Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1871-06-02

but in that which fills their households
from hearthstone to rooftree.
Lay up the treasure of good deeds
The essential principle of Christianity il
love. The Saviour summed up all the
commandments in a single sentence
Love to God, love to man. Paul, in that
striking eulogy of Charity, which all
commentators concede should be more
properly rendered Love, placed it above
and beyond all other earthly things
And that glimpse of the Last Day, given
to us by the Saviour in Matthew 25th,
tells us unmistakably how every result
of this love for our fellowman is recorded
ineffaceably in the Book of Life, "Come
ye blessed of my Father for |
was an hungered, and ye gave me food
athirst, and ye gave me drink naked
and ye clothed me; sick, and ye visited
me- in prison, and ye came unto me
for. inasmuoh as ye did this to
one ofthese my children, ye did it unto
me-"
allude to this scriptural record, in
passing, only to prove that this treasure
of good deeds has its value hereafter.
But it has its abundant dividends in this
life of which | speak, as we'll. Whoever
ministers to the sorrowing and suffering
around him actually ministers to his own
happiness. Whoever helps the helpless,
befriends the friendless, gives food to the
destitute and sympathy to the miserable,
finds the resulting influx Joy in his
own heart. Loving affectionately while
living, he will be mourned sincerely
when dead The millionaire may rejoice
as he adds house to house, and revels in
his increase in wealth. But the truer
happiness is his who feels that he has.
made the children of woe around him
happier by MS presence and his benevo-
lence, and has laid UP for himself that
treasure of good deeds which reverses in
business life can never destroy, and which
thieves cannot break through nor steal.
Avoid idleness. If an empty brain is
indeed "the Devils workship," an aim
less, idle, unoccupied life is also un-
healthy to the mind and joyless to the
heart Unless sickness chains you to a
bed of pain, find something in which mind
and body can cooperate. A French phi
losopher laid down three rules for the
attainment of happiness. The first was
occupation the second, occupation; and
the third and last was still OCCUPATION.
1t develops your mental and physical
powers. You were created for it. Brain
and judgment, sinew and muscle, bone
and blood, were all given you to be thus
used. Unused, they rust, and wither,
and shriyel, and decay. Brought into
active, healthful exercise, they bring
happiness ito you Of which the idle, list
less man knows not Even the sleep of
the toiler has joy and rest that others
can imagine but never realize.
Establish hours of rest and relaxation.
To the hardest worker comes the blessed |
day of rest, interleaved amongst the sew
en- days of the week. This, at least, the |
law allows him to command for his own:
and the happy tendency of our times is
to give him other hours Of rest besides, to
enjoy with the loved ones at home But
those who work with the mind, as well |
as the body, should have even morehours
of rest and relaxation with their family, |
embarrassed by the wearing business tolls
of life, free from its corroding and cank-
ering cares, and dedicated to happiness
and recuperation. Visiting recently one
of the busiest men in the United States,
l found that he had laid down the law
of his daily life that, when he turned his
back on his office, he left allits thousand
details behind him till the morrow shut
out absolutely his multiplied business
cares when he closed the door of bis
dwelling and there, in the fullness of
enjoyment with his family, renewed his
youth daily by mingling with the amuse-
ments of the household. To such life
has daily zest never realized by him
who carries his business, at home as well
as at his counting-room, like clanking
chain, always hanging upon his limbs.
l have been tempted to supplement
this article with another, on the question
where real happiness is not to be found.
But 1 will only allude to one point under
that head.
There are but few who have ever test
ed public life, with all its excitements, to
its full who have not realized that truer
happiness is to be found in private or
business life With all its fascinatiops
and Opportunities for usefulness, it is al
ways pathway filled with thorns, even
to the most successful Envy, and mall
ice, and all uncharitableness are always
around them Injustice is the daily
a 1ro crht thor, Il |