The Washington herald., 1907-08-08
THE OPTIMIST.

AT FIRST blush one might think that
in the world Of hopefulness. which is
CHEEKY optimism, sorrow had little part.
And yet. untouched by sorrow there
could be no credit in being optimistic.
No life has been so well-guarded or COM
fortably kept but that sorrow finds some
way 10 enter In. II is right and proper.
for It is part Of life that It should be
50. II is one Of the inevitable Ills, the
enduring Of which is part Of the terms
on which We hold life at all. Nothing
bespeaks a mans character so well as
the way in which he fronts sorrow,
and nothing arms man against a weak
and vain giving way before il so strongly
as the optimistic spirit.
Sorrow has a distinct and obvious value
In the scheme of things There is no
wisdom in useless and hopeless sorrow, q"
wrote DR.. Johnson, but there is some
thing in it so like virtue that he who
is wholly without it cannot be loved, nor
viii be, by me at least. be thought
worthy Of esteem"
Surely out of sorrow for the dead has
risen some Of the brightest hopes and
most inspiring thoughts for the life yet
TO be lived. 1t is well indeed TO cry:
But, oh! for the touch Of a vanished hand.
And the sound Of a voice that Is still.
But only the Weakling win spend his
days thus William Winter says that
Silence is the c0nsummate eloquence Of
s0rrOw,' and indeed we fall speeches.
often before the great impossibility of
being able 10 voice our grief. But 1t
were better, If one cannot shut down his
teeth hard and bear his Ill, for a man
to voice his sorrow in one violent out
burst that may relieve the heart, and
then have done with II.
To pass through sorrow is TO pass
through fiery furnace where much that
Is gross and Ill Is purified away. The
natural effect OF sorrow is 10 refine and
elevate the mind.
Sorrow is the great idealizer." said
Lowell, and experience has verified this
saying. From out the darkness and Bit
terness Of sorrow man returns clTast-
ened and humble and tender. II is in
sorrow alone that we learn to be truly
unselfsh toward our fellow-men; one of
the noblest lessons It teaches US Is we
are but an infinitesimal part Of the great
universal scheme and that all about US
are men and women, bravely bearing a
smiling face toward the world whose
hearts are racked with sorrow which
they refuse to allow 10 grow into despair.
over the weakness and temptations OF
children countless parents sorrow, and
many q welded couple. bearing them
selves decently n the battle OF life. know
IN their hearts the sorrow that keeps
them, in all essentials, miles apart. There
are those who sorrow over the loved
one laid beneath the turf and yet, not
idly Tepining, take Up their work again
and look hopefully toward the end.
There are others who sorrow in sick
ness and in pain. but with spirits in
Gomitable. fight the good fight and re
fuse 10 be dismayed
Nothing is a misery.
Unless our weakness apprehends Il 50:
We cannot be more faithful 10 ourselves,
In anything that's manly, than TO make
Ill fortune as ocntemrtible 10 Us
As It makes Is 10 otLers-
The great remedy for sorrow Is busy
ness. Blessed is the man who in the
time OF overwhelming sorrow can lose
himself In his work Here for a moment
one may forget MS aches and pains; the
edge of loss Is blunted; the sharp sting
Of separation becomes dulled.
SaTTuE prpys upon
It's solitude. and nothing more diverts Il
From Its sad visions Of the other World
Than calling Il az moments back 70 this;
Ths busy have no time Tor tears.
There is no cloud Of sorrow so dense
but through a rift In it the star OF hope
may shine. Thank God for that, What
ever the pain may be. let Us remember,
with Shakespeare, that
Affection may one day smile again: and til then.
Sit thee down. sorrow