arn to enjoy the toil. Learn to find the sweetness that is in it. Learn
to find the beauty in the common things of life, for some of the most
common things are among the most beautiful when our eyes are taught to see
their beauty. The Christian life is preeminently a life of service. That
is its highest and broadest purpose. To try to be a Christian merely for
the joy that is to be found in it is often to render ourselves miserable.
To seek happiness for ourselves as the chief end of life is a very
unworthy purpose, and is one that can but end in disappointment.

See that you do your part in life in the every-day things, and God will
permit you to live on the mountain as he sees best. Appreciate the
mountain experiences when they come, but do not let them make you despise
the common things.

TALK THIRTY-SIX. DO YOU NEED PATIENCE?

Have you not often heard people say, "My greatest need is more patience"?
Possibly you feel just that way yourself. There is probably no lack that
so quickly and persistently manifests itself as this lack, which can not
exist without revealing itself, for in order to possess patience one must
employ it in his every-day life. Many people who do not understand its
real nature nor how to come into possession of it realize their need of
it.

Much of the teaching on the subject of patience proves to be ineffectual
because the teacher himself does not understand his subject. Sometimes it
is taught that all impatience comes from sin in the heart, and that if one
manifests a lack of patience he is not sanctified. Such teaching can come
only from a misapprehension of the facts. Sanctification is a wonderful
thing, and it does wonderful things for us. It purifies, softens, and
refines our whole nature; but it does not perfect our natural faculties,
and patience is one of these natural faculties, or qualities. There is an
impatience, however, that has its root in sin, and which is itself sinful.
The blood-cure reaches and eradicates this type. There is also a natural
impatience. How much we have of this depends largely upon our general
make-up. A lack of discrimination between these two kinds of impatience
often causes souls great distress. Before we teach on the subject, we
ought to be sure we have the distinction clearly drawn in our own minds.

Patience is a matter of temperament, of grace, and of cultivation. Some
people are patient by nature. They can take almost anything patiently.
So