The following extract points a needed caution to those who are blest with prosperity:
Some time ago we saw a tree that had been struck by lightning and actually rent asunder. It had been blown open as perfectly as if the pith of the tree had been lined with gunpowder and touched off. The reason for this is easily explained. The tree had been struck by lightning before it had been wet by the storm. Consequently the lightning bolt followed the line of least resistence, which was the damp wood under the bark. The electric current heated the sap, and converting it so quickly into steam, the explosion was the result.
How very like that tree are a great many people! Prosperity is the electric current. Coming upon them so suddenly, as is so often the case, they are unable to bear the pressure of elevation and honor and distrinction, and are rent asunder with a crash. They "go down" with a thud.
As the forest tree that has been struck by the killing bolt drops only to rot, so does the man who has been overelated by prosperity.
