The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1898-05-28

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| much as Il whole dictionary, and you have
given perhaps all the comfort that a soul
| needs. A man has a terrible wound in his
| arm. The surgeon comes and binds it up.
| Now" he says, 'carry that arm in
| sling and be very careful of it, Let no one
| touch it, But the ncighbors have heard
| of the accident, and they come in, and
| they say, Let us see it," And the band
| age is pulled off, and this one and that one
must feel it and see how much it is Swol
| len, and there arc irritation and inflamma
| ton and evaporation where there ought
| to be healing and cooling. The surgeon
comes in and says: What does all this
! men? You have no business to touch those
bandagcs. That wound will never heal
| unless you let it alone So there are souiS
broken down in sorrow. What they lIos'
want is rest or very careful and Scnil"
treatment, but the ncighborS have heard
of the bereavement or Of the loss, and they
come in to sympathize, and they say:
"ShOw us now the wound. What We're his
last words? Rehearse now the whole scene.
How did you feel when you found you
We're an orphan?" Tearing off the band
ages here and pulling them off there, leav-
ing CHASTITY wound that the balm of Gods
grace had already begun to heal. Oh, let
no loquacious people, with ever rafting
tongues, go into the homes of the dis
trcsscd
Again, l remark that all those persons
are incompetent to give any kind of COM
fort who act merely as worldly philoso-
piers. They come in and say: why, this is
what you ought to have expected. The
laws of nature must have their way
And then they get eloquent over some
thing they have seen in postmortcm cx-
nminations. Now, away with all human
philosophy at such time! What differ
ence does it make to that father and moth
er what disease their son died of? He is
dead, and it makes no difference whether
the trouble was in the cpigastric or hypo-
gastric region. If the philosopher be of
the stoical school. he will come and say:
"You ought to control your feelings. You
must not cry SO. You must cultivate q
cooler temperament. You must have self
reliance, self government, self controP'-
an iceberg rcprOving hyacinth for hav-
Ing drop of dew in its eye. A violinist
has his instrument, and he sweeps his fin
gers across the strings, now evoking
strains of joy and now strains of sadness
He cannot play all the tunes on one string
The human soul is an instrument of q
thousand strings, and all sorts of emo
tions were made to play on it. Now an
anthem, now dirge. 1t is no evidence of
weak when one is overcome of sorrow.
Edmund Burke was found in the pasture
field with his arms around horses neck,
the great man has lost his mind No;
the horse belonged to his son, who had re-
Gently died, and his great heart broke over
the grief. 1t is no sign of weakness that
men are overcome 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
cry? David did well when he mourncd for
Absalom, Abraham did we'll when he be-
moancd Sarah, Christ wept for Lazarus,
and the last man that I want to see come
anywhere near me when I have any kind
of trouble is n worldly philosopher.
Again, remark that those persons are
incompetent for the work of comfort bear
ing 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 arc times in grief when
one cheerful face, dawning upon a mans
soul, is worth S 900 to him. Do not whine
over the afflicted Iake 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 hearscS
thronUh that moor Sp,ll 10 not toll him,