The Jeffersonian Democrat. [volume] (Chardon, Ohio) 1854-1865, 1863-05-22
Our Sorrows and Their Uses.
DY VIRGINIA y. TOWNSEND.


We suppose that there mast come to all
Of us, jus, IS the storms and nights como to
the year, hours Of sorro~ and anguish ol
soul-hours in which there 10 no sweet light
OF The sun. nor even tho faint far gIimmer-
ing of the stars-bours in which we look on
all eides, and there is none to beIp. For
there is no time when we feel how utterly
alono We are-bow far of and powerless is
earthly love and shield, as wo do in some
great shock aud surge OF anguish which ag.
itates tho ConIer of our souls, aud sweeps
over them as the spring freshet sweeps over
tho banks, burying under their chill dark
mesa all hope and JOY aud beauty, Sorrows
are then 90 heavy and hard TO be borne, Il
seems they can never pass away: the soul
shrinks from it's burdens, and stands at the
window whose only outlook is landscape
of da, kness and despair.
Aud yet as the very winter is lost and for
gotten in the sunshine and singing OF the
birds, so the bitterness of these sorrows e
away--tho anguish which drank up for I
whilo the very springs of our life aud hoP,
is slowly healed. God, who numbers ID,
hairs of our heads, sends his angel to CON
fort US, and lol there is the soft, faint, gra,
| iigh: in the east, aud then the tender flush
and at last tho daylight again-the strong
blessed, rejoicing daylight.
Reader, it is useless to make up our owl
minds to having simply a good time il
this world. Sooner or later SORROWS and biz
tor trials will come--no love will stay then
no care will shelter US from them. God
loving Tenderness will not interfere to saw
US from all suffering and endurance here
II is written that man is of few days g. ful
of trouble.
Sin aud mistakes are constantly working
cut mischief in this world, and all thing
shall work together for good to those VIII
lovo him.
Aud. reader, the best way is TO settle witt
ourselves at once, aud forever, that we shal
not have altogether a smooth downhill, bed
Ofroses sort Of way in this life. And rea
staunch, brave living is tough, uphill wor
that strains the sinews, aud calls for a
the moral force of ones own nature. An
the great question with US to settle Is, ho,
shall we receive and use our sorrows? Ii
this lies the whole matter. They may over
come US for while as the equinoctial gale
of the foros,; but when the winds arc pass'c
by, the trees stand up again fair and stately
as ever; and the birds lodge iu the branches
thereof. And so are our sorrows 10 be re.
ceived. We may bend under them-bul
neither death nor loss nor change in thi.
world should break US. They should make
our hearts mellow with quick and tende
sympatbies and charities-they should Civ
new richness and flavor to the fruits tha
hang on the boughs OF our lives-so tha
which was before small and sour, g. gnarled
should now be full and sweet with Juice Iik,
wine, for the sun and rains have beat upor
tbem and ripened thom.
1t is better to take what comes, and to
take it bravely and trus,ingly. We all do
know of sorrows which it seems to us we
could never bear, as we saw this first shadow
looming by over the horizon Of our skies
sorrows from the thoughts of which We have
turned shudderIng, feeling that If they sho' d
como down upon us, there never could be
for us again light, or song, or peace, for 1
spglo hour.
And yet the sorrows come down-sorrowl
of death, and changes, and loss; they bea
the stately castles of our hopes to dust
they tore the qnivering fibres of our hearts
our souls went mourning 10 sackcIoth and
ashes; and yet the time of healing and re-
moving came, and Gods south wind blew
over our souls, and we live and smile with
smile chastoned and sobered by old memo
ries, and the world is beautiful once more
Not with It's lost beauty. The storms
that sweep over US leave their traces. rhey
enlarge and rlpen us-they teach US that
the ond of living is not mere enjoyment, but
doing good and improvement OF our cbarac-
ters; but We cannot carry the old, bareless,
free hearts, the ligh. joyousness of spirits;
life has now become something real g. earn.
est to US. There is work to be done, Ind
victory to be won.
So, dear readers, by all the sweet uses of
sorrow; by all its pains and discipline; by
the thorns that must pierce us; the bruises
we must carry; by the battles we must fight,
in high, but mostly in low places, whose
witnesses are the great cloud which no man
beholdoth; and by the evils which we must
overcome, may we be made meet for the
kingdom of heaven.
SECRET RELIGION. is often lost in