Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1902-10-11
BLESSEDNESS OF THE RUT.
Think Not of the "Perpetunl GRIND
30 Nu~h as Of the Dear Every
dEyEess OF Life-s

grind"-how common such express
slonS are, and how Familiarity they
voice the discomfort of people who
cannot find anything more serious or
distressing TO complain about than tho
SamenesS of their daySi
1t would almost seem, from tho pro-
Salence of this sort of grumbling, as
If man were by nature a complaining
creature, born to protest, to worry.
to covet the things he has not and can
not have, dissatisfied always with pres
ent conditions and necessities, and dis
posed to attribute his unhappineSs to
his lot in life, rather than to his own
attitude and point of view. For we
find all classes of men complaining
about the monotonieS Of life. Even
great men, doing \ great work, are apt
TO speak of their time as consumed by
weary and undressing routine
Lives which the more humble of US
picture as fu71 of interest and variety
and inspiration are often declared by
those who are living them TO be weari-
souely dull and monotonous. What is
wrong that we should find life so
cursed with sameness, so lacking in
fresh delight and buoyancy of serv-
ice
The trouble seems 10 be that we do
not rightly interpret and value repe-
titiousness in life as a quality conduc-
i've TO truest happiness, as we'll as
largest success. IT is the so-called
monotonies of life, did we but rea lie
It, that the greater part of its quiet,
deep equable happiness consists. Some
one has expressed this thought in q
happy phrase-''the dear, everyday
ness of life" And when one thinks
of the matter reasonably and can
didly, is il not true that the sense of
mastery and wOntedness that attaches
to the routine of our days is, or should
be, one of the deepest sources of per-
sonal satisfaction? The task that we
are accustomed to do and perform
with practiced ease and accuracy; tho
duties that we approach with full I'M
Outstanding of their requirementsan and
method of performance; the daily
events so like each other as to be free
from shock and strain; the alienation
Of rest and toll, planning and per-
formipg-are not these experiences
full of satisfaction, If we only esti-
mate them rightly?
Let few days of life be broken in
upon by uuwonted experiences, even
such as might be pleasurable In antici-
patton, and how glad we are TO get
back again to the accustomed ruti
The sense OF strain and confusion dis
appear and we breathe sigh of rest
full content as we resume the old round
of familiar duties.
Still more, if the experiences that
have broken in upon routine are Of n
distressing or cxacting character
sickness, suspense, a trying ordeal of
any sort~-what grateful, what blessed
relief TO return to the dear everyday
ness OF life once morel We wonder
how we could ever have grumbled over
II. How could it ever have seemed to
us anything but the only serene and
happy path?
The remedy for dissatisfaction with
the routine of life seems to be a tenn
porary suspension OF routine, with all
the special and unaccustomed strain
that II entails. We have only to DEM
onstrate in personal experience, from
time TO time, how dear the everyday
ness of life actually Is, In order TO be
weaned from the spirit OF grumbling,
which is so unworthy a child of God.
By thus attaining the right viewpoint
we shall get rid of the notion that
there is anything regrettable, any
thing that ought 20 be changed, IN
Gods appointment of routine to be
the normal condition of life. Weshall
see clearly that il is the very condi-
ton which is, on the whole, productive
to the greatest amount of peace and
happiness.
II the routine Of life is the condition
Of the highest average happiness, It
is even more evident the condition of
life's highest average of achievement.
In no other way than by performing
the same kind of tasks over and over
again could the individual or the race
accomplish the greatest amount of
enduring work This in itself should
be an additional cause for rejoicing
in the monotonies of life. If we ac-
complish more by following the rut
than we could In any other way, we
ought TO be glad that our appointed
pathways fall into ruts.
How ungracious, then, TO grumble
at the provision God has made both for
our happiness and fruitfulness in lifei
OF all the paths that strike across the
world, there is none, after all, so pleas
ant and so profitable as the rut- Abol-
ish II. and you would have a world full
of confused, cratic, unhappy, inef-
fectual men and women-a human
chaos. Blessed indeed are the habit
ual things, the things that regulate
conduct, and concentrate effort and
fill our days with that quiet, lasting
happiness which In the most precious
heritage of human experience
James Buckham, in Boston Congrega-
tionalist.