tr^uwaifryngy ; ■'-"■• •■■ •'j.'ff^siy" MASTER NEGA TIVE NO. 93-81227 MICROFILMED 1993 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES/NEW YORK as part of the ^^ "Foundations of Western Civilization Preservation Project Funded by the NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES Reproductions may not be made without permission from Columbia University Library COPYRIGHT STATEMENT The copyright law of the United States - Title 17, United States Code - concerns the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or other reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copy order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of the copyright law. AUTHOR: MILLER, J. TITLE: THE BLESSING OF CHEERFULNESS PLACE: NEW YORK DA TE : [1 895] COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION DEPARTMENT Master Negative // 7 -W/ / DIBLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARGET Original Material as Filmed - Existing Bibliographic Record 179.9 ■ • . -» Miller, James Russell, 1840-1912. The l)lessin^ of cheorfulness, ])y J. K. Mil](M- ]U)ston, T. Y. Crowe II .-v: compaiiyVl805, 32 p. I8i"°. Now Yoik, 1. Chwrfiiliu^s. I. Titlo. lilbrary of Conp:ross n.Tirj71.M5 (42el] 12— a0787 Restrictions on Use: TnCHNICAL MICROFORM DATA FILM SlZE:__J'Aj2im-^^^.=^ RFDUCTION RATIO: IMAGE PLACEMENT: lA /iLAy ID IID DATE r^lLMED:_J2.^_^Jlj.S^ INITI ALS___/>?_/>2 FILMED BY: RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS. INC VVOODBRIDGE, CT c Association for Information and Image Management 1100 Wayne Avenue, Suite 1100 Silver Spring, Maryland 20910 301/587-8202 Centimeter 12 3 4 llllliiilliillliiilllllllllllliililill LL TTT 6 iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiii Inches I 1 II I I T 7 8 9 10 iliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiii Ml I I I 1.0 I.I 1.25 IK 4.0 1.4 IT I 11 12 13 14 liiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiiliiiili U^ 12.8 i^= ¥° 1: ; m 3.2 -:-■ ■ IM 1^ 3.6 2.5 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.6 TTT TTI 15 mm iliiiil MflNUFPCTURED TO flllM STflNOnRDS BY fiPPLIED IMfiGEp INC. •d -^.i '*f ^-' N;*- 'jAf >:.1 m.- y-^'T'^^ygi » V ' '*'- ^^-■"--»7i3j Columbia ^nibersitp intf)eCitpofi5etoi?ork LIBRARY M; " - "^■y^ ^ggrj^n^^'^ar ^aB • •• •. . THE : ;_ Blessing of Cheerfulness BY J. R. MILLER, D.D. AUTHOR OF " SILENT TIMES," " THE BUILDING OF CHARACTER," " SECRETS OF HAPPY HOME LIFE," ETC. " O do net tarry, But bravely carry Such message as you hear ; Haste to cheer the fainting and to lessen strife. TENTH THOUSAND NEW YORK : 46 East Fourteenth Street THOI\L\S Y. CROWELL & COMPANY BOSTON: 100 Purchase Street -% .5^ I ^SmXMatAXk^t»4L£ k-^^£.:^i.,9,:ftv>>;'^^^^^^^'^^£^ ?f13^^. UWMilHIWUV I k> «r^ ILyVWllW4 • • .•: :• •: : : , . . .*. 1..; ; : • • :-\:^.::- • ••• • • • ,,, ••• Copyright, 1895, By Thomas Y. Cuowell & Company. TTPOGEAPHY BT C. J. PETEBS & SON, Boston. We are set iu this world to be liappy. We should not falter iu our great task of happiness, nor move ever among our fellows with shadows on our face wlien we ought to have sunlight. We have a mission to others — to add to their cheer. This we cannot do unless we have first learned the lesson of cheerfulness ourselves. We cannot teach what we do not know. We cannot give what we do not have. In this little book a lesson is set for you, my reader. It may seem a hard lesson to learn; nevertheless, it is one you want to learn, and one you can learn, if you will surrender your life wholly to the great Teacher. J. R. M. PlIlLADEr.rillA. *' Tliese things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation: but be of yood cheer; I have overcome the world. Jesi's Cuuist. Some inuriiiur ivhen their sky is clear, And wholly briyht in view, If one small speck of dark appear In their yreat heaven of blue ; And some with thankful love arc filed If but one streak of liyht, One ray of God's good mercy, gild The darkness of their night. R. C. Trench. Every life is meant To help all lives; each man should live For all men^s betterment. Alice Gary. » » •• » THE BLESSING OF CHEERFULNESS, There are many ways in which we may bless others. A ministry of lielpf illness is a perpetual benediction. Of course, one who feeds the hun- gry, visits and relieves the sick, the poor, and the orphan, and comforts sorrow, is a blessing to the world. One who uses his money to do good is a blessing. One who speaks wholesome words which enter other lives, and influence, guide, strengthen, inspire, or enrich them, blesses the race. But can one be a blessing merely by being clieerful ? Yes ; moral beauty of any kind exerts a silent influence for good. It is like a sweet flower by the wayside, which has a benediction for every one who passes by. A legend tells how one day in Galilee the useful corn spurned the lilies because they fed no one's hunger. "One cannot earn a living just by being sweet," said the proud cereal. Tlie lilies said nothing in reply, only seemed the sweeter. Then the INFaster came that way ; and while his disciples rested at his 5 • .• • •• • • • •::'g:*-':Vir'L'xiss/JVG of cueehfulness. ••• ••• ■;.Wvf&Ki"-t1i^*i'nstlirig corn invited them to eat, .'he.wV*.'--'p;i^Ure^ tlie life is more than meat. V^cr^i{feV\i:e'h*Ues, how beautiful they grow.'^ It certainly seemed worth while then just to be sweet, for it pleased the Master. We measure values by the standard of utility, but we cannot always take the full measure of utility. Physical relief or comfort is not the only help one may give another. There is utility which acts on the spirit, and makes one stronger, braver, more hopeful. Can we say that such usefulness means less than when one gives a loaf of bread to one who is hungry, or a cup of water to one who is thirsty? Every one carries an atmosphere about him. It may be healthful and invigorating, or it may be unwholesome and depressing. It may make a little spot of the world a sweeter, better, safer place to live in ; or it may make it harder for those to live worthily and beautifully who dwell within its circle. We are responsible for this atmosphere. Our influence may be involuntary in its final effect. We cannot wholly change it from evil to good on any particular day by a mere volition. It is some- thing that belongs to our personality. It is an emanation from our character; and our character is the growth of all our years, what has been THE BLESSING OF CHEERFULNESS. 7 built up in us by all the lessons, experiences, im- pressions, and influences of life, from childhood. Hence it is that the atmosphere that hangs about us any day is, in a large degree, involuntary. At the same time we are responsible for it. We are responsible for our character — our own hands have made it what it is. If a man has trained himself to be discontented and unhappy, so that wherever he goes he makes others about him less happy, he may not blame heredity, or original sin, or environment, for his unfortunate disposition. ]S"o doubt natural tendency or early influences may nuike it harder for a man to be sweet-spirited and sunny-tempered; but because it is hard to be good, because there is much to overcome, one need not give up the endeavor as useless and unavailing. Cheerfulness, therefore, is a duty. Perhaps we have not thought of it in this way. AVe regard it as a pleasant disposition. AVe consider the per- son happily endowed who is naturally cheerful. But we do not usually put cheerfulness among duties, as we do truthfulness, honesty, patience, kindness. We speak much of the duty of making others happy. No day should pass, we say, on which we do not put a little cheer into some discouraged heart, make the path a little smoother for some 8 THE BLESSING OF CIIEEBFULNESS. one's tired feet, or lielp some fiiiiiting robin unto its nest again. This is right. AVe cannot put too great empliasis upon the duty of giving happiness and cheer to otliers. But it is no less a duty tliat we should be happy and cheerful ourselves. It was the great Teadier himself ^vho said, ^•'Be of good cheer.^^ He said it in substance many times. He counselled his followers against anxiety. He showed his friends an example of cheerfulness. Some people have the impression that Jesus was a sad man. He was indeed a man of sorrows, but his face was always radiant with the light of an inner joy. He never cast a shadow on any other life. Artists, in their pictures of the infancy, represent the Christ-child as shc^dding forth a soft, quiet light, which brightens the \mZ ble surroundings. Always from the Christ, wher- ever he moved, light streamed. His life was full of cheer. Ko one ever felt depressed from coming into his presence. On the contrary, every one who looked into his face and heard his words was made happier for the time. Then his teachings were all towards the same spirit. It is supposed by some that religion makes people solemn, takes the sunshine out of their life, the joy out of their heart, the song out of their mouth. But the reverse of this is the truth. JS^o other one in the world has such secrets of joy THE BLESSING OF CHEERFULNESS. 9 as has the Christian. Christ teaches his followers to rejoice. He bids them rejoice even in sorrow and trial. It would have been of no avail, however, merely to command them to be of good cheer, if he had not put sources of joy within their reach. He did not remove sorrow and pain out of their lives ; rather, he said, '• In the world ye have tribulation." Nor does this religion benumb and deaden human sensibilities, so that Christ's friends do not feel grief and trial as the world's people do. On the other hand, it makes the heart more tender, so that it suffers even more keenly from the sorrows of life than does the heart unsoftened by divine love. The secret of joy which Christ gives we learn from his own words — the last words spoken in the upper room, as he led his disciples out toward Gethsemane : '• These things have I spoken unto you, that in me 3'e may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation : but be of good cheer ; I have overcome the world." It is in the last of these great words that we have the secret of the good cheer which he com- mands. '' I have overcome the world." He met the world in all its terrific power, and was victorious over it at every point. Thus he became able to be our refuge in all the world's strife. ^' These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace." 10 TUE BLESSING OF CUEERFULyESS. The all-victorious Clirist is like a great rock iu a weary land, to whose shelter we may flee iu every time of sorrow or trial, finding quiet refuge and jjeace in him. There is a word in an old prophet which tells all the story. '' Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee ; because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever; for in the Lord Jehovah is an ever- lasting rock — a rock of ages." We have hints of the meaning of these words in some rare human friendships. Here and there is a man who seems like a fragment of the rock of ages to those who trust in him. When other friendships fail, he still stands constant and true. You are always sure of him. You turn to him in your weakness and danger, and you find strength and refuge in him. His love •' balms like summer warmth the sting of tears, the ache of sorrow, the shy, cold hurts which sting and smart, the frets and cares which underrun the dull day and the dreaded morrow." In his presence dark things seem light, and however heavy your burden, you feel you can go on bearing it after seeing him. In the atmosphere of his love your heart's wounds receive healing. The secret of such a human friendship lies in the calm, secure strength of the life. It is like a rock in its firmness, its security, its immovableness. This quality has been gotten through conflicts and THE BLESSING OF CHEERFULNESS. 11 sorrows in which the spirit has been victorious. This friend has met the w^orld, and has overcome it ; has been tried, and has not failed. In such a rare human friendship we have a hint of what Christ means when he says to his disciples : <'In me ye may have peace." He has overcome all the world's evil, and stands in the midst of the world's broad desert plains, wdiere storms sweep and heat oppresses. AVe can all flee to him and find refuge. All hurts are indeed soothed in him. AVhen he comes, night turns to day, heaviest burdens seem light, hardest tasks become easy. In the Avorld we have tribulations; but he has overcome the world, and in him w^e have peace. Thus he gives us reason for his counsel : "Be of good cheer." It is the privilege of every friend of Christ to be of good cheer, no matter what the circum- stances of his life may be. Privilege makes duty. AYe ought always to be cheerful. We ought to carry music in our heart and the light of joy in our face w^herever we go, in w^hatsoever experi- ences we find ourselves. The fact is, however, that not all Christians are cheerful at all times, in all circumstances. Some are scarcely ever cheerful — are indeed habitually uncheerful. Others are cheerful at times, when the sun shines, while all things go well w4th them ; 12 THE BLESSING OF CHEERFULNESS. l)ut the li^lit fa(n ,. out of Uumv faces avIiou clouds gather iuhI storms iirise. If cheerfulness is a Christian duty, we oui,dit to learn it. How, then, can \vt' Icaiii to be of .^dod clicer cvcti in times of sorrow and trouble ? For one thini;-, we must remend)er that cheer- fulness has In br learned. It does not come natural! \-. Tlu' ciu cfulness which coim .; naturally is not that which our iVI aster bids us to have. AVe are to be of good cheer in tribulation, and tliis certainly is not a natural exiicricncc. Xor does Christian cheerfulness come as a direct gift from God Avhon we become Christians. All the line things in Christian nurture and Christian culture have t(» 1h' learned. Even d«siis himself '• learned obedience by the things which he suffered." When he was an old man, St. Paul wrote in a letter to some of his friends that he had learned in whatso- ever state he was therein to be content. It is a comfort to us to think that Paul was not always thus contented, that he had to learn the lesson, and that it had taken him a long while to learn it. We all have to learn the lessons of beautiful living. Life is a school, and God is continually set- ting new lessons for us. George Mac Donald says: ^' Till a man has learned to be happy without the sunshine, and therein becomes capable of enjoying it perfectly, it is well that the sliiue and the THE BLESSING OF CHEERFULNESS. 13 shadow should be mingled, as God only knows how to mingle them." When we find ourselves facing some unpleasant duty or in the presence of a new trial or sorrow, we should not forget that it is another lesson set for us. If it is hard, that shows it is a lesson we have not yet perfectly learned. We must not be discouraged if cheerful- ness is not easy for us. AVe have to learn it, and it may take us a good while. If we would learn the lesson, we must abide in Christ. 'vin me ye may have peace," he says. AVe can never get the peace in any other way. If we are truly experiencing the friendship of Christ, we shall find the inner joy increasing just as the outer lights grow dim. Here, again, human friend- ship helps us to understand the divine. You walk with a friend for years in close, familiar relations, finding every day some new revealing of beauty. But as yet you have had only joy and prosperity. One day sorrow enters your life. lu the new experience you find qualities in your friend's love which you had never perceived before. It took suffering in you to bring out the rich things of sympathy, tenderness, and comfort which were all the while in reserve in his life. The same is true of the divine love. AA^e never can know its best things until we enter the shadows of sorrow. Our great Teacher said, r 14 THE BLESSING OF CHEERFULNESS. "Blessed are they that mourn." This seems in- deed a strange beatitude. IJut to those Avho have learned its meaning it is no longer strange. There are blessings, rich, deep, and satisfying, which ^ve never can know until Ave mourn. You would never see the stars if the sun continued to shine through all the twenty-four hours. It would be a loss, too, to any one if he were to pass through all the years of his human life and never once behold night's sky with its brilliant orbs. We can then say, '• Blessed is the hour when the sun goes rlmvn and it grows dark; for then \sc r,ee the glory oi heaven's stars." Mary G. Slocum writes : — "Across my day the shadows creeping Brought tlie unwelcome niglit; The distant hills, the last gleams keeping Of dear, familiar light, Slowly became a darkened wall around, and soon The world, with all its loved and wonted sights, was gone. Ah, light that made such sweet revealing, That showed this world so brisrht. You gave no hint you were concealing The greater wealth of night! For now, above and far beyond the hills, appear Ten thousand worlds I did not dream before were here. I ;■ THE BLESSING OF CHEERFULNESS. 15 O day, for which I made such grieving — Though now more dear the night — May life not be like you, deceiving And blinding to my sight ? As once the light hid all except this world from me, Is life obscuring by its glare eternity ?" This is a parable. The glare of human joy hides from our sight ten thousand blessings which we cannot see until it grows dark about us. And it would be a dire loss to live through all our days and never see these blessings. There are hun- dreds of Bil)le words which seem pale and without meaning in the time of earthly gladness, but which come out bright and shining like stars when the darkness comes on. You had no need for divine comfort when you had no sorrow ; and a great part of the Bible was as yet an unopened book to you, for a large portion of it consists of comfort for those in trouble. But when the sor- row came, the words flashed out like stars at night, unseen by day. Thus we learn the meaning of the beatitude, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." We lose some joys, but we find others that were hidden in the light of those we lost. Where earth's tapers burned with only flickering light, heaven's lamps now shine. Where the human face shone in its gentle grace, the face of Christ now looks upon us in its divine 16 TUB BLESSING OF CHEEllFULNESS. yearning. AYliere we leaned upon a liuman arm, often trembling, at last broken, we find now, in- stead, the everlasting arm. Thus Avhen we abide in Christ the light of his love is revealed as human joys pale. The deeper the earthly dark- ness, the richer are the divine comforts wliich are given to us, enabling us to be of good cheer Avhat- ever the tribulation. It will help us in learning the lesson of cheer- fulness if we persistently train ourselves to see the good things, the bright things, in our common life. There are some people who seem to have eyes only for the unpleasant things. They find every bit of roughness and hardness in their daily path. They see at once, and see it magnified, every disagreeable thing that comes into their life. They remember all the unhappy experiences they have ever had. They keep on their heart's walls the i^ictures of all their vanished joys and faded hopes. They write with a diamond on their -win- dow panes the records of all the trials, adversities, and misfortunes they have ever suffered. Hut, on the other hand, they forget all their blessings. They hang up no pictures of the joys they did not lose, which have filled their life on so many bright days. They have no memory for the beautiful things, the things of gladness. There are few habits more common^ even among TUE BLESSING OF CHEERFULNESS. 17 Christians, than this of remembering the unpleas- ant things and forgetting the pleasant things ; and there is no other habit which is more inimical to joy. He who would always be of good cheer must break this habit — if it has fastened itself in his life — and must learn, must train himself, to see the beautiful things and to be blind to the disa- greeable thim^s. The truth is, there are, in the ordinary life, a thousand pleasant things — favors, joys, comforts, things to cheer — to one unpleas- ant thing, one real cause for unhappiness. It is a shame, therefore, to let the one bit of roughness, trial, or suffering spoil all the gladness of the thousand blessings, the one discordant note mar all the music of the grand symphony. We should learn to look at life, not to find misery and dis- comfort in it, but to find cheer and beauty. Two people in the same house, looking out at the same windows, on the same things, will see things in such very different ways that one shall be made unhappy and wretched, while the other is made to rejoice and sing. There is a suggestive story of a Christian woman who moved into a new flat, which was not conspicuous for its cheerful surroundings or its pleasant outlook. The average woman would have found there a very common- place shelter from the snow of winter and the heat and rains of summer. But this woman was ;r I 18 THE BLEiiSiyO OF CUEERFULNESS. happy in her home. One day a friend called and was asked by this cheerful housewife to note the pleasant outlook she had from her window. " Yes/^ said the visitor, '•' I see a renuirkably fine lot of chimneys and back buildings." '^ Chimneys and back buildings!'' exclaimed the hostess. '' Why, I never saw them before. I looked over all that you see, and saw those magnificent trees which form such a picturesque line on the horizon. I thought only of the trees and the glorious sun- sets I see from this window." This woman had learned one of the secrets of being of good cheer. She had trained herself to see out of her winuuus trees and sunsets instead of dingy roofs, black chimney tops, and unsightly back buildings. This habit made all the world beautiful for her. She always saw loveliness whenever she looked out. She was blind to the unpleasant sights which some people can find everywhere, even in a garden of flowers or a gallery of paintings. He who has learned to see the beauty even in things unsightly, the good in things evil, the en- couragement in things discouraging, the comfort in things painful, has found one of the truest and most potent secrets of cheerfulness. Such a habit always finds something bright in the dreariest condition. ^ TUE BLESSING OF CHEERFULNESS. 19 " There are nettles everywhere, But smooth greeu grasses are more common still ; The bhie of heaven is larger than the cloud." Another secret of cheerfulness is found in the way we relate ourselves to the peo])le about us. There are many persons who are made miserable by what others do or do not do. Their neiglibors' faults worry them a great deal — far more than their own. The things they hear about others vex them. The peculiarities of their friends and their shortcomings cause them great annoyance. The way other people treat them — their bad manners, their lack of respect, their want of refinement, the slights and discourtesies they detect in their bearing, their thoughtless ways — these disagree, able things in their neighbors give them much distress. Of course we cannot be indifferent to what we see in the lives about us. A sensitive spirit is affected by whatever passes before it. In a home the life of each child continually gives either com- fort or pain to a parent's heart. Those in Avhom we are interested in our community or among our acquaintances add either to our pleasure or our sorrow by the way they live. A sympathetic heart carries the burdens and griefs of many lives. There is a Avay in which all this makes misery, !: 20 THE BLESSING OF CHEERFULNESS. THE BLESSING OF CHEEBFULNESS. 21 and there is a way in which it may be made to add to life's cheerfulness. If we look upon others critically, censoriously, to mark their faults, to judge them, to think and say severe things of tlK^m, we only make ourselves wretched, while we do them no good, only harm instead. But if we look at others through Christ-eyes, then even the things in them which cause us pain and sorrow become new chances of joy and blessing for us. Charles Kingsley said : '' Each man can learn something from his neighljor ; at least he can learn this — to have patience with his neighbor, to live and h't live.'' No doubt this is one of the lesstais. People are meant to be means of grace to us. We are to be helped by our contacts with them. From some wo are to learn, through the beautiful things in them, their excellences of character. From these we get inspiration. Others help us through our sympathies. They appeal to our thought and care. They need help. AVe must carry burdens for them. They have sorrows, and it becomes ours to give them comfort. They are in need or distrciss, and we must deny ourselves for them. The blessing that may come to us through these is in- calculable. Every human sorrow or infirmity that makes its appeal to us is a new chance for us to do a beautiful thing, to grow in Christlikeness. Every new burden of care rolled upon us, demanding ^s self-denial, sacrifice, or service, carries in it a new blessing for iis, if only we will accept it. In the case of others, it is unbeauty, fault, and sin that we see ; but here, too, lies the possibility of help for us in our contact with them, if we relate ourselves to them as we may. They furnish us an opportunity for the exercise of the loftiest feelings of sympathy and forbearance, and for the noblest efforts to lift up and save. Christ knew the secret of finding joy in all the lives about him. Of course he found joy in the beautiful things he saw in others. This is a secret we sometimes miss. There are those who are made envious by the excellences they see in others, the fine things in their life and character, the noble things they do. It would seem indeed that one of the qualities most rarely found among men is this of rejoicing in the lovely things and the attainments and successes of others. Jesus found j)leasure in every beautiful thing he saw in men's lives. Then he found joy for his own heart also in those who were in distress and trouble. We never can sound the depths of the meaning of the words which tell us, '^ Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses.'' Grief, suffering, and sin stirred his profoundest compassion. Yet even these experiences of pain were turned to sources of joy li 22 THE BLESSING OF (JllEERFULNESS. as lie sought to help and bless those who were thus distressed. People sometimes wonder how a physieian can possibly be a cheerful man. He is continually in the presence of pain and suffering. Those who come to him, or Avho summou him to their bedside, are all in some way in distress. KSeeing mit.er\ all the whih*, how can he ever wear a smile, or bear to his home anything but gloom on his face ? The secret lies in the way the physician looks upon all this pain and misery. He is present as a healer, to give relief, to alleviate pain; and this saves him from the suffering which mere pity would produce in him. It puts joy into his heart to be able to give help. Thus it was that Christ looked upon the people about him. Tliey all had their sickntD.^co, their sorrows, ilnAv infirmities, and their sins ; but he was in the world to be Healer, Comforter, Saviour, and found joy in doing so. If we will relate ourselves to those around us in this Christ-way, as a friend, helper, healer, sa^ior, we shall escape all the wretchedness that many persons suffer in their contacts Avitli tlie lives of others. Then our thought over one's faults or sins will be, "How can I lead this man out of his mistakes and wTong doings ? How can I do him any good, and help him to overcome his faults ? " THE BLESSING OF CUEERFULNESS. 23 We must learn to look through love's eyes at every neighbor. This will give us true compassion, and will make us eager, not to blame and con- demn, but to help every one who needs help of wdiatever kind. Nothing else in all life is such a maker of joy and cheer as the privilege of doing good. Kossuth once said : '*' If I had to choose my place among the forces of nature, do you know what I would choose to be ? I would be the dew that falls silently and invisibly over the face of nature, trampled underfoot and unconsidered, but perpetually blessing and refreshing all forms of life." It is in such losing of self that one finds truest, purest, and deepest happiness. One wTites : — " If I can five To make some pale face brighter, and to give A second lustre to some tear-diunned eye, Or e'en impart One throb of comfort to an aching heart, Or cheer some way-worn soul in passing by — If I can lend A strong hand to the fallen, or defend The right against a single envious strain, My life though bare. Perhaps, of much that seemeth dear and fair To us of earth, will not have been in vain. 24 TIJE BLESSING OF CHEEltFULNESS. THE BLESSING OF CHEERFULNESS. 25 The purest joy — Most near to heaven — far from earth's alloy, Is bidding cloud give way to sun and shine ; And -twill be well If on that day of days the angels tell Of me, ' She did her best for one of thine.' 1 5) These are hints of the way iu which the lesson of cheerfulness can be learned. It is a lesson we should learn, whatever the cost, lie who carries about with him a cheerful spirit is a blessing wherever he goes. We have no right to go among men with our complaints and our murmurings. It is part of the debt uf luve we owe to our fellow- men to bring them always the best we hav(^ : not gloom and shadow and disheartenment, but cheer, hope, and joy. We are commanded to be lights in the world, to let uui- light so shine before men that they nuiy see our good works, and glorify our Father who is in heaven. There is no light in discontent, complaining, and gloom; and we are not realizing God's thought for our life when we let shadows hang about us. We should hide our pain, our sorrow, our trouble in our own heart, accepting God's b^^L■u■L, comfort, and letting the light of the divine peace shine in our face. Then we should let our grief become inspiration to all loving service. Thus do we get the victory over our loss and sorrow, and shed the blessing of cheer on all about us. Writes one: — "13 my the dead thou lovest, Deep, deep within thy heart; So shall they live and love thee Till life and thou shalt part. So for their risen spirits Thy breast a heaven shall be; Like angels, pure and shining, They go through life with thee. Bury the life thou livest Deep in another's heart; So Shalt thou live beloved When cold and dead thou art." The blessing of cheerfulness is manifold. It blesses the man himself. It is a fountain of life in his heart. It makes him strong for all duty and struggle. Life is not half so hard for the cheerful man as it is for the man who is depressed and unhappy. Burdens are light when one can sing under them. Battles are easily won when the heart is glad. Nothing else so weakens the life's energy as discouragement. It hides the stars in the sky, and blots the blue of the heavens with blackness. It drives hope out of the heart. Its gloom creeps into the soul, and darkens the eyes. The discouraged man sees nothing worth living for in all this glorious world. The natural drift of this unliappy feeling is toward despon- 26 THE BLESSING OF CHEERFULNESS, dency ami despair. AVe have uo .ueniy more to be dreaded than discouragement. But cheerfulness is a good angel to the man .vho keeps it in his heart. It helps him to be more than conqueror in the struggle of life, who is ahvnvs of good cheer is nmster of circum- stances anu e.nditi.n.>. Nothing can defeat Inm. Cheerfulness is courage. It also makes the life wholesome. It is the best medicine a man can take. Says the wise man : — '' A meri7 heart is a good medicine : But a brokon spirit drietli up tlie bones." A man ^vllhout cheerfulness is a sick man. The sadness of his spirit lays a ^vithering blight on all the beauty of his life. He becomes prematurely old. His strength decays. '-'A broken spirit drieth up the bones/' But cheerfulness is medi- cine It promotes health. Physicians say that a cheerful spirit in a patient is a large factor in the cure of sickness. One who admits to himself and others that he is sick is indeed si toms Any subject of conversation you may start will afford them an opportunity to show their general gloominess. There is a lack of glad wholesomeness in all their intercourse with others. Wherever they go they carry an epide*n.c of d.s- heartenmcnt, for the influence of one such life upon others is simply incalculable. After being for a few moments in the company of such a per- son you suffer for hours from an indefinable sense of depression, perhaps wondering what is wrong with you. It is harder for you to live after stay- ing even a little while in such an enervating atmosphere. How different it is when one is habitually cheerful ' Wherever such a person goes he car- ries gladness. He makes it easier for others to live He puts encouragement into the heart of every one he meets. When you ask after his health, he answers you in a happy, cheerful way that quickens your own pulses. He does not burden you with a list of complaints. He does not consider it necessary to tell you at bre.ikfas how poorly he rested, how many hours he heard the clock strike during the night, or any of the details of his miserable condition this morning. He prefers only to speak of cheerful things, not t TffE BLESSING OF CHEERFULNESS. 29 staining the brightness of the morning for you with the recital of any of his own discomforts. The cheerful man carries with him perpetually, in his presence and personality, an influence that acts upon others as summer warmth on the fields and forests. It wakes up and calls out the best that is in them. It makes them stronger, braver, and happier. Such a man makes a little spot of this world a lighter, l)righter, warmer j)lace for other people to live in. To meet him in the morn- ing is to get inspiration which makes all the day's struggles and tasks easier. His hearty hand-shake puts a thrill of new vigor into your veins. After talking with him for a few minutes you feel an exhilaration of spirits, a quickening of energy, a renewal of zest and interest in living, and are ready for any duty or service. The blessing of one such cheerful life in a home is immeasurable. It touches all the household with its calming, quieting influence. It allays the storms of perturbed feeling that are sure to sweep down from the mountains of worldly care and con- flict even upon the sheltered waters of home. Besides the silent influence of cheerfulness, a man with such a spirit becomes an active force of good cheer wherever he goes. When he meets a discouraged neighbor, he does not fall in with the weak bemoanings, nor pityingly sympathize with 30 Tiw: r.LEssiya of cueeufulness. the dislioarten.nont. Sympathy is good, but it must COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 0032192509 n I H vnsri nl II *>*i iil Wi