The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-01-17
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A NIGHT PRAYER

A NIGHT PRAYER.
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o God, S!Perfect Love, I pray Thee care 4
For him because it is forbidden me:
Grant that his sleep may soft and hall
lowed be,
Because these prayer-clasped hands may
never dare
To smooth nor bless his bed. Close with
caressins peace his weary -stareyes. Free
May keep the dark watch that 1 may not
Greet with Thy new days joy his waking
soul,
Inspire him lest in WEAKNESS he slip
Upon the days ascent. Grant me the bhsf
OF praying for him-Lord, takesTbou a.
coal,
From out Thy altar-fre, and on the lip.
That, I may never touch lay Thou its hisA
Elizabeth Hale Gilman, in Scribner's
|. : Snare, of self-Pity.
sympathy is a beautiful thing when
kept where it belongs. We cannot
have too much sympathy with these
who need it. But there Is one per-
son whose need it is more than doubt
full. and that~person is ones individual
self. Pity is akin to love, and self-pity
is so close a relative of s%elf-loye that
we are wise if we, definitely refuse 10
let it enter the doors of or souls.
Yet at some time in every life it
seeks entrance. There is no. lot where,
in youth even, there is not some OPP
portunity for self-pity. 81 am poor,
Il am discouraged II am misundeTrT
stood" II ana slighted,'' 81 am over
worked'-there is no end to the whis.
per that self-pity makes in our ears
If we yield to these suggestions, how
ever. we soon begin to see that the
situation grows worse every day. We
find. courage waning, our despobdt
encX growing, and all possibility 9
cheer and victory receding in the dis
lance. Sympathy for self lisa paralyzas
ing and fatal sympathy. Unlike the
| sympathy of a wise friend, it brings no.
new point Of view and suggests ne
! fresh plan of campaign.
A man who sympathizes with hini-
self always has an overproduction OF.
grievances. If we undertook to expiaiR
some of his minor miseries to even his
best friend they might seem small, but
self treats them respectfully and sym.as
pathizes .unfailingfy. Let the habit OF
self-pity befop2e; established and hap
piness is gone. forever and q day. The
tiniest trouble becomes a thing tG
brood upon. Health and soul is gone
and soreness, Of spirit has taken ita}
place, until. at last the self-sympathis
ger becomes one, Of those miserable
persons who proclaim, Nobody has
such hard times as / have
When we get to saying that we are
down in the pit of folly and ~selfshness
indeed. No soul that makes that wall
is brave or noble or deserving of much
sympathy. When we once truly lo0h
about us and see or guess the crushing
burdens other souls are bearing With
patience and without complaint, we
shall be ashamed of such cowardiy
whining.
Whatever. lot we may have in lifeyF
we do not know what its possibilities
really are until we. have cheerfuliyi
land eourageously tried them. Self-pity,.
blinds us to the silver lining of the
cloud, to the discipline hid under hard,
ship, to the strength by b~urden-bear-
ing. Blessed is he that ~oyerconeth."
Shall we sigh because we have q
chance to win a blessing? Shall We
be caught in the snare that tangles
many young feet? The sooner we
learn to avoid it the better.
The brave life lever sits down to.
brood. It pushes ahead, sharing its
crust with another's need; shifting its
burden as well as it Gun, so as to lend
a hand to a comrades load, trudgiDg
steadfastly forward through rain o q
shine, and sure to get to the goal, JIM
the end. 1t takes s~elf-denial, not SELF
pity, as a guide, and for him who
makes that choice there is no such
word as failure though all fate seems
against him.-Youne Pennle.