Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-19
The Lesson.
Said the corn to the lilies.
Press not near my feet;
ion are only lilies,
Neither corn nor wheat.
Does one earn a living
Just by being sweet? -

Does one earn a living
Just by being sweetT"
Have We not all Of us. like the corn. dis
counted the duty of sweetness and pre-
1erreo 70 rustic around and do something
practical like growing food to eat? Food
must De grown, OF course, and work must
De oone' out may We not do 1t with cheer
!ulness! Does 1t not seem strange to us
that COD cared to have His word sneak
ABOUT Keeping our faces bright and cheer
iul lie does not wish US to go about sad
~ thinking of our SINS but after we are
forgiven to rejoice in Him and His saliva
ton.
Christian has a peculiar right To ha
happy, for his is "a Joy no man taketb from
him. If that be so why are there so MANY
lons-faced Christians? A Christian has a
right to have a merry heart. Has NOT
Jesus paid the price and set him free?
Does He not love to obey His loving
father! Is not that enough to make a
cheerful countenance?
ana there are some Christians who ac-
tuahy ENJOY hugging their sorrows to their
hearts, until their spirits (and the spirits of
weilnigh all those about them) are com
pletely broken wan
You all know tht effect of a gloomy ner-
son upon a room full OF tolerably cheerful
people Perhaps you know somebody who
Is iCnd or telling grewsome tales. II any
one has symptoms of typhoid fever or an
peLdicitis she Immediately relates TO them
the deaths OF friends by those diseases
ana during thunder storm she insists that
the family assemble in a room with all the
windows closed. while she tells them of how
many people have been struck by lightning
There is more or less of the Auntie DoIeful
In us all. Why is it?
A FAMILY OF young people. looking ahead
IN the topic card, came across this topic
and, curious to see what IL meant began to
stGoy II up. Half In fun they set about
following it out In their daily lives and 1t
was marvellous what difference it made
Give me my book!' one sister would say.
Grossly snatching her book from a younger
one. and then. catching the warning eve of
mother, her face would melt into a shamed
smile and she would lay the book back in
lhe ht.e lap and say gently Excuse me,
dear. may l have my book now?' and the
little face that was drawn in an angry pro-
test smiled and handed the book sWeetly
over. saying: Certainly. dear" They
laughed a great deal at themselves during
the first day or two, for 1t was surprising
to them how disagreeable they had been to
each other. and how little real heart sum
SHINE they had made in their own homes
though they had plenty of smiling looks
and gentle words for the strangers outside.
But after the first week of experiment
which the entire family had agreed upon
they voted to keep it up, 1t was SO delight
IuI one member OF the family had pro-
tested at first that If they were SO law
fully polite and pleasant to each other all
the time there would be too great a strain
ana everything would be stiff and poky, but
they found, on the contrary, that a greater
strain to heart and nerves and love had
been removed in putting away of cross
words and black looks. A constant bubble
OF laughter and Joy arose over the whole
house and father and mother actually be-
gan to take on flesh. That family is In q
fair way to be made over, for they are
striving to have their lives entirely without
cressness or fretting 1t would be well for
all OF US to try the experiment. When
things annoy to the extent that they can
not be borne another minute we could fee
to some little quiet refuge away from every
one but God and ask for help, and not re-
turn to the we9ld until we can bring smil-