The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1894-12-13
TIE VALUE OF SMALL THINGS.
Many Small Things Make up the
Sum Of Great Character.
y. \. Iiernd.

Line upon me. me upon iliIc Heic
a little, and there a littIe--isalah,
XXxiii., 10
We ought to give greater heed to the
little things Of life and t. magnify their
importance more than we do. Not
great experiences, but small ones, make
the sum of human happiness. 1t is
folly to dIsdain the quarters Of an hour
Of enjoyment which frequently come
within reach, and wait anxousiy for a
whole holiday.
When the artist is making a mosaic
he will defeat his own end unless he
sees the beauty in each bit Of stone
before him and recognizes It's value as
a contribution to the picture he is
building And in like manner the
soul does itself Injustice if it fails to see
that the little duties Of life are the
material ont Of which great natures are
SHAPED
\ single thread may seem very in
significant thing. We hold it up to
the sunshine, admire it's beautiful color
for moment and then rather scOrn-
fully throw it to the passing breeze.
The weaver however, winds it about
his shuttle and makes with it leaf or
a flower in his costly fabric What we
throw away as not worthy OF second
thought is highly priced by the man
who knows how to use it.
It is very trite and commonplace to
say that we ought to lend helping
hand whenever the opportunity is Of
tered or, better still, that we ought to
search every day for an opportunity to
do 50. And yet if you will imagine
life in which kindly word is spoken
and kindly deed is done on every
possible occasion, and then Imagine
that ali these kindly words and deeds.
extending through many years, are
eyes as yOu gaze at the brilllancv of the
spectacle and feel kind of envy of the
man or woman whose life is as beautiful
as q cathedral window with the ~.
shining through It. or as rich and mel
low and inspiring as the music OF
cathedral organ when its KEYS are
touched BY Il masters hand.
Such a life, however. is within reach
OF every human being. The amount
Of happneS. which we miss is matter
for scrious consideration, and we miss
1t simply because we cannot see that
God has slowed away vast amount of
enjoyment in the deeds we never do
and the words we never say.
1t docs no harm to stop on the nigh
way for 4 moment and chat with &
bind tcccar. On the contrary, 1t NAV
happen that the key to unlock our own
dependency hangs at the girdle of lust
such an interview SO insignificant an
incident rs that may change the whole
current OF our thoughts. muzzle or
tendency to grumhle because we arc
not as well of as we thlnI; Wn Oucht 10
he and possibly lead us to he grateful
for the little we have. 1t isa represen-
tative incident and serves to snow that
Gods hand has been rather generous
to us after all
\ young man has fallen on i'll fortune
or bad habits All that the stealthy
devil Of circumstance asks is that yo,;
VIII let that young man alone. for then
his ruin will be assured. If You were
to take his hand or in any way show An
interest in his welfare as. for instance
BY fraternal word of encouragement,
YOU might fan The dying embers until
they broke INTO flame again. MANY a
life has been saved by a warm hand
shake, and many lite has been damn
cd for the want Of It. The handsbakc
Is a little thing, but the saved life is
not Il llltle thing.
It a man is on the edge of precipice
You nccti but touch his shoulder and
be VIII 90 over, or you need but cal!
him by nane and he will step back
II it is possible to do such a service tC
fellow creature by a phrase no longer
that the widows mite our lips are
rccrcailt If VIC do not utter il, and when