Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1881-02-11
Other Peoples Burdens.

den. Well.dressed people passed on
the other side, careless of the weary
traveller. He oheered himself as best
lie could, but the way was long and the
burden Was heavy. When his strength
was about gone cart appeared in
sight, and glad vas he for friendly
lift. Overwhelming the driver with
benc iic'ions he rode along, still hold
ing in his arms the burden.
".Arrah, man y says the other, "why
don't you put down your load %
Iudecd," says Pat, "and it's
enough if ye carry me-"
Bear ye one anothers burdens, saws
Christianity. Bear your own and
let others do the same, says, Phil.
osophy; and it does bear its own; about
as Pat dill his.
The law OF limitation brings us soon
to the end of our strength; the strong
est of us is powerful weak. Then
comes time when we must accept the
friendly lift or fall by the wayside. By
the law of sympathy something is 60
ing our way, upon our plane; we fall in
with it thankfully, and, burden and all,
consciously or unconsciously, are
borne along; whether We hold the load
still in our arms or Ivy it down at cur
feet, the obligation is the same to the
real burden bearer.
Did you ever know soul equal to
it's own necessities? Did you ever
know hands steady enough to hold I'M
shaken the wine cup of life? Did you
ever know a heart that could answer its
own demands
And yet, it is cowardice, says our
friend, to place our grief upon the
shoulders ofanother-another, perhaps
more hardened than ourselves. We
never knew any one to die of other
peoples troubles; no. these are things
that We bear with designations, and see
in them, as somebody says, the will Of
Providence. 1t is Il blessed thing that
we do bear them 80 easily, otherwise
the law of sympathy by which we grow
into the likeness of the Divine would
be an abolished statute in the h uman
heart. The obligation is always on
the side OF the giver, who is the more
blessed" TO sympathizs with others
grief is to dispel our own.
Let no one suppose, however, that
flee. where the world may come to be
Unfortunately wept with. Sympathy
must not be given out broad cast, like
the rain from Heaven, or the off ,ers OF
this great Republic. Suffering implies
misfortune or guilt; be very careful
how you let the world know that you
are connected with the one or the
other. They who have never carried
burdens like your own, at best can
only pity; they who have borne them in
weakness rather than strength, will on
| ly despise. Sorrow either embitters or
sanctiiies, according to the nature upon
Which it is placed. Blessed is he who
Can hold the evil at arms length while
extracting its uses. since no event or
experience in life, however saturated
with torture or terror it may be, is
without value commensurate with the
most solemn necessity.
| There is a Tuscan legend of a good
monk who, with some pilgrims, found
themselves at close of day before the
open doors Of Il noble palace. Having
entered and refreshed themselves, the
good St. Ambrose asked Of his kind
host if we'll or ill he Jared.
"Au thing. arc vol with me now" the
friends reply.
My wealth provides for each luxurious
want,
! Nor knows ambition one unanswered sigh"
| What said The saint: Up rom that loldly
He rose in haste, his v.sagc pale with fcar;
And t. the started pl!atims cried aloud
Flee FROM this place, the Lord abldcs not
here"
However necessary grief may be for
the development of the Divine in the
| human, it should only be taken medi-
cinally. and most of us would prefer
it in homeopathic doses.
The morally sick need nurse as well
as the physically sick. Take your bur
dens 10 the holy confessional, the clois-
ter of the sacred heart, to whom none
ever 80 in vain for comfort. He who
prays is never desolate.
1t may develop superstition to rest
upon the Divine arm and weakness to
rest upon the human, but for soul
that cannot stand alone one little hour,
to refuse the he'll Of God and man, or
God through man, is insanity; and
those who think they are strong enough
to do so have only arrived at a sub
Unity of selfishness, which, in this
world of ours, it was altogether need
less to strive after.
1t is easy to button your sealskin
coat over your heart and say to your
neighbor: Bear your own burdens.
do mine. alone and in secret"
Do You? You are. then, the only
person who ever did. There is pathos
in your voice and pallor in your
cheek which half reveals. half conoeals,
the sweet msrtyrdom you suffer with a
kind of modest pride, and which you
are too selfish to part with if you
could.
Nature is an open secret; you cannot
hide the wine or the gall yon have been
drinking.
There is no use in wearing a hair
shirt, or peas in your shoes, because
one can manage to be uncomfortable
enough without them; better save en-
durance for something else.
There was once an indiscreetly brave
woman who underwent a surgical op-
GRAFTON without yielding to the uncon-
seriousness with which science deadens
the sensations. The performance was
ouccaoSfnl INIT in tba roacfi0p the WOm