The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-06-17
Thought Chisclings.
HELEN !. MANNING.

GA frown on your face, Agnes, when
it was meant to reflect only S'hil'' 'n0
sunshine! Drive it OIL" ,:u,-
"But, Aunt Olivia, l was just tnlnh, ,
inc over how mean Sue Downs treated
me Yesterday. Why, she actually tore
a corner offfrom my map OF the l hlieu
states when | was just ready to hand 1t
in for the prize, and then pretended
that it was accidental and not because
she was afraid it was better than hers:
Hateful thingn And here Agnes
face grew blacker than ever with the
ugly thoughts she was harborlng, ano
her ewes drew their curtains half down,
unwilling to let in the brightness OF her
aunt's face, to say nothing OF the
morning sunshine.
Aunt Olivia drew the passively re-
luctant form of her niece unto her em-
brace, smoothed the fluffy hair sooth-
ingly few minutes and then asked
3Do YOU remember how last sum-
mer when YOU were out fishing with
Cousin Foster, a fish hook became ac-
cidentally tangled with the line ana IN
me q pain in the stomach, and how can
they effect Sue? She does not know
ANYTHING about it-only what l said at
the time"
"Well. 1 will try to make you under
stand, for little girls should kno"
about this matter as we'll as grown peo.
pie. All the while you were eating
your supper, and you said you i,. "eIe
awful hungry your face told pam,
that you were holding resentlul anu
unkind thoughts, and physiclans. .le, N
cognize as well as metaphysl"lal,SS, ,,,u.
grief, anger or any violent, unmm'PtH
emotion, affect untaHoraoiy al 1u
functions of the body. NlthouC G1nps
the bad thoughts you were ho!uihs
gave you the pain, and not the lnno-
cent food that you ate. 80 you see
that for your own sake, you must drlVe
away such harmful guests.
1.-The effect upon Sue is not SO easily
explained to you. But thoughts are
helping to unsnarl it, the hook was
ierked into your wrist? You had to
have the doctor come and cut 1t out,
and take few stitches in the flesh, too.
Well now, did you take the hook the
next day and force it into the wound to
see whether it would hurt just as bad
or worse than the first time"
"Why, Auntie, what a foolish ques-
tion," said Agnes, aroused out OF her
anathetic moOdiness. "Of course /
didn't do anything of the kind. 1t hurt
90 bad when it was done that [ was
only too glad to let it alone to get well
as fast as it could, without making II
worse by trying it over"
Just so, my little dear, that was SEN
sible and I wish you would be as Tea-
sonable about the map matter and sue
Downs. These naughty thougnts
which you are fostering act just like
the tearing open of wound. They
not only hurt YOU and were the real
cause of the fit of indigestion from
which you suffered last night, but they
are hurting Sue also"
II don't see how that can be-" re.
piled Agnes increduously." How could
it be possible for my thought 10 give
forces and they travel from mlnd 10
mind on invisible telegraph wires. In
this way we have come to know that
the thoughts we think about other peo-
pie 20 to them and influence their
lives. Now that you are considering
the matter calmly, I am sure you feel
that Sue is very sorry for the accident
and very unhappy because of your
hasty and angry words. 1 beg you,
dear child, not to 60 on hurting her by
unkind thought. Think of her loving
Iy and you will be ready to greet her
lovingly when you meet.
And let me tell you that one OF the
sweetest, if least considered, ways OF
helping other folks is by thinking
beautiful thoughts about them-good,
pure, generous, loving thoughts. New
er treasure in memory or dwell upon
any characteristic that appears to you
the reverse of this. i will forget the
evil and remember the good, says one
wise and helpful writer, and let US take
that for one of our life notices,
The young face had grown thought,
fully sweet by this time and as Aunt
Olivia bent to kiss the child, she con-
tinued:
"Another thing we must not forget
is that our thoughts work with queer
little chisels upon our faces and so we
must be very careful what kind o.
thoughts We entertain. If they are
sour, fretful, complaining thoughts
they will carve ugly lines in our faces,
put on frown or pout or sEarl
that will by and by stay there all the
time. On the other hand, if we are
sending out sweet, generous and happy
thoughts they will chsel our faces into
a soul beauty which will attract people
toward us and surround us with love
and friends wherever we are. Real
beauty is soul-deep not merely skin
deep, and we can all be beautiful
if we will"