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[[clipping]] THE PHILOSOPHY OF SORROW.
The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher at Plymouth Church.

Mr. Beecher said yesterday, in the course of his morning sermon, which was on sorrow: There are endless troubles that must come upon men. Not to have great grief is, in the Scriptures, a sign of not having great manhood. It is well that we do not anticipate our troubles, but sooner or later the storm will break and none can escape Those who have been most exquisitely organized will be likely to suffer most. Sensibility increases with the organization of nerve. Those who are coarse in fibre and dull in function gain a sort of peace at the expense of manhood. Suffering goes in the direction of completeness in this world. If men are sensitive by organization, and are educated to bear one another’s burdens, they are more and more open to the assaults of sorrow. Men also suffer more in the proportion in which they ally themselves to God, although this suffering comes in in a different way.

On the other hand, bad men escape many sufferings that afflict good men. The law of suffering seems to be a part and parcel of the law of existence. There is a mystery yet about the philosophy of suffering. It is not in our option whether we will or will not suffer. It is claimed that if men live in conformity to the laws of nature they will escape much suffering. Such an “if” is an impossibility, for the laws of nature have not been revealed. There never has been a fundamental revelation of the laws of God, which are the condition of perfectness. Then it is not easy for a man to obey natural laws in artificial conditions. In the complications of business, obedience to natural laws is not easy. Men must sleep when they can, and eat when they can. Besides, if a man were to obey natural law perfectly, he would not be happy. He is subject to social conditions. He can’t dodge his father’s sin or his brother’s misfortune. Frequently prudent men are swept away by imprudent men. Our keenest sorrows, I think, come from our connection with those around us.
 
You have been born and entered into the household of human life, and you have come into conditions which imply pain. You are soldiers of the cross, and must take your part of that suffering which belongs to humanity. The question should not be, Why am I afflicted? but How shall I bear my troubles? Sorrow lasts long because we hug it. Look through it and beyond it. Sorrows plough deep furrows, but God sends his angles to plant in these furrows the seeds of everlasting life, By and by in the land of interpretation we shall look back and thank God for the sorrows that cleansed us, exalted us, deified us. [[/clipping]]

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