The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1908-12-25
DUTY OF HAPPINESS.
(By REV. A. E. CLEMENT.

(By REV. A. E. CLEMENT.)
The Christmas holidays are here
the gladdest and the saddest of all the
year.
Wasted opportunities and broken
VOWS all but forgot come trooping into
view for recognition. Sweet faces we
have lost awhile" and those we may
never see again on earth look out upon
us from the windows Of other lands.
The hearts longings and aspirations
unexpressed struggling against ad-
verse winds have sought in vain the
mastery of self and the world. The
very joy Of these happiest days can
but be tinged with sadness.
1t is the gladdest because OF the
reunion OF friends and the opening of
hearts by dispensing soul-reviving
presents to friends and to the needy.
Its richest joys, however, cluster
about the historical fact of Christ's
advent in the world and of lives re-
newed through Him for another strug-
gle for the mastery. Let the people
enjoy it thoroughly; it is their high
privilege and their sacred duty.
At this time the home circle attracts
men from business interests. They |
close their books to cares that have
pressed them sorely and turn their |
feet into the old paths for relaxation
and a renewal of the hearts aspira-
tons. Petty jealousies and business
enmities and the memory of the
worlds hardness are buried forever
by the Preside of joy and love. The
distant city ceases its busy hum, the
'ollicking college boy lays down his
work, the daughter and her romping
children turn toward grandfather's
Ind their joyous faces look in at the
I'D home to gladden. lonely hearts
eeding and living in the memories of
'ther days. Here youth and old age .
rect 80 one with bouyant hopes
"a bAO SiOA AOuS yOdl6 d4Cduy LAC OLAOT
of sad experiences
aimed upon the hidden shoals far out
n life's sea; the one exultantly to
oil OF prospects and aspirations, the
Their to live over In the speaker those
appier days never to be forgotten
nd to caution against the pitfalls =
long the way-and both to gain a p
niger lease on life and to renew their
eals and gain fresh courage for the
ay
The duty of happiness engages the
tention Of the thoughtful and serious OF
ho aspire to something worth while. it
30 often it has been incalculated W
at only the light-minded, the silly, oil
ID the wording know ought Of happi- pr
ss. The seriousness of the error 10
insists in the absence of the fact. is
II only those who have anchorage
d draw load know ought of quiet he
d rest; the other speaks OF an empti- tn
IS and looseness likely at any mo- VIZ
mt to burst as bubble or be con- lig
med of sin and selfishness. The sim siz
ness of neglected duties and the Ca
ght of wasted opportunities eat an
ay day and night at the very vitals wi
real happiness sooner or later to be Oh
anded; whereas that heart en- So
,led by lofty ideals, that mind thr
hered by life's nobler aspirations, pei
t conscience delicate to the call of COZ
voice whispering within enters I
} the very best that the God OF all sea
ce has in reserve. Some have eve
Igined that happiness like a flow hea
might be plucked with a long stem to
pinned to the lapel OF the coat to sue
'esh one through the years; others ago
e dreamed that 1t might be bar car,
I'd for, that the cash might be In /