rying
to get a fresh grasp of that wonderfully fascinating old bit of prophecy.
And all at once I came across that gem in the last chapter. I knew it was
there. You know it is there. Yet it came to me with all the freshness of a
new delightful surprise. "They that are wise shall shine with the
brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as
the stars forever and ever."[10]

Four times in those last two chapters of Daniel it refers to those that
are "wise"; literally, those that are _teachers_. Those who have
themselves learned the truth and are patiently, faithfully, winsomely
telling and teaching others. The word used for influencing the others is
full of practical picturesque meaning. "They that _turn_ many." As if a
man were going the wrong way on a dangerous road. And _I know_ it's the
wrong way. There's a sharp precipice ahead. But he is going steadily on,
head down, all absorbed, not noticing where the road leads.

I might go up to him, and strike him sharply on the shoulder to get his
attention, and say, "See here, you're going the wrong way; can't you see
the danger ahead there? Come this way," with a vigorous pull. I have
sometimes seen that done, in just that way. And if the man is an American,
or an Englishman, or a German,--we're all very much alike,--he will say
coldly, "Excuse me. I think I can take care of myself. Thank you. I'll
look out for this individual."

Or, I might slip gently up to the man, and get my arm in his, and begin to
turn, very gently at first, and turn, and turn, and then turn some more,
and then farther around still, and walk him off the other way. You will
have to get _close_ to a man to do that. Some folks never do. And you'll
have to be at least half-way decent in your life to get close. Some folks
never can. And you will need to be warm enough all the time inside, to
melt through the icy cloak of indifference beneath which his heart may be
wrapped up. But I can tell you this: the old world where you and I live is
fairly hungry at its heart, with an eating hunger for turners of that
sort.

And the promise of that old prophetic bit is this: "They shall _shine_."
You know everybody wants to shine. It is right to be ambitious, with a
right ambition. But if any of you are ambitious to shine in some other sky
than this, in your profession, in social life or in some firmament lower
than this, may I gently make this suggestion to you? Do your best shining
_now_