The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1907-02-07
Do YOUR WORK.

Do fUUh WOkN.
What is the secret of living well? 1t may
be summed up in these words: an abiding
faith in the wisdom of the dispensations of
Providence and contentment with ones lot
In the words Of writer, every man is a
significant .sitem of the vast total of hu-
manity,' a rivet in the social machine, a
weaver at the loom of time whose work is
unique. God has created men in different
moulds, and so multiplied the diversity OF
pursuits that none may mistake his aim and
sphere of action. wherever monarch
takes UP his abode for night said Lamb,
ssthe poorest howell which he honors by
sleeping in it becomes for that time
palace Such sense of royalty is con-
ferred by the spirit of contentment. 1t is
the wizard wand whose touch panoplies
the lowliest objects in cloth of gold.
Is il not true that poverty consists chiefly
in s. feeling poor?:'' How often has ease,
long coveted, bred ennui and slothfulness!
Who would be propped up for life by cush-
ions and lead an aimless, hap-hazard, do
nothing existence? $ Would l could sell
or give you some of my leisure wrote
clerk TO his friend after he had been released
from the desk. A few weeks before his
bondage fretted and CALLED him. He had
become tired of its dull routine. His books
were bugaboos: he felt tied for life by red
tape. He sighed for freedom. When re-
lease came a peculiar sense OF isolation
possessed him like the prisoner of Chillon,
she regained his freedom with sigh. !"
His world had swung from his orbit. Time
was an iliimitable, shoreless ocean, and he,
cast adrift, could neither sink nor swim.
He became moody and depressed, a waif
without occupation, and would have ex-
changed his liberty for his old-time seat at
the desk. Alas! how happy he had been
as a clerk, but how forlorn now as gen.
tleman Of leisure!
Half the world does not know when it is
we'll Off The dog in the fable dropped the
bone he carried in his mouth for its shadow
in the water, and SO lost his dinner. Who
can estimate how many of us are pursuing
shadows? Fame, riches, honors, social
distinctions, are phantoms that elude the
grasp. Fame, saysDr. Holmes, usually
comes when we are thinking of something
else" When sought for its own sake it is
paid for with the heart blood. Who deems
rich men the happiest mortals? Let us
study the home-life Of people. A con-
sensus Of opinion will then show that hap
piness reignsthe longest on the farm, in the
study, in the work shop, wheresoever one
dwells aloof from the noisy arena of public
life and is not subject to sudden elevations
and depressions of spirit.
But we crave excitement. We want to
exchange our easy fitting shoes for tight
boots. We are eager to show how easily
we may conform to usage and custom and
be something better than we are. We would
burst the chrysalis that confines us before
our wings are formed. But as check and
corrective to the vaulting fits that seize us
what say the proverbs we know so we'll?
"Let well enough alone" s'The cobbler
should stick to his last "Let man be
known for weat he is, and not for what he
is not" It is an old saying that when our
fortune is not suited to our condition it will
be like shoe. which is apt to cause us to
trip if too large and pinches when too small
Christopher Sly, the vagrant tinker, was a
ludicrous object in the role of lord.
Each man." says an author, "has an
aptitude born with him to do easily some
feat impossible to any other. Do your
work. have to say this often, but nature
says it oftener."
The man exalts the work, not the work
the man. De Foe was tile maker, Bun
yam tinker, Turner a barber, Bayard
Taylor shoemaker, Washington a sur
veyor, Ben Franklin printer. The poor
est mechanic exalts the humblest trade il
he has that in him which commands his
work. Do your work, and every day. task
will bring its reward. Remember Christ s
parable, and never bury your talent. Hap
piness comes to those who do not seek it,
who are conscientious in the performance
of their duty and abound in good works.
Gems OF Thought.