The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1894-06-21
New York Herald.I


Sorrows if We so Wilt.
New York Herald
John xix, II.
The heart knoweth its own bitterness.
Proverbs xiv, 10.
A cross is part of the household
furniture of every family. 1t is the
decree of Providence that it shall be
SO. 1t would be very strange if you
could find an exception to the rule.
There are many sweets in life, bu,
there was never yet heart that had
no bitterness. There are pages in
every book which are never read
except by ourselves and One Other
The rest of the volume is open to our
friends and to the world God and
we have many secrets which are not
contided to third party. He under
stands us; no one else can. That is a
popularity of our human lite.
And fortunate it is that the veil
which covers our hearts can not be
lifted. If we could see all that our
neighbors suffer, and they could see
what we suffer, the revelation would
be very painful and life would have
an added agony. We are graciously
permitted, therefore, to have a place
of concealment where we keep our
special disappointments and our private
griefs, the key to which is never lost or
mislaid.
The true and noble make the best
of life, and refuse to increase another S
sorrow by the recital of their own.
Small souls, like babhling brooks, tell
everything as they go but souls that
see the plan of God tell all to Him
alone and find a certain comfort in
their reticence toward others.
The degree of happiness we enjoy,
therefore, depends largely on ourselves.
Our environment has less to do with
happiness than we think. The i'm
portant question is whether we have
the necessary elements within the
heart, and if that is decided in the
affirmative it makes but little difference
what our surroundings are.
1t is hard to believe this, for we are
living in an age of show and sham and
display. In the decalogue Of modern
society the first law reads, Thou shalt
worship no other god but gold. We
spend our lives in scramble for cash,
and prove that we have succeeded by
exhibition which is little less than a
personal advertisement, and the object
of which is to excite envy and stimulate
avarice.
But we are making a colossal
blunder. Happiness comes not from
the pocket but from the heart. 1t
can not be created by wealth nor
destroyed by poverty. Where love is
coatentment, and when love is perfect
mere surroundings are regarded with
something like disdain. 1t is when
the heart is not satisfied that the nature
of environment assumes undue i'm
portance. Two rooms will do, if moth
ing better can be had, when love would
build a home, but a palace is too
small when the heart is aching. A rag
carpet on the floor and single flower
in blossom on the window still, if con-
tentment sits at your fireside, are
better than splendor, with distrust or
suspicion as your guest.
Here, then, you have two facts which
you must meet.
First, there is no life that is not bur-
dened with grief. It.is hopeless task
TO search for one, for it will never be
found. This grief may come in any
one of thousand shapes, but in some
shape it comes to all of US. Its mission
is to teach US that there is One who is
wiser than We, and to search until we
find Him.
There is nothing in all the world
that draws us to Heaven so gently and
get so irresistibly as the sense of help
lessness. Make life a round of pleasure,
and the Lords Prayer would never be
uttered. But the smitten soul seeks
shelter, as the frightened child rushes
into its mothers arms. We may not
understand why this is so, but true it
is that the best elements of human
character have been developed by
sorrow rather than success.
Second, the happiness of lite must
greatly come from the way you look
at life. If you jot down the things
you want but can not have it is easy
to make yourself miserable. You can
become envious until you become
morbid and melancholy. If you
believe that in being poor or afflicted
you have been robbed of your rights
no ray of sunshine will fall on your
pathway.
A man may look at nature through
smoked glass, and he can use smoked
glass when looking at himself and his
surroundings. DO but reckon your
blessings instead of your miseries, and
you have the weight you carry. Form
the habit of looking tor silver lining
to every cloud and the cloud :.rell
will seem less dark. Some can be
happy with a farthing candle, while
others mourn under the glare of ar
electric light.
And religion comforts and console:
because it furnishes a cheerful view o
every change that comes. There is nt
hard fisted and relentless Fate, but ;
Father in the upper air. 1t is no
chance that robs US of the loved one
but Providence, which does what