The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-12-04
LIES CONVERSATIONS.


of the most inspiring. thoughts OF life is
the thought of its compensations; that
thought 20 well concentrated by Emerson
when he wrote There is a remedy for
every wrong. and satisfaction for every
soul" To believe in the doctrine of COM
pensation, that reaches through life into
eternity, is 10 be surcharged with that
fine spirit of hopefulness and belief in
the ultimate good without which a man
is bound 10 sink into the slough Of hope
less pessimism with which he is enabled
10 attain heights limited only by the ca
pacity and the nobleness Of his soul
The ancient axiom that every cloud
has "a silver lining is one of those which
we accept in youth blindly. only TO ma
that the verify Of it becomes more sure
with our experience in life. The more We
have suffered, have been disappointed or
grieved, the more we must come TO see
in the very fact that we are stiu living
and stiII are privileged 10 wait for other
opportunities-and be convinced OF the
verify OF Whittiers-
And hight is mingled with the gloom
And soy With grief;
Divinest cmnpei.satinns come.
Through thons Of judgement mercies bloom
In sweet relief.
One great trouble with 80 many of US
is that we count it failure If we do not
chance to hit the goal for which we have
striven And yet it was we ourselves, in
al our fanibnity and liability to error.
who chose the goal; We whose vision is
faulty and who cannot really know
whether in the winning of our particular
aim lies the best of us-for our happiness
or the worlds
"One launched a sldp. and she vas lost at sea;
lie built bridge, but foods have bone it down:
He meant much good, none came. strange destiny:
His corn lies sunk, ms bridge bears none to town.
Yet good be- had not meant became his crown;
For once al work. when even as nature, free
From thought Of good hs was, or Of renown.
God took the work for good. and lei good be.
That is what should inspire us in the
thought Of cOmpensauOn-that even II
our work seems TO fail. does not bring us
the reward or the applause that we might
have hoped for. the work shall be counted
for the good in any cese. so only that it
be wrought in honesty and truth No
honest work, no earnest endeavor. no
righteous thought no loving kindness is
ever wasted. Everything in this worka-
day world that makes for hopefulness or
helpfulness is so much good added to the
great sum of the worlds riches. So when
3 we face dire defeat and the SCATTERING of
: our dearest desires, let us remember Jean
lngelow's song OF faith
"Under the storm and the cloud to-day.
And to-day the hard peril aud pain
Tomorrow the stone shall be rolled away
For tbs sunshine shall follow the rain.
Merciful Father. I viii not complain
know that the sunshine shall follow the rain"
Tennyson, who usually saw with eyes
Of clear faith and the hope that comes
from weIl-grounded religious belief. could
only cry when he was in agony over the
untimely death Of his dearest friend.
Arthur Haliam:
"Oh. yet We trust that. somehow. good
Win be the final goal Of Ill
Not quite able to say with the sureness
OF Beaumont that they that are sad on
earth in heaven shall sing"
Yet if we can school ourselves to firm
belief In the theory of divine compensa-
ton we shall find it a stile that shall
help us over many difficulty 1t is faith
IN the eternal law Of compensation that
shall lift us up when we are depressed:
urge as TO strive on when we are faint
Of heart and weary; impel us forward yet
another step when we would halt by the
way
Let us face the fact bravely-that it is
not only those who succeed IN life that
may be happy. We talk about the goals
of our ambitions, set can we point out
even in what direction those goals lie?
Can we say that thus far we desire TO go,
and then. satisfied to stop? Ne; always
the divine impulse within us win urge us
on II We but retain the spirit of hope
within our hearts. And when we fall, are
wounded in life's battle. We may find
comfort in Bryants thought:
20 deem not they are blest alone
Whose lives peaceful tenor keep:
The Power who pites man hath shown
blessing for thieves that weep"
In short. this vale of wrath and tears
is, after all, but the proving ground. Il
is here we are tested and tried, ana al
WAYS may expect the bitter to exceed the
sweet, the pain TO be greater than the
JOY. But the compensation for it all lies
beyond the horizon-it is heayenward we
must struggle.
Here is the longing. the vision.
The hopes that swiftly remove;
There is the blessed fuiition
The feast. and the fulness Of love-
The fact that $4,000 worth of seal skins