carpenter shop, had probably often made. He knew the difference between
a smooth yoke and a rough one, a bad fit and a good fit; the difference
also it made to the patient animal which had to wear it. The rough yoke
galled, and the burden was heavy; the smooth yoke caused no pain, and
the load was lightly drawn. The badly fitted harness was a misery; the
well-fitted collar was "easy." And what was the "burden"? It was not
some special burden laid upon the Christian, some unique infliction that
they alone must bear. It was what all men bear. It was simply life,
human life itself, the general burden of life which all must carry
with them from the cradle to the grave. Christ saw that men took life
painfully. To some it was a weariness, to others a failure, to many a
tragedy, to all a struggle and a pain. How to carry this burden of
life had been the whole world's problem. It is still the whole world's
problem. And here is Christ's solution: "Carry it as I do. Take life
as I take it. Look at it from My point of view. Interpret it upon My
principles. Take My yoke and learn of Me, and you will find it easy.
For My yoke is easy, works easily, sits right upon the shoulders, and
_therefore_ My burden is light." There is no suggestion here that
religion will absolve any man from bearing burdens. That would be to
absolve him from living, since it is life itself that is the burden.
What Christianity does propose is to make it tolerable. Christ's yoke is
simply His secret for the alleviation of human life, His prescription
for the best and happiest method of living. Men harness themselves to
the work and stress of the world in clumsy and unnatural ways. The
harness they put on is antiquated. A rough, ill-fitted collar at the
best, they make its strain and friction past enduring, by placing it
where the neck is most sensitive; and by mere continuous irritation this
sensitiveness increases until the whole nature is quick and sore.

This is the origin, among other things, of a disease called "touchiness