The Tupelo journal., 1904-10-28
THE MEDDLESOME HABIT.
A Little Heart to Heart Talk on a
Common Failing Among
Best of People. Z

One of the easily beSetting sins
against which the best people need
to be on their guard, is meddlesome-
ness. No Christian should be what
St. Paul calls "a busybody in other
mems matters" But how hard it is
not to be. Going into church the
other Sunday, we noticed hat nearly
every devout Christian mother stopped
her little flock upon the steps of the
sanctuary and gave n last savage
twist to braid and bow, one vigorous
pat to the carefully parted hair, and
one final tilt to her own protruding
h~eadgear. She might have spent hours
upon the same tolls and cares before
leaving her home, but so long as there
was a moment left in which to add
another touch, nothing could be con-
sidered complete. At the inner door
of the sanctuary we heard a little
group discussing the "horrid" ar
rangement of the flowers upon the
communion table, and we noted that
one of the grave and reverend dea-
cons before he took his seat looked
carefully up and down the row of
windows, and at last tip-toed up to
one and closed it; while upon the OPP
posite side Of the church an usher
ran up one curtain and down an
other without any other ease that
we could see than sheer force CT
habit. The first thing the minister
lid when he entered was to twist the
pulpit "all ways for Sunday" ana
the elder who handed up a pulpit no.
tice stopped a moment to retouch it.
All of which is due to pure force of
habit, the habit of meddling with
things as we find them, under the
foolish impression that nothing is cor
rect until we have given 1t u Pc
culiar and personal twist. Indeed, We
found ourselves before the sermon was
concluded thinking over a half-dozen
better ways in which the dominic
might have laid out his discourse; and
the first book we opened on our re-
turn to the home was, as we discov-
cred, by some new critic who had
written 500 pages to show how Moses
ought to have rearranged the Pente-
touch. In fact, everyone appears to
be of the opinion of Hamlet:
'"The time is out of joint: o cursed spite.
Tha l was ever born to set 1t right"
Now there is just where you, and l.,
and all of us (fall) down." says a
writer in the Chicago Interior. The
time is we'll enough if we would only
let it alone. The chances are that
by our meddlesomeness We mar more
than we mend. The probability is
that the cook broiled the breakfast
bacon better than we could have done
it, the tailor cut the coat better than
as if he followed u directions, and
the minister's sermon was more log
ical and forceful as he laid it out.
than it would have been could we
have logged his elbow.
No one can ever be happy in this
world who fancies himself or herself
born to "set It right" 1t would do
us all good at times to sit with the
pupils. instead of taking, unlimited,
the seat of the master and critic. One
of the most useful lessons any man
can learn is to let things alone. Let
the chair stand where the maid placed
it. Let the dinner be served without
protest as the good wife ordered 1t.
And remember that the world will
have to get along without us some
day; that if we keep hands off from
it for a little while. 1t may he learn
ing. as it must learn, to eventually get
along without our suggestion or in
reference.