I AM ABLE

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 bravery and victorious in living and blooming under hard conditions. It grows on the Alps and Pyrenees, at lofty altitudes, where almost nothing else lives, and on crags difficult to access, and is among the hardiest of all plants. Thus the edelweiss becomes the symbol of noble life which is victorious amid antagonisms, which rises superior to obstacles.

    The man who never known a hardship, who never has had practice self-denial, or make a personal sacrifice may be the envy of other men whose lives have been one continued struggle. They may think that if they could have made a great deal more of their chance in life thus far, has been far better than his. Manhood (maturity) is attained in the field of struggle and hardship, not in ways of ease and luxury………

     When Jesus asked his two ambitious disciples if they were able to drink the cup He was about to drink, and to be baptized with the baptism with which He was baptized, they said promptly, “We are able.” Their heroic answer furnishes a noble motto for every phase of life. Whatever call comes to us, whether it be to sorrow or to joy we should say in quiet confidence, “I am able.”  

      This is a good motto for life in general. Too many   people shrink from anything which is hard. They want only easy tasks. They fear to grapple with difficulties. They run away from hard battles. They attempt nothing which they know they cannot do easily. They never grow into strength, for only in attempting hard things can one gain the ability to do things noble and beautiful. The habit of giving up easily is a fatal one. It weakens the will, paralyzes the energy, and stunts the growth of the life. What a man thinks he cannot do---he cannot do; but what he thinks he can do—he can do. The true man is he who can do things which are impossible—anybody can do possible things…