Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1903-03-06
d0lindham county 9eformer
FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 1908
Match the Miracle Of Spring

MatC0 the MlIAClt VI SPAM6'
1t would be very hard for one who
had never seen the miracle OF our
spring, to believe that any vestige OF
warm, tender life could be sleeping to-
day lust below earth's frozen and for
bidding exterior When the snow lies
heavy on our rough hills and the
streams are cold and still; when slee'
storms clothe with icy armor every tree
and shrub, and fierce winds rush
through our valleys, snarling and BIT
ing like angry animals, the pulse OF
nature seems to have stopped forever.
But the miraculous moment always
comes. Suddenly into chill silence
steals warmth and light The magic
wand of sunshine touches us, the
snow disappears, the heart Of the
earth pulsates with mighty impulse
of love and straightway there comes a
glad upspringing of tender, beautilui'
riotous life.
This wonderful miracle of nature
which we call spring has come WIN
such unfailing regularity to the woria
for so many years that mankind has
ceased to marvel much at the mystery
and delight of it. And we do not give
thought, either, to other miracles, OF
which it is typical, that we might
work so wondrously to the gla5hess of
the world.
For in all the affairs of mankind,
there is nothing of which the cold,
hopeless conditions of wi1ssr are sym
bolic which has not within it the
same germs of new lifY beauty and
gladness, waiting the touch Of the
coniurer-waiting for the sunshine
that shall light and warm and vivi-
fy. Lives become bare and misshapen
like trees in the merciless winds; they
are sometimes numbed and saddened
like the ice-bound brooks; desolated
like last years gardens or the empty
nests of flown birds; opportunities are
lost and dear desires and ambitions
buried, as thf snow buries all the
strivings of 81 nmer in the fields.
Yet in HUMAN life, as in nature,
there are mIgic wands of sunshine and
miracles may be wrought.
Courage is the saving sunshine for
the life whipped by adversely or wrong
into nakedness and detection. Step
steadfastly up, on the ice banks and
salPleaves of past failures and errors,
H1iet the light and warmth of new
9 s.rage fall full upon your face A
Wv purpose, called by noble courage
sCJht of heartful of dead hopes, will be
ysurer and swifter of fulfilling, higher,
: more unselfish and more truly satisfy
ing than that which failed. Men rise
to grandest heights on stepping stones
of their dead selves. "
And so it is with the lives that grief
and loss have sadoened. Deep in the
soil of such desolation are always the
rarest germs, which only need the sun
shine of hope to blossom forth in be-
wildering beauty. First joys, first
friends, first loves have sweet and pc
culiar beauty but they pale beside the
glory of such joys as spring up after
all has once been lost. 1t is the heart
that has been ploughed by dlsappoint-
ment, narrowed by pain and sowed by
experience, and which has then laid
silent under the SHOWS of bereavement,
in which the perfect flowers of happi-
ness and content finally open.
But kindness is the strongest, sweet
est, most compelling sunshine that
ever fell warmly upon the winter of
humanity. 1t breaks the ice of hate
and selfshness and subdues the blasts
of anger; within soil upon which it
rests, seeds of MY, jealousy, deceit
and other poisonous weeds shrivel and
die. but the fragrant herbs and sweet
flowers of human nature spring up
abundantly. Whether given or received,
kindness is uplifting, invigorating,
warming, gladdening 1t is the essence
of all goodness.
When, once again this year, the hap
by miracle of spring is wrought for US
and we open our windows to its sun
shine and loneliness, let us open also
the windows of our lives to this other
sunshine; and purify and fortify not
only our bodies with draughts of sun
warmed air, but our thoughts and pur-
poses as we'll. with new courage, fresh
hope and limitless loving kindness.
Then, when the tender green "gets
back on the trees,' and the pussy will
lows whiten: when the arbutus bushes
warmly in the woods and the grass
makes gay our sober old hills, let us
match this marvellous miracle of nature
with thoughts and deeds as pure and
delicately beautiful as anything sweet
Conjurer Spring, with all her magic,
can call forth.
The first step under Vermont's new
local option law was taken Tues
day when each town determined its
policy in regard to liquor traffic con-