Norwich bulletin., 1913-05-17
SUNDAY MORNING TALK
sAckCLoTH WITHIN.

1 When in an hour of disaster, King ! Jehoram rent his clothes the people ! looked and. behold. "he has sackcloth within upon his flesh" It was a sur prfsing revelation that the monarch 1 even had his trouble and carried it ! secretly. The garment of sorrow and penitence was underneath the royal robes.
 So the case would be almost univer- sally if we could look into the lives of other people. Sorrow enters the experience of prince and peasant alike. Beneath the smiling exterior some gnawing grief may hide that the world does not even suspect. Blatant and complaining folk are not always the worst hurt. The churl bIubbers over a pin prick. but the knight conceals a bleeding wound be- meath his armor. Noble natures wear their sackcloth where the King wore his-within.
 # we knew the secrets of lives about US we should less frequently charge Providence with partiaIity. The great DiSposer of human lots does not give
 all gifts to any of the sons of men.
 Even if your neighbor be rich it is
 quite possible that his wife is a
 chronic invalid or that his only son
 has gone for the second time to the keeley cure.
 The clown does his hilarious turn" while his heart aches for the little daughter in the hospital Business men walk our streets with jOVial de- meanor, but carrying carking cares with them Women hide sharptst dis appointments under a mask of gaiety. Skilful doctors prescribe for patients while conscious of insidious and hope less disease in their own bodies Law yers serve the interests of their clients
 while their personal affairs lie in a tumble beyond the power of the law
 to right.
 In even more pathetic cases are those
 whose outward prosperity cannot still an accusing conscience. The memory
 of some dastardIy deed. of some con
 temptibly mean act in their climb up
 ward can rob even a brilliant success of it's satisfaction It is not enough
 to have arrived. One must have ar rived honestly to taste the real sweet
 ness of the cup.
 Macbeth and Lady Macbeth accomp- fish their purpose but only to ind
 wretchedness. AS the unhappy hus- band asked of his wife's physician, so do men, weighed with guilt, ask of some power in earth or heaven. Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased
 Pluck from the memory of a rooted sorrow,
 Rage out the written troubles of the DT3lI
 And with some sweet oblivious an
 tidote
 Cleanse the stufrd bosom of that periIOus stuff
 Which weighs upon the heart?
 We gain in power of sympathy as
 we come into vital touch with our fel- lows Most people carry burdens about equal to their strength Appreciating the fact we learn to make allow ances The absent minded greeting,
 the gruff reply that offends us may mean only that the weight is. for the moment, pressing particularly hard upon a human soul.
 One may train himself to show kind ness, to exercise the tact that refrains from probing an old woAnd. A little
 from probing an ould wound. A little deliberate thought on the matter may give q new set to ones purpose. IL is a wholly noble ambition to pass through no day without trying to put touch of sunlight into someone's gray sky by speaking the word that cheers The consciousness Of having made some small section of the world appier and better is a great reward. Count no day a wasted. whatever it's material gains or losses, in which, in this splendid way, you have worked with God. THE PARSON