Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1904-05-06
GIVE AND INCREASE.

1uCTG ID uU ldW ny WHICH, d tQdQ any
more then a rose can with hold and
yet receive. He must give first and
give generously, broadly, magnifcently
if he would develope a magnificent
character, if he would accumulate
soul wealth. Give or starve! This is
natures fiat. Give of your sympathy,
of your money, of your encouragement,
of yourself, or starye mentally,
morally.
How many people do you know in
Grand Rapids who have become i'm
proverished by giving? Selfshness is
self-destruction. The man who never
helped anybody. who tightly shuts his
purse when there is a request to give,
who says that all he can do is to attend
to his own affairs, who never gives a
thought to his neighbor, who hugs all
his resources to himself, who wants to
get all and give nothing in eturn, is
the man who shrivels and DRIES up
like the rosebud, who becomes small.
mean and contemplate.
A strong man watching one who
was delicate and undeveloped exercis-
ing in gymnasium, said to him. ''My
dear man how foolish you are to waste
your energy on those parallel blrs and
dumb bells. You are weak physically
and ought to save what strength YOU
have for your days work. You can
not afford to sQuander your it.lity
that way"
'Oh, but my good SIR" RENTED the
other, 'syou dom see the philosophy
underlying this exercise. The only
way | can increase my power is by
first giving out what 1 have [ give
my strength to this apparatus. but it
returns what | give it with compound
interest. Ny muscles grow by giving
it out in effort in exercise"
Give and increase, hold and lose! 1t
is the universal law of growth.
81 will roll up my petals of beauty;
| will withhold this precious frag-
rance, this love-incense of sun and dew
for myself, ''said the selfish rosebud.
"It,is wastful, extravagent to give it
away to careless paSSers by" But be-
hold the moment it tries to store, to
withhold it's riches from others, they
vanish. 1t shrivels and dies.
Il will give myself" out side the
generous rose: 81 will bestow my
beauty and fragrance on everybody
who passes my way" and 10, it blossoms
into riot of sweetness and loveliness,
of which it never dreamed.
The habit Of doing good, of helping
somebody every day, of dropping a
little word of encouragement every
day here and there to a newS-boy, a
clerk, toiler in your home, print-shop
or store, is what broadens and ennobles
life, makes character beautiful and
fragrant as the rose. This is the sort
of giving that returns to us with COM
pound interest We find opportuni-
ties in this little city every day for
this kind of giving. Everywhere we
find some one who needs encourage
ment, some one whose heart is break
ing under heavy load.
AS you read this you can think of
some one here Ia Grand Rapids who
needs your sympathy, some one who
needs a lift. We never can tell what
a glorious fruitage the seed of the
most trivial act of kindness may
produce. Many heart has been
cheered simply by smile from a
stranger. A look of sympathy, an
expression of a desire to help. A warm
grasp of the hand has brought back
hope and courage to many disheart-
ened soul. A kind letter, a word of
encouragement, has been the turning
point in the career OF many persons
on the verge of despair.
Give, give, give of what you have,
but give yourself with your gift, 1t is
| love for which the world is hungering,
Scatter your flowers as you go, for you
| will not pass this way again.