well enough in their time, but they must not usurp the chief place
in a man's thought.[Footnote: Cf. J. S. Mill, Autobiography, p. 142:
"The enjoyments of life are sufficient to make it a pleasant thing,
when they are taken en passant, without being made a principal object.
The only chance is to treat, not happiness, but some end external
to it, as the purpose of life."] His first concern must be to keep
true, to play the game; he must seek first the Kingdom of God and His
righteousness, if he would have these other things added unto him.
He must lose his life his worldly interests, his dependence upon
ease and luxury, and even love if he would truly find it. In a hundred
such phrases from the Great Teacher's lips one finds the secret. More
baldly expressed, it comes to this, that only through putting the main
emphasis upon doing the right, obeying the call of duty, only through
the courageous attack and the giving of our utmost allegiance, can
we keep a positive zest in living, exorcise the specter of aimlessness
and depression, and lift ordinary commonplace life to the level of
heroism. Blessed is the man whose DELIGHT is in the law of the Lord.

II. HEARTY ACQUIESCENCE IN OUR LOT.

The fighter, for whatever cause, can bear the blows that come as
a part of the battle; if a man has put his heart into living by his ideal,
he is immune from the disappointments and irritations that beset man
upon a lower level. But it is well to take thought also for this side of
the matter, to cultivate deliberately the spirit of acquiescence in the
inevitable pain and losses of life. Many of the sweetest pleasures
are by their nature uncertain or transient; these we must hold so
loosely that, while not refusing to enjoy their sweetness, we are
]ot dependent upon them and can let them go without losing sight
of the steady gleam that we follow. However dear to us are the people