseemly, is patent to every one, but it is not always clear that in order to do this specifically it is essential that the discordant element be uncovered in our consciousness; and only to the degree that this is made plain can we intelligently do the work necessary in order to overcome.

Not one or many experiences can cover all the phases in the make-up of a listener, and so is it wise, when a testimony appears to us as being helpful, to ponder the circumstances as given, and use our intelligence to see in what way it can prove helpful to us. If we appropriate the truth as it appeals to us, to that extent we are lifted by it. A testimony may help us to see some weak point in ourselves of which we were not conscious, and we may thus find a key to some serious difficulty. Where there is a hearty desire for correction, the making clear of a fault half wins the battle for its elimination.

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