Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-26

friend that is above US, who is an example
to us.
Below us in certain phases of experience
are other friends, equally dear, equally COM
pensating, but drawing upon entirely differ
ent aspects Of our characters To these
friends We are counselors and examples. We
have Travelled over ways that are yet I'M
tried to them, and We can give them the
profits of our experiences, show them how
they can avoid our past blunders, our slips
and falls and palms.
In the most compromising friendships the
give and take, the learning and teaching Is
reciprocal One friend is more advanced in
this regard. the other is more advanced in
that regard. Each teaches the other each
learns from the other. There is an exchange
of commodities as in the days of primitive
barter, when the shoemaker exchanged the
shoes he made for the fishes caught by the
fisherman. =
There Is
A rift in our heart, a window that opens
to the outer light when we have assumed
the weight Of another's burden. We get a
new strength, new sort Of strength, and
new sort of jOy
The pressure that bears us down seems to
open a new valve of power. We may grow
weak In every physical and worldly sense,
yet are strong with fresh vigor. There Is
another world.
Our interests have annexed the others in
terests, and the two together form new
life. new substance like in the chemical
equation. And this the solitary individual
interests cannot do. They must have the
addition.
The chemistry may be mysterious, but the
reaction always is certain to mean this
greater power. All may wonder how, or
where, but We have it, a power to bear the
burdens, no matter how grave.
1t we sink, tbs only seeming. We really
are rallying. No matter if we grow weary,
q.
ertheless of some virility that has been in
fused into our spiritual veins.
Perhaps We did not know 1t yesterday
when the pain was upon us, but today 1t is
clear that our greater strength of this
morning was born of the exercise to which
We put our moral muscle yesterday. That
Is why today we bear our burden in good
cheer.
The Help
Given ourselves in bearing another's bur
den is really larger by far than that we
give the other. toiiing seamstress who
stinted herself and lavished many pennies
ana dollars upon missions was asked
Why Il do it for my own souls expan-
sion.' she explained.
The souls of us all are expanding when
We stint ourselves and enrich another when
our hearts are at leisure from our own
concerns and busy soothing and synpathiz-
ing In behalf of others when our gold which
would have bought us luxuries gets neces-
sites for needy neighbors
Our experience longer is limited to our
petty personal affairs. 1t embraces another
life so intimately that the other life is
served just freely We serve our own
interests. This is the sort of interest a
mother has in her child. Its life Is quite
one, with hers. Her own life has enlarged
to circumscribe the interests of the child.
She lives in the child's joys and woes.
and up through all the youthful days until
the last Is the burden bearer.
This larger experience is its own reward.
1t matters not that the burdens often are
heavy, that TO our concerns We have added
the worries of another heart. The sorrow
shared is sorrow divided. And the joys
are shared, too-and double.
And the expansion means a larger, a
richer, fuller life