Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12
SUNDAY MORNING TALK.
Off Days.


He is a pretty good fellow, but he has
his off days" was the comment of one
of his friends regarding a railroad man
well known in his community. We all know
him, or at least men like him. Today they
are agreeable, obliging, approachable, alto
gether delightful. Tomorrow they are as
acid as vinegar and as sullen as az Ill
tempered dog. Just what has happened to
justify or explain the transformation no
observer possesses discernmeut enough to
tell, and. in fact, nothing in the way of
i'll tdings or unpleasant experiences has
befallen them. Through some unaccnunt-
able reason they are simply passing through
an off day. And it is not grown people
alone who victims of the malady. Have
We not known tae dearest children in the
world to be one day perfectly angelic. and
tWCnty-four hours thereafter perfectly an
archstic in temper and behavior? They. too
by some subtle process, which orthodox
people would ascribe 10 the workings OF
an evil spirit. have undergone a trans
formation similar 10 that which made Dr..
Jekyll into MIR. Hyde.
Now the victims of off days are not to
be harshly judged, and those of us who
are more Staid Of temperament who do not
know what it is 10 jump in an instant from
a mood of eXaltatiOn to one of depression,
who get up in the morning and go through
our routine duties without feeling any spe-
cal uplift or any special sag, should be
brethren and sisters They really suffer
from their occasional off days more than
anybody who associates with them suffers.
If, sometimes. they seem to rise higher
and JOY. they sink lower and know how
to appreciate the remark of the little girl,
prematurely blase, who mOaned: "Oh, the
world is hollow, my doll is made of saw
dust, and | want TO be a num-
And yet the victims of this malady have
no right to succumb tamely to it, and to
impose their own depressed moods and at
tltudes upon their fellowmen. They ought
rather TO accept the off days as part of
the assigned program of their lives and so
not be surprised when they come or to
measure all the hope and JOY of life by the
next twentyfour hours which they are
somehow TO live through.
The best cure for off days is to go right
along with prescribed duties. This rail-
road man TO whom | have referred is
fortunate in being obliged to open the win
dow of his ticket office at just such a
time in the morning, to note the coming
and going of trains, to attend to the nu-
merous requests of the patrons of the road
His treadmill of duty is really his saliva
ton, and any one who suffers from the
same disease may well force himself when
ever the on day comes to be even more
scrupulous in the performance of his duty
and more faithful in every detail
Then, too, in our off days we should
draw upon our reserves should call to mind
the bright, radiant days that constitute the
mold IN one of his noblest poems says
Tasks In hours of insight willed
Gan De In hours of gloom fulfilled"
That is the reason why exuberant peo-
pie sometimes seem to get more ont Of a
given day or "A given experience than peo-
pie or more phiegmatic temperament get
namely, that the larger satisfactions NAV
serve as a kind of reserve fund on which
lleaVy draIts may be made when the clouds
gather and the north wind blows
ana maybe person who suffers from the
off days disease should consider whetba,
or nor he may get rid altogether of the
trouble 1t may take number of years of
lialu, persistent effort, but many man has
overcome the disposition to be depressed
ana ugly. Various weapons can be used
i1eaith and exercise are important; con-
tact with CHEEKY people helps: the broad
ening of the mental horizon and the enrich
ing or the artistic and musical sensibilities
an fortlfy a man against the recurrence of
his off days and there is no better weapon
than pure and vital religion.
THE PARSON.