Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1876-02-16
Sorrow sickness.
BY MRS. NJ. +. BUTTS.

There is such thing as y sick soul
and 1t can only be cured by the actual
application of love. If the sick one
can get at Gods love, which is always
ready, the cure will be speedily et-
fected but generally a medium is re-
quired-the medium Of genuine hui
man sympathy.
| have in my mind a case which il
illustrates what | have said. A lady of
great refinement and spirituality has
just lost dearly beloved husband.
She accepts with admirable sweetness
the new condition changed, so
solitary &! But submit as she may, she
cannot hinder the sickness Il know no
better name for it) that results newt
ably from the tearing asuuder of long
continued ties. A few days ago, a
friend-a young man, with his wife
and baby in his full, happy arms, said
to her :
"There is work waiting for you. |
will do all in my power to help you on
with it. Work is the only cure for
sorrow The man was right in the
main, but he entirely overlooked the
fact of her bruised, sensitive, torn con-
dition.
81 want to work, says the lady to
me 81 am full Of the desire to help; l
am willing to live without him if | can
better serve the Master 50 ; but first
| must be taken care of little" o
the pathos OF that yearning for a little
care, Il little tenderness. There Is no
need that souls should so suffer for it.
Thera is tenderness enough, sunshine
enough, if it could only be found and
applied.
What the sorrowful widow wanted
of the friend who offered to set her to
work-and, by the way, he was neal
relative-was actual sympathy, apres-
sure of the hand, look from loving
ewes, a careful tenderness and adapt.
iveness, whose language is interpreted
by the grateful heart to mean some
ching like this
81 know how you tecI [ am so
sorry for you lam at your service fol
anything you need put your head on
my shoulder and cry, if it would dc
you good. You will soon recover,
in the meantime command my sympa'
thies, my time, my patience, myself to
the utmost, You are like poor,
wounded soldier, left behind, while
the army PUSHES on; but | will stay
with you, and bring you water, and
help heal your wounds, till you are
strong enough to take up your arms,
and renew the fight" All, what 4
power there is in such sympathy !!
How it soothes and strengthens and
harmonizes the soul whose cords are
all relaxed from the terrible tension it
has undergone.
BE good to those who are sorrowlul
simply and truly good If they ask
you for your society, do not plead
business or engagements; remember
that denial to them brings back all
their desperate longing for one whose
love could deny them nothing. Watch
narrowly, look carefully, when friend,
in your house, at your 6reside, is
dropping, Is silent, perhaps irritable
The very sight of your joy may be
like poison to that longing, suffering
soul. Ifit is a widowed SISTER, take
her close into your arms, sometimes
along with your wife if it is griev.
ing mother, do no haunt your happi-
ness in her face, but devote yourself to
her, so that she may not miss so ter
ribly the daily presence that was her
atmosphere and sunshine. Careless
ness, more than hearllessness, is the
cause of our neglect Of the sick souls
among us.