and a rush. Oh! let
us at them."

God Still Sifting.

Yet, mark you, their enthusiasm was _seasoned_. It grew _under fire_, or
practically so, in the presence of the danger. There is always an
abundance of the green article of enthusiasm, but it's not worth much for
steady ditch-work. There is a sort of wood enthusiasm, apple-wood. You
know how apple-wood burns in a fire. It catches quickly, throws out a good
many sparks, makes a loud crackling noise, but doesn't last long.

There is another sort, a soft-coal enthusiasm. It's better than wood. But
it needs a lot of attention continually to keep a steady fire. Then
there's the hard-coal enthusiasm that will burn steadily and faithfully by
the hour. Yet no kind, mark you, will run long without fresh fuel. We need
in our service more of the seasoned enthusiasm.

It has been said of General Grant that one great reason for his success as
a soldier was in his coolness. While the fighting and firing were hottest
he sat on his horse quietly, coolly watching, listening, and giving his
orders. And much of his power has been attributed to that quality. Well,
if coolness is a qualification for success in Christian service there
seems to be a large number of persons splendidly qualified. They are cool
all the time; cool as icebergs at the North Pole; cool from the topmost
layer of hair to the bottommost cuticle--about certain things.

We want coolness of head such as General Grant had and hotness of heart
such as he had, too. The ideal combination is a cool head and a hot heart.
The head should resemble a refrigerator, and the heart a flaming furnace.
There is one bother, however, among many people. Either the coolness of
the head works down too much and affects the heart, and that is bad, or,
else the heat of the heart gets up into the head, and a hot head is always
bad.

Yet there is a sure key to preserving the poise between the two. It is in
the quiet time daily with Jesus, over the Book, with the knee bent, and
the ear keen, and the spirit quiet. In that time there comes, and comes
ever more, the calmness for the brain, and the fresh fuel for the heart,
and new steadiness for the will that holds all under its strong hand.

Many difficulties will yield only to fire. When you cannot reason your way
through a problem, or a difficulty, or into a man's heart, _burn_ your
way through. Nothing can withstand fire. It is very remarkable that the
symbol used most for God in