The Making of Christian Character,
J. R. Miller It used to be a custom
for travelers in Switzerland to bring home clusters of the
Edelweiss. The flower is not sought because
of its beauty or for its fragrance, but in recognition of its hardiness
and victoriousness in living and blooming under very difficult
conditions. It grows on the Alps and Pyrenees
at lofty altitudes where almost nothing else lives and on crags
difficult of access, and is among the hardiest of all plants. Thus
the Edelweiss becomes the symbol of noble life, which endures
hardness, is victorious amid antagonisms, rises superior to
obstacles. The man who has never known hardship,
who never has had to practice self-denial or make a personal
sacrifice, may be the envy of other men, whose lives have been
one continual struggle. They may think that, if they
could have had his easy circumstances, that they could have made a great
deal more of their life. But really, their opportunities
in life thus far have been far better than his. Christian character
is made in the field of struggle and hardship, not in ways of
ease and luxury. Hindrances are opportunities. Difficulty is a school for character. Strength is the glory of manhood,
yet it is not easy to be strong. It is easier to be weak and to
drift. It is easier for the boy in school
not to work hard to get his lessons, but to let them go, and then,
at the last, depend on some other boy to help him through. It is
easier when something happens to make you irritable, just to
fly into a temper and to say bitter words. than it is to keep
quiet and self-controlled. It is easier when you are with
other young people and they are about to do something that you
know to be unworthy, just to go with them, than it is to say,
I cannot do this wickedness against God. It is easier to be weak
than to be strong. But weakness never leads to mature
Christian character.