THE PALM IS NOT GAINED WITHOUT THE DUST OF LABOR.
This old motto is wonderfully solemn, and yet set in language which suggests picture after picture. First of all, what that is useful does not the palm tree furnish? Even away off here, it comes in the form of fruit (the date), and in rattans, from which are made innumerable pretty things in the way of baskets, chairs, etc. But to the dwellers in tropical countries, where it grows, it gives wood for their houses, thatch for the roofs, mats for the floors and ceilings, and all sorts of fancy articles, such as bags, baskets, umbrellas, and hats—these being made from the leaves. Then the different species yield various fruits, and food in the form of starch, sugar, and oil. The form of the palm is most remarkable. Its trunk often stands 80 and 100 feet high, bearing all the foliage at the top, as if it were able and glad to stand alone, trusting to strength within rather than outward adornment; yet wearing above, its crown of fruit and of leaves, which never lose their verdure. How truly “the righteous shall flourish like the palm tree”! The Christian life may often seem rough and barren, but if it grow right upward, it shall surely blossom gloriously above. From the earliest times the palm has been a symbol of victory. The victors in the old Greek games came covered with “the dust of labor,” but bearing palms, as emblems of what they had won. And who does not recall Christ’s last coming into Jerusalem, when the people took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, crying, Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel, “that cometh in the name of the Lord”! Little did they know how glorious a victory was soon to be won over sin and death by Him whom they so ignorantly worshiped. This is a very long text for a very short sermon to “our girls.” Girls have a wonderful amount of imagination that runs to waste in the building of air-castles, which are not only empty, but too frail to be worth putting anything good into. Many wise elderly people propose to smother these bright young fancies; but is it not better to turn them into proper channels than to destroy them root and branch? Lack of healthful work is what leads our girls into vain and sentimental dreaming. So let us give them work, and the dreams will not do any harm. Any subject, however prosaic, can be beautified by a little dreaming of the right sort, and the dullest work becomes bright if we can dream ourselves into the future and see its far-reaching results. A great poet has said, “Cherish the dreams of your youth.” Yet let not these dreams take the place of work, but make of them wings which shall bear you up through “the dust of labor” to the palm beyond.
—Christian at Work.