| Finding the Way |
Chapter 23 |
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The making of a name is, therefore, a matter of the highest importance. We are told that reputation is what people think about a man, what they suppose he is, and that character is what the man really is; but ultimately reputation and character are one. For a while, a man may hide his true self and may pass for something better than he really is, but in the end character will assert itself through all disguise and all illusions, and the man’s name will represent precisely what the man is.
Holy Scripture tells us that a good name is better than precious ointment. It is the perfume of the ointment that is suggested, and the though is very beautiful. In a parable of spiritual life, in one of the Minor Prophets, one feature is expressed thus, “His smell is as Lebanon.” One of Saint Paul’s “whatsoevers,” in a wonderful epitome of Christly character is, “Whatsoever things are of good report.” There is an aroma that belongs to every life which is the composite product of the things that are said about the person along the years. If all that is said is good, favourable, commendatory of the person’s name, the report is like sweet perfume. Some men live beautifully, sweetly, patiently, unselfishly, helpfully, sympathetically, speaking only good words, never rash, intemperate, unloving words, walking among men carefully, humbly, reverently; and the odour of their lives is like that of Mary’s ointment, which filled all the house. Other men are rules by self, or by the world, or by greed, or by desire for pleasure; they are of the earth, earthy, or they are untrue, resentful, unloving, of hasty speech – we al know what the effluence of such lives is, not like gentle fragrance, but unsavoury, of an evil odour.
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