The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1888-09-06

W COAbIOA yOu1 1CCAllSo. IOu
must not cry SO. You must cultivate
cooler temperament. You must have
self reliance, self government, self con-
troll. an iceberg reproving a hyacinth
for having drop of dew in its eye. A
violinist has his instrument, and he
sweeps his fingers across the strings, now
eVoking strains of joy, and now
strains of sadness. He can not
play all the tunes on one string.
The human soul is an instrument of a
thousand strings, and all sorts of emotions
were made to play on it. Now an
anthem, now dirge. 1t is no evidence
of weakness when one is overcome Of
sorrow. Edmund Burke was found in
the pasture field with his arms around a
horses neck, caressing him, and some
one said, "Why, the great man has lost
his mindr' No; that horse belonged to
his son who had recently died, and his
great heart broke OVER the grief. 1t is
no sign of weakness that men are over
come Of their sorrows. Thank God for
the relief of tears. Have you never been
in trouble when you could not weep, and
you would have given anything for a
good crys David did well when he
mourned for Absaiom, Abraham did well
when he bemoaned Sarah, Christ did well
when he wept for Lazarus; and the last
man want to see come anywhere near
me when have any kind of trouble is a
worldly philosopher.
Again / remark, that those persons are
incompetent for the work of comfort
bearing who have nothing but can't to
| offer. There are those who have the idea
that you must groan over the distressed
and afflicted. There are times in grief
when one cheerful face dawning upon
mans soul is worth thousand dollars to
| him. Do not whine over the afflicted.
Take the promises of the Gospel, and
utter them in manly tone. Do not be
afraid to smile if you feel like it. Do
not drive any more hearses through that
| poor soul. Do not tell him the trouble
was foreordained; it will not be any COM
fort to know it was a million years COM
| ing. If you want to find splints for a
| broken bone c. not take cast iron. Do
| not tell them it is Gods justice that
weighs out grief. They want now to
hear of Gods tender mercy. In other
words, do not give them aqua fortis
when they need valerian.
| ASdlu L ItuldTh ILstG LltOSt dIS
poor comforters who have never had any
trouble themselves. A larkspur cannot
lecture ON the nature of snowfake-it
never saw a snowflake; and those people
| who have always lived in the summer of
prosperity cannot talk to those who are
frozen in disaster. God keeps aged peo-
pie in the world, think, for this very
work of sympathy. They have been
through all these trials. They know all
that which irritates and all that which
soothes. If there are men and women
here who have old people in the house,
or near at hand SO they can easily reach
them, congratulate them, Some of us
have had trials in life, and although we
have had many friends around about us,
we have wished that father and mother
were still alive, that we might go
and tell them. Perhaps they could
not say much, but 1t would have
been such comfort to have them around
These aged ones who have been all
through the trials of life know how. to
give coincidence. Cherish them; let them
lean on your arm-these aged people. If
when you speak to them, they cannot
hear inst what you say thief time, and
you have to say ii second time, when
you say it the second time. do not say it
sharply. If you do, you will be sorry for
it on the day when you take the last look
and brush back the silvery locks from the
Yrinlkled brow just before they screw the
lid on Blessed be God for the old peo-
plei They may not have SO much strength
to go around, but they are Gods ap-
pointed ministers of comfort 10 broken
heart.
People who have not had trial them
selves cannot give comfort to others.
They may talk very beautifully, and
they may give you great deal of poetic
sentiment; but while poetry is perfume
that smells sweet, it makes a very poor
saive. If you have grave in your path
way, and somebody comes and covers ii
all over with flowers, it Is a grave yet.
Those who have not had grief them
selves know not the mystery of a broken
heart. They know not the meaning OF
childlessness, and the having of no one
to put to bed at night, ox the standing in
q room where every book and picture and
door is full of memories|the door mat
where She sat, the cup out of which she
drank-the place where she stood at the
door and clapped her hands-the odd fig
ures that she scribbled-the blocks she
built into o house. All no, you must have
trouble yourself before you can comfort
trouble in others. But come all ye who
have been bereft and We who have beer
colnforted in your sorrows, and stanC
around these afflicted souls, and say tt
them, 'I had that very sorrow myself
God comforted me, and he will comfor
you:" and that will go right to the spot
In other words, to comfort others, WI
must have faith in God, practical ex
perience, and good, sound common sense
But. there are three or four considera
} tons that will bring this morning K
, those who are sorrowful and distressed
end that we can always bring to them
, knowing that they viii effect cure
sends our troubles in love. often heal
people in their troubles say, fsWhy,
, wonder what God has against mel
They. seem to thinla God has some grudg
agaipst them because trouble and mis-
, HSalpe have come. Oh, no. Do yo,
5gepsnahsr that passage of Scripture
.kaW The Lord loveth he chastenetbs p
a child comes. in with very bad spliptel
: IN its hand and you try to extract it.
is a very painful operation. The chilc
draws back from you, but you persist
You are going to take that splinter out
so you take the child with gentle bu
J firm grasp, for, although there may b
{ pain in it, the splinter must come out
; And it is love that dictates it, and make
: you persist. Ny friends, I reall,
, think that nearly all our SORROWS in thi
, world are only the hand Of our Fathe
t extracting some thorn. If all these sor
: rows were sent by enemies, would say
= arm yourselves against them; and, as Il
4 tropical climes, when tiger comes dow
0 from the mountains and carries off
Q child from the village, the neighbor
t band together and go into the forest an
Q hunt the monster, SO I would have you
| if thoI,crht fhaca r,aiSfort11naS xxrera san