Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1881-03-23
eff We Knew.v

anu sOt tnfOuBH lnlS WEARY WOflu We ROt
Bearing burden OF needless woe
Carrying hearts that are heavy and slow
Under their load Of care;
When, OH II we only only knew,
That God is tender and strong and true,
And that he loves us through and through,
Our hearts would be lighter than air"
I do not know who wrote the lines. I saw
them first on card sent from one Christian
heart to another. / heard them again from
the lips OF busy woman-a wife, a mother,
housekeeper, teacher of other women in
the Bible class, helper in every good work
that comes pressing upon women in these
earnest days. She was never idle; she was
always somewhat overworked, she was often
very weary, and yet she seemed to carry
heart that was lighter than air; and she
certainly did carry one that was at leisure
from itself, to soothe and sympathize." The
words were nothing new; child might
have fashioned their simple rhyme; yet they
sang on and on through day of burden and
care, till the soul took courage and felt as if
some fresh breeze had blown across it from
the green pastures where the weary rest.
And began to question if really the burden
of woe was not often a needless one. 1t is,
surely, when we have brought it upon our
selves, by our sin or our mistakes. II the
proper use of our own God-given powers
would have averted the misery, then it was
needless indeed. But not necessarily useless
because needless for, if it serves as
teacher and helps us to avoid similar fail
ures in the future, the work of the "need-
less woe I" is done. But there is another
sense in which we drag burden of needless
woe l. e., when the woe would not be woe
but for the sorrrowful eyes through which
we behold it. We see through a cloud we
darken our vision by our own shadows, we
shut our eyes to the sun, and take a mourn
ful comfort in pitying ourselves. II we
subtract from our burdens those we bring
upon ourselves, and which need never be
burdens the second time; and those which
are not trials at all, if met bravely, and
turned around so that the sunlight smiles
upon them, the sum of our human miseries
will be greatly decreased. With both these
olaseos of lilo have tho Povvor 20 battle,
and the promise of Gods help in the unequal
fight. But there remain the sorrows tangi-
BILE and real-the burdens never brought by
our hands; the woes that cannot be trans
formed by any hopeful fancy into blessings.
Under these-the real arrows that rankle in
our souls, the real weights under which we
stagger-it is the heart beats heavy and
slow Ap$ II i &c 9ast 9Ess tRsssd tsSt Sf yans
-
it vaguely; but, experimentally, we do not
know that his tenderness will soothe every
wound, and that the sorer the hurt, the
softer the touch Of the Healer. We believe
in his strength but, if we trust ourselves
to it, we cling to our burdens while we lean,
and do not know how to cast our care on
him. If he would take us, would he not
surely take everything that troubles us ? In
giving himself to us he freely gives us of all
that he has. In giving ourselves, why do
we withhold what is ours He makes US
his children, and Christ shares with us his
| Joy, his peace, his home; that "where he is,
we may be also" He gives us freely of his
riches of grace, and puts his everlasting
arms under us, and we hug our trials to our
hearts instead of laying them into his open
hand. "lf we only, only knew how ten
der, strong and faithful he is and we can
| know at once by testing and trusting his
love and strength and truth. No one ever
tried them and found them wanting. They
are enough to steady the soul in storms, to
keep the heart from breaking in sorrow
nay more, to turn its sorrow into Joy. To
be sure that he loves us "through and
through" that is, from the heights of our
folly to the depths of our shame, from one
end to the other of our weakness and sin
from our cradle on through every experience
to the grave; aye, and through the dark
valley into the land of many mansions--to
know this, and to be glad in it, is part OF
the Christians heritage, the birthright OF
every child of God.-Methodisi.