Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1899-03-12
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- A Preacher
= Among the People. ).
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KIND WORDS.

the money changers, and the seats of
them that sold doves" was master of
invective. He did not shrink from the
duty of Arranging those who were
turning the house dedicated to the SER
vice God into "a den of thieves," nor
did he forebear calling them by the
right names. Yet smoking fax he nev-
er quenched, and a bruised reed he
never broke. To those who were strug-
Cling manfully under heavy burdens or
remaining true to their tasks in spite
of discouragements, he never spoke
other than encouraging words And
a. would be called, a blessed thing foI
the world if in this matter there were
universal emulation of his example,
1t was a strange and sad experience
that set me a thinking about the need
and value of kind words as l had new
er thought of the subject before.
In compliance with an earnest re-
quest I went down into the heart of the
city to find a young man over whom a
dark cloud of disappointment and
grief had suddenly gathered. His sor-
row was of that kind which breaks the
heart, but which is too sacred to re-
veal to the world. found him sur
rounded by his associates in business
and confronted by a throng whose on
ly interest at that moment seemed to be
in trade. l stopped for a few minutes
and looked upon the scene before max
ing my presence known. The young
man was at his post and every move
indicated an earnest desire to meet
promptly and faithfully the eXacting
business demand made upon him. The
lines on his face told of anxious days,
and sleepless nights, but the busy
pushing throng did not stop to inter
pret them. A customer bruskly gave
his orders, kept his eye upon the scales
to assure himself that he received just
weight, counted his change with Sc
we're precision, then hurried away un-
COuCeIHtu dDouL lut youHS man WIZ
served him. He looked only for
promptness and accuracy in business.
Ignorant of the fact that the affection
and hopes of the young man behind
dhe counter had just been buried in
fresh New England grave, he concern
ed himself only about specified
amounts of coffee and tea and exact
change. All! how little we know of the
sorrows and trials of our fellowmen.
There may have been others in that
same room whose hearts we're break
ing, but because Gney were bravely do
ing their best / knew it not. The he
roes of the world have not all been at
some Waterloo or Gettysburg where
physical danger was the test of a
mans courage. We meet them every
day on the streets and in the stores, but
because they go on doing their work
faithfully and instead of proclaiming
it to the world, lock the great sorrow
of their lives up in their own hearts,
revealing it only to intimate friends,
we do not always know them. But if
we form the habit of speaking gently
we will make their burdens easier to
bear and put, little sunshine and
roses in the paths in which the thorns
are already numerous and sharp. j
am more and more led to believe that
much Of the despair of which we hear
much in these days is due more to
feeling of lonliness and neglect than to
any other cause. "les, this afifiction
is hard to bear, it taxes me severely"
a lady said to me not long ago; but l
could endure it if only somebody seemed
to care, if only occasionally somebody
would manifest interest enough in me
to speak kind and helpful word"
l believe that lady echoed the senti-
ments of great multitude whose
worst afflictlon consists nthe fact that
nobody seems TO care, however earn
stely they struggle to keep above the
waves.
That the disciples should fall asleep
while Jesus was passing through the
agonies of Gethsemane seems strange
to us until we look little deeper into
The ways of humanity and discover that
experiences, the same in kind, are COM
mon to every age and cline. AS rule
The great throng is too intent upon Its
own profit and pleasure to stop and in
qulre about those who have entered
Gethesmane in agony of soul and
possibly alone. In one sense it is for
tunate that this is so. Were it other
wise life might be transformed into a
solemn funeral march while the tend
ency would be to make the cemetery a
place of general resort | do not ask
that the every day duties and pleasures
of life be thrust aside and all men
give themselves up to mourning with
those who mourn; but that in the per-
formance of these duties and the en-
joyment of those pleasures a spirit of
kindly consideration be more widely
cultivated and If the sum of human sor-
row is not thereby decreased, it will
be much more easily borne.
The silent unknown heroes and hero
ines of the world will thereby be greatly
strengthened for yet other trying du-
ties that will be taken up with lighter
hearts. When the banners are furled