Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1891-12-16
DANGLING HANDS.
BY JUANITA STAFFORD,

What lasting influence a good, earn
est, rugged-minded woman Can leave
behind herl This has frequently been
borne in upon my mind when 1 have
heard Robert Collyer begin "My good
mother used to say" and then give
some nugget of wisdom or common
sense that was good and sufficient
| text for a whole sermon, or a sufficient
"clincher" for some able moral argu-
ment of her sons. One of her say
ings, that no doubt she repeated often
enough to keep it alive for ever, was
this: al can't abide dangling handsr'
Don't you hear her saying itl Don t
you see her saying it-she, whose hands
never dangled in all her life? That
''csn't abide" Is an old-fashioned phrase,
but it seems to mean more than our
modem ''csn't endure" does 1t not?
One of the dictionary meanings of
abide, is to dt0eU." 1t is very hard
to dwell with dangling hands. An
other definitions ''to be patient with, .
and it is equally hard TO be patient
with dangling hands. Why? Not be-
cause they may not he beautiful They
are often small, shapely and white
Not because they are doing disagree
able things, for they are doing nothing.
| Then why? Well, because they are
not Just hands alone. but are also part
of a uman being, and that human
being, man or woman, is the disagree
able thing about tine hands, if l may be
allowed to use somewhat peculiar, in
vulved language. You all know what
/ mean.
Dangling hands stand first of all for
laZiuess. and who can ''abide" that?
The lazy person not only does nothing
| for others but she does nothing for her
self. Things must be done. The lazy
persoL is always the last one to wish
things left nndone that pertain to her
comfort and ease, and so some one else
/ must take up and do what should be
the ork of those dangling hands.
Again, dangling hands means selfish
ness. If we go through life doing
nothing with the instruments given to
use, some one loses something; bless
1ngs are not dropped along the way,
stones and briars are left in the paths
of struggling fellow mortals that help
| full hands should "gather out," warm
ing fires so unkindled and some one is
cold, the dark shutter is not flung wide
open to let the warm sunshine in,
and some poor suffering one sits in the
| dark. Is not this much?
Dangling hands means ShiftleSsneSs
Opportunities slip by, bits of happi-
ness and materials for comfort go to
waste, pleasures and duties get lost,
better things than gold slip through
the cracks of life's floor and are never
seen again, the zest OF living is gone,
| life is favorless. There is a sort OF
| opinion prevalent that if one does
nothing evil, he is good. 1t is not al
ways true. Sc far as the doing nothing
evil goes, he is all right, but he must
also do good if he would be good. We
cannot stand still. III We are not
marching forward we are marching
backward. If we stand with dangling
hands, good life slips by us and we are
left behind, and we might as well have
turned our backs and fed-better, l
think.
A homely old proverb here comes to
my Handsome is that hand
some does, and so IN no sense can
, dangling hands be beautiful, no matter
/ how perfg ct their symetry or fair their
color. If unr hands and our faces do
not stand for something beautiful with
| in, then to the clear, far-seeing eye
they nre not beautiful. Let us all say,
and mean it as we say it, the good
words of Madame CoIlyer:
q can't aoIde dangling hands"
Exchange.