The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1901-11-21

took a stand.
In Mrs. Beatley's paper on 1.-THE Joys
| of Responsibility" among other ex-
| pressions We're:
Different forms of joy are meant
for different periods Of existence. We
advance from joy to joy. AS we enter
upon the new, some joys. very dear to
us, must be left behind. The joy of
childhood; what is its charm? Is it not
the joy of responsibility? careless
| joy, safe in the divine protection-ir-
responsibility lovingly Graded in re-
sponsihility.
"Life's finest joys come only with
responsibility; and whenever life Is
half-escaped that should have been
enjoyed" it is because the response
bility has been taken half heartedly.
Freedom to choose Alright! This is
the supreme joy of life. 1t is joy or
responsibility. This Joy of freedom
comes Immediately from right choos-
| ing
ITO know the truth we must earnest
| ly long to know and we must bow in
constant obedience to the truth al
ready known.
1.-The supreme JOY Of freedom con-
| tains within itself many special joys
1t Is the failure to decide that cheats
us from many a waiting joy. The law
! IS lHeAUTdDles Ln6fe IS no OIutT TOdu >
! decide we must, often painfully, but
decide decide, and having decided, we
must hold on to the decision till there
is time to reap its harvest In the case
of difficult choice there is usually good
! In either decision. Decision means joy
for even a wrong decision may be cor
rected and bring forth blessedness;
but indecision becomes indifference,
breeding misery, despair and spirisual
DEATH
Fear of the results of decision is the
most frequent cause of indecsion. The
greatest joys that the world have
known come to us from men and
women who have overcome their fear.
Jesus was not afraid, nor was Luther
afraid nor Columbus afraid, nor Lin
coin afraid.
Much that passes for sacrifice is
| fear. Possession not sacrifice, Is the
watchword of the coming age. The
sacrifice of Jesus has been dwelt upon
until 1t has taken an abnormal place
in the mind of Christianity. The pos
session of Jesus the entering into the
riches of his own nature, was the
largest element of his power. 1t was
that which gave dignity to the sacri-
flee; he had mucuh to give, but he
did not give 1t recklessly, not till he
saw that sacrifice was the only pos
sible way. Do not thousands of human
beings go through the world bearing
unnecessary wrongs, either from weak
ness or from false idea Of duty?
Heavy responsibility is the price of
lifes browning joy. The advent of
childhood is weighted with many
wearisome cares, but winged with the
very joys of heaven, and who, for the
sake of an irresponsible ease would
forego for a moment the sacred bles-
sedness of the joys? But 1t is not in
| the condition of wifehood or of mother
hood, or in a life apart from these,
| that the responsibility rests; but in the
high opportunity for service which
each of these conditions in its own
| high way affords. Many a woman goes
through life either from choice or from
circumstance without the joy of found
! ing home of her own choosing, Such a
life has its own high responsibility and
| joy. 1t becomes (when accepted as an
opportunity for service) most potent
and gracious infiuence-in society and
reaps it's own precious JOY.
WHO can be Indifferent to the cit
izens responsibility when he remem-
bers that through such faithful prom
| isings, states are safe? Some of our
| joys will be "three-parts pain" but if
the soul did not reach out and try its
/ DONeiS, II WOulu liOl llilh lbo illiliNSf II
would be forever content in a narrow
house and know not the joys Of the
more stately mansions.
wherever there is conscious limita-
ton. power shall be-"
Miss Metcalf, in her paper MAY
Happiness be Independent of Environ
ment," said:
Happiness we have learned to con-
slider state of being as subjective not
/ phfa1fixrn M GRATIFYING nf the
passing desires but as that permanent
condition Of mind which arises when
we live in accord with Gods laws al
ways remembering the real end of hui
man life-the development of the soul
! Now our question is can we attain to
such a state regardless of the general
environment of society or the particular
\ environment of our individual lives
| / must answer the question In the neg
alive. Our knowledge Of the world
comes to us from Impressions received
| from without and those Impressions
| influence us according to our natural
! dispositions and our past experiences.
| Now the thoughts and feelings which
we have must depend on the messag-
es we receive from without and the
way we combine the Impressions thus
coming to us. The combination will
depend on the knowledge we have
gained from previous environments and
from the tendencies which we have in
herited from our ancestors. SO we
cannot separate entirely from our sur
roundings any state or feeling we may
have and therefore happiness-one Of
those states-cannot be Independent Of
environment
"The happiness OF the people must
depend on the nature of their national
government. Much dissatisfaction
arises in the world because people are
trying to fit into wrong places to fill
positions for which nature never
intended them. They are strug-
Cling aginst the very laws of
their own being and are thus
out Of tune with the world.
There is a great deal Of trouble and
suffering because the physical body is
not strong. 1t is almost impossible to
enjoy the advantages in life If we have
not good health and this condition is
materially affected by environments.
Then there are those who, brought
up amid all the refinements Of life,
know the happiness arising from high
thinking and living, reverses come;
they are obliged to live among people
who have no regard for their course of
action. They finally adopt the stand
ard of their neighbors and become af-
filiated with them losing the fneness
of their natures until nothing is left
to them save the discomfort that they
feel at times when thinking Of what
they once were Or If the case Is OPP
posite. the unhappiness may arise from
the fact that one viii not lower his
standard and yield to the lower.
II will admit that one who loves the
best in art and in the world of letters
may make his own world In a large
degree and form his own happiness.
But because in certain cases unhappi-
ness arises from environment, we must
not think the discomfort that we often
feel and which is due to our own self