The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1886-12-01
THANKFUL FOR SORROW.

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THANKFUL FOR SORROW.
An May BE Converted by Divine Power
Into tho Nutrilnent OF Virtue.
II am never happier in any domestic
task" said a notable housekeeper IN
our hearing the other day. ethan
when l am putting up the winter sup
ply Of mince-meat feel then as
though ] had something in the house
that every body will like and some
thing for company. Here is enough
to last till after New Years and per-
haps till Washington's birthday. and l
never made better than this since l
went to housekeeping" This lady
had laid up during the season abun-
dant supplies of corn and tomatoes
and fruits and preserves and jellies and
pickles. but in none OF them did she
take the satisfaction that she had in
her mincepies, because. as she said,
"when 1 was canning and preserving
Thanksgiving Day seemed far in the
future and Christmas a long way off,
while now they are near at hand, and
in few days all the leaves will be
needed in the extension table. and side
tables must be arranged for the chill
dren and grandchildren that will come
to the old homestead to eat Thanks
giving dinner" ~.
There will be vacant places at many
board-the places of those who 'eat
bread in the Upper Kingdom, above
this vale of tears. Mute shadows will
seem to be lowering around many a
full table. We mourn not for them
but for ourselves who must fare on
without their company and sympathy
and aid, but we mourn not Us those
without hope. for We shall soon be
joined to them in an everlasting re-
union. and then:
After long agony,
Raptures of bliss"
Shall we give thanks alone for full
larders, for bins bursting with grain,
for abundance of clothing, for supplies
of fuel, for peace and prosperity Or
shall we "in every thing land for every
thing) give thanksp" "Shall we re-
ceive good from the hand of the Lord
and shall we not receive evilpn If we
thank Him for the good, shall we
not also thank Him for the evil? Evil
from Him is but good in disguise. The
vine that escapes pruning yields but
meager and inferior fruit. The gold
that is not tried in the fire is not fit for
the uses of the jewelcr. 1t is ''tribu-
lation that worketh patience. and
patience experience, and experience
hope Our woes bring us nearer to
God. Our tears are lenses through
which we may more correctly read the
promises of God. Some of these prom
Uses can be read only through tears.
Darkness shows us worlds of light
We never saw by day"
Shall we not give thanks for darkness
rs well as light, for sorrow as we'll as
joy, for death as well as lifeo
The farmer carefully saves all waste
products. all sewerage, all unsavorv
and offensive and disgusting sub
stances that accumulate on his
farm. and gathers them in CON-
post heaps, not to burn them, not
to throw them away, hut that in the
spring he may spread them upon his
fields, where by the alchemy of the
Great Chemist they shall be trans.
formed into golden harvests. Is there
not a lesson in this for us?
Even thus our follies. our mistakes,
our sins, may be converted by Divine
Power into the nutriment of virtue.
There seems no way for us to learn the
right without learning the wrong; to
do the right without doing the wrong.
what man is he that liveth and sin.
meth not?" May we not be thankful
even for the sins by means of which
our eyes have been opened and we
have been given to see the beauty OF
goodness, the purity of the Divine
Law. the possibility Of making of oul
dead selves stepping stones to higher
things?
If in reviewing the year we have no,
prosperity to be grateful for, happi.
ness to be grateful for, then let us be
thankful for the ''sweet uses of ad.
versity."
which Ike the toad, ugly and venomous,
= wears yet precious jewel in its head"
The sweetest and most unalloyed JOY
any one of us will taste this Thanks.
giving Day will come from the reflec.
ton of joy in the faces of our fellows,
joy that would not be in their faces
but from some act of ours. This Joy
there is none so poor or so unhappy
that he may not taste. Those are most
to be cnvied who are able to make the
largest number of human beings hap
pier and better. y Tribune.