How Fine the Line – Sunday, November 15, 1959
It is a frightening fact that a man may do a thing right a thousand times, and then do it wrong just once, and tragedy comes. Except for some very narrow escapes, perhaps any of us or all of us could be numbered with those whom we pity or with those whom we condemn. And we may never even know how narrowly we may have missed the fate of someone who has fallen into misfortune.
This thought is unforgettably expressed in the comment commonly credited to John Bradford, Chaplain to Edward VI of sixteenth century England. Seeing a condemned man marched off to his death and knowing of the narrow margins by which men are often made and unmade, this he said, in substance: “There, but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford.”1 (Significantly be himself later met a similar unfortunate fate.)
There is often only a very fine line between winning and losing. In a race the difference may be only the shaving of a second. In business, the difference may be only one wrong decision among a hundred right ones. In a contest, the difference may be only the preference or opinion of one judge.
In an accident, the difference may be only one small mechanical mishap or one small error of judgment. If we dial a wrong phone number, the result is only a wrong number. But with the same kind of error, if we push a wrong button where safety is concerned, the result could be tragic. In so many things we do in life, there is an exceedingly fine line between safety and sorrow.
We ourselves may not see it at the moment. But often others see it and are frightened for us. This is one reason why parents are so often afraid for children. Parents have the experience and perspective to see how thin the line can be between success and failure, between safety and sorrow.
The differences in cause may sometimes seem inconsequential, but the differences in result may be eternally great. And we should have compassion for the man who has met misfortune, for the man who has made a mistake, for the man who narrowly missed being what he might have been—and should never forget that “there, but for the grace of God,” am I.
And the thought should help to keep us humble and help to keep us holding hard and fast to the right side of every decision, and to the right side of every road. *
* Revised
1 John Bradford, Works, Vol. 11. (Also credited to others, including Richard Baxter, John Bunyan, John Wesley)
November 15, 1959
Broadcast Number 1,578