Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-12-05
HELPING WITHOUT MONEY.

s@S
"such as L Have Give L Thee"-How We
May Put Hope and Cheer into the Lives
of Others.
There are not a few good people with
benevolent hearts, who think they can
not do much good in the world because
they have no money to give. They la
ment that they can not relieve the hui
man needs which they see about them,
because they are poor themselves.
No doubt there are necessities which
money only can relieve. Love, however
rich and true and tender, will not pay
the widows rent, nor buy medicines for
the sick man, nor put shoes on the Or
phan's feet. There always will be need
for almsgiving while sin and sorrow
continue on the earth. Yet it should
ever be remembered that the help
which human lives need, in nine cases
out OF ten, is not money-help. ''Silver
lame man at the Beautiful Gate, "but
such as I have give I thee" And what
he gave was infinitely better than gold
OF silver would have been. He said to
him: elm the name of Jesus Christ
OF Nazareth, rise up and walk"
Then, taking the lame man by the
hand, he lifted him up, and at
once his weak limbs became strong, so
that he could walk alone; needing
no longer to sit by the table-entrance
and ask for aims. Better help had been
given him than any aims the poor man
had ever received. This story is a
able, as well as q fact. Its lesson is
that there are better things to give than
gold and silver. If we can put new
life and hope into the heart Of a dis
couraged man, SO that he rises out of
his weak despair, and takes his place
again in the ranks of active life, we
have done a far better thing for him
than if we had put our hands into our
pockets and given him money to help
him nurse a little longer his miserable
and unmanly despair. The truest SYM
pathy is not that weak emotion which
sits down and weeps with a sufferer,
but that wiser love which, while it is
touched by his pain and grief, and feels
tenderly toward him, seeks to put new
strength into his heart, to enable him to
endure his suffering in a victorious way.
What most people need in their
troubles is not to have the burden lifted
off or lightened, but to have their own
hearts strengthened so that they Shall
not fail in their duty, and that they
may overcome in their struggles. Not
assistance in carrying the load, but a
new inspiration Of courage and energy
that they may carry it themselves,is for
most men, the wisest help. The true
problem Of living is not to get along
easily, with the least exertion and the
fewest crosses, but to grow by every ex-
perience into stronger men; hence
we show real unkindness to those
who are enduring hardship; when we
seek merely to make life easier for
them, regardless of their own highest
good. Usually it is a great deal better
for people to fight their own battles
through, and carry their own burdens,
and bear Enlightened the crosses God
gives them to carry. We may inter-
fere with Gods discipline when we
come running up with our help at
every moment of stress. BY encourage-
ment and cheer and inspiration we
may put new hope and energy into
hearts that r Painting, but usually
that is the only aid we should give. It
is always vastly better to give a man
something to do, by which he can earn
bis W bread, than to put the bread
into his hand and leave him idle. It is
the poorest kindness to work out a
child's school examples for him, and to
tell him the answers to the questions
assigned to him; the truly kind thing is
to encourage him to solve the examples,
and to search out the examples for him
self; and this principle has the widest
application.
Hence, they are the best eomforters
and helpers Of their fellow-men who 90
about with large hopefulness and cheer
fitness in their own hearts, trying to
put a little hope and cheer into
the life of every one they meet. Gift,
OF money, oft-times, while they relieve
immediate distress, and make life for
one hour easier, only help to encour-
age disheartenment and to perpetuate
nervelessness and Incidence. It would
be a great deal better, by a few brave
words, to incite the person to rise ap
and grasp life for himself.
1t is evident that We can all do a e1eat
deal of good in this world without hay-
ing much money to- bestow. If wehaye
no gold or silver to give, we can take
by the hand those who have fallen in
the way, and help them t. rise again.
We can put fresh courage into the
hearts of the faint, so that they can
take up their burdens anew and start
forward NC more in tho race. We
q give cheer and comfort to those
who are weary through toll or through
sorrow> We a impart inspirations of
Joy. and kindle new hope in the bosoms
- those who have begun to lag behind.