Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1879-10-22
The Emotional Life Of Jesus.

We say that life is made up of JOY and
pain. But it is not really so. At least,
when we speak in those words, we are talk
ing of life only in its most superficial sense.
Joy and pain are the expressions of life,
but not life itself, nor its true substance
Far down beneath them both lie the real
processes of which they try to tell the tale
And even the tale they try to tell they can
not tell with certainty. The same essen
tial life which makes one man happy makes
another man sad. And so even as symptoms
they perpetually mislead us. III am really
trying TO get at the quality oil a mans Nv
ing, it means very little to me at hrst to
know that he is happy man. must know
a great deal more about him before can
make any use of the TACT that he IS happy
And when we are trying to test not the
quality of another mans life but the quality
of our own, all OF us who are thoughtfui
discover very early that happiness or un-
happiness may mean very much or very NJ
| tie, that there is consciousness underneath
sorrow and Joy into which we must pene-
trate, in which we must live before we can
know our true lives. And yet it is by JOY
and pain that lives mostly communicate
with one another. The man who lacks emo
tion lacks-expression. That which Is III
him remains within him, and he cannot ut
J ter it or make it influential Ana on tne
other hand the man who lacks emotion lacks
receptiveness. That which other men are,
if it does not make him glad or sorry, II 1t
gives him neither Joy nor pam, does not De-
| come his. The emotion oil lives Is the mag
netism that they emit, something cioseiy as
sociated with their substance and yet dis
tinct from 1t, IN which they communicate
with one another. There IS condltlon con-
ceivable in which the emotions should be so
delicately and perfectly true to the quality
of the lives from which they issue that they
should furnish perfect medium OF commu'
nication. That would be state OF exist
ence in which truth and goodness should
inevitably shine forth in gladness from the
man who was true and good, and should IN
stantly be answered in gladness IRON every
other man on whom they struck.
What landscape would be which had no
atmosphere above it, which received no
shadow and no sunlight on it, that would
life be which was made up OF events but
knew no emotions. A dreadful place Hills,
valleys, oceans, rivers, field, all perfect, all
grouped with one another in completest SYM
metry, but all bathed in one monotonous, un.
changing light; all the same every day and
every hour; no soft transitions from the SOL
emn gloom into the happy brilliance, none
of that change of smile and frown with
one another that makes us feel the fitness
when we talk about the face of nature "
A dreadful world A world in which no
character could grow, no manhood ripen.
The life of Jesus shows us no such world
as that. 1t is changing every moment with
the light and shade. A sensitiveness whose
quickness to impressions we feel almost
painfully trembles in every line. Only
and here is where the principles which
have just been stating show their influence
in his life-Jesus with all his sensitiveness
to pain and joy, still never allows pain or
joy to be either the purpose of life or the
test of life with him. The country, to renew
our figure, is bright with sunshine or serious
with shadow, and gets its everchanglng
beauty from their constant alienation; but
it never sets itself to work to make the
clouds whose shadows are to rest upon 1t,
nor does it judge its landscape by the special
gloom or glory which is cast on it at any
moment. So, to speak not in figures, the
sensitveness of Jesus to pain and joy never
leads him for moment to try to be sad or
happy with direct endeavor; nor is there