The Minneapolis journal., 1903-12-30

have heard married folks affirm
with great solemnity, I'VE never had
quarrel" But I always wonder If
they do not mean fight" That is
easy enough, Of course; but quar-
reP'! How in the world can two peo-
pie with any force of character and
any strong convictions about life get
along for a quarter of century or
more without some sort of clash that
produces estrangement and alterca-
ton? They surely must be angels
or rabbits!
Fatigue brings on quarrels. So
don't get overtired unless you have
to. The whole world looks so dark
TO a woman when she has washed
and ironed and baked, all in the same
day. Every bone in her body aches.
There is a numbness in the base Of
her brain. Her head throbs. The
slightest noise goes thru her nerves
like the firing of cannon. Poor old
John! If he happens to forget the
oysters tonight he Is liable to hear
from 1t. For Mary isn't herself.
Worry brings on quarrels. If John
has note coming due, or has just
received a bill which he had forgot
ten all about, or has had a strike in
his mill. he hardly knows the differ
ence between a kiss and cuff. So
don't worry.
A thousand other things bring on
quarrels. and sometimes they just
seem to come on Of themselves. How
hard 1t Is for us to find another will
running across our own like a mill
race thru garden. How hard 1t
is to deal daily with opinions and
habits differing antipodally from those
we have cherished longest. How hard
1t is to be always yielding and giving
Hyy to 1y~ NJ
people did life ever look the same?
Who ever saw a couple whose opin
Ions did not often clash like swords
When you stop to think of 1t, Moth
Ing can be more wonderful or beau
tiful than the welding of two strong
wills and the melting Of two proud
spirits into one.
It would he sublime II people never
did quarrel; but they do-and there
fore 1t is matter of the gravest i'm
portance that they should know how
to make up afterward. No quarrel
is ever rightly made up without
downright confession and :. whole
hearted FORGIVENESS. They are
The wound is hidden but not healed
unless the offender gets down on his
marrow bones, and the offended one
bestoWs a gracious pardon. 1t is
psychologically impossible for it to be
otherwise. You might as we'll try to
heal a sword cash without bringing
the edges together; or solder lead
dained and decreed it to be as it Is,
and quarrels that are not settled by
confession and pardon leave the barb
of the arrow, even if the shaft is
drawn. This fact is not understood
or else it is ignored, and the result is
bitterness, agony and oftentimes d.
vorce.
The confession Of wrong is a ne
cessity, both to the soul that perpe-
trates 1t and to the one which is Its
victim. You may wish it was not So
People wish they could escape tooth
ache without filing or extraction, but
nature has willed it otherwise Nc
spect without confession. He realizei
that he ought to admit his error and
that nothing but obstinacy restrains
him. 1t is 1gnominious and cowardlJ
not to do 1t, and he Is ashamed OF
himself. This modification must be
repressed in order to produce hi,
mental rest, and so he puts on bolt
front and bluffs it down, an act which
stimulates his re6otisrn and hardens hi:
heart. He becomes proud, cold ant
brutal. All his finer feelings die.
Confession Is also a necessity for thu
AA1 uk gu Ouc. w diS 50 IIlduS Ina
injury hurts. The soul suffers as thu
body does. Pain is the Fundamental
element In self-preservation. If it dit
not hurt to be insulted and wronget
we should become the passive victim
of injustice and wrong. It does hurt
and this hurt has but single healing
lotion. We dream Of relief thru re
venge, but it is only dream. Re
venge embitters and hardens. Their,
is only one balm, and that Is the ac
Acknowledgement of the wrong by tht
one who has inflicted the wound