Norwich bulletin., 1915-11-06
Sunday Morning Talk
WATER INTO WINE.

Wrer Jesus, lat the wedding feast at Cana of Galilee, turned water into wine, he suggested task for all of us cry day. The miracle, in some sense. may be performed continually over again. The water of common place duties and prosaic experiences may be turned into the wine of romance and of joy. That life, on the face of the matter, is bare and hard enough for the majority of mortals every man lies in transmitting bad hours into good ones, in changing drudgery into delight.
 They are fortunate mortals who have learned the art of extracting from the everyday routine some fiay- sunny folk all the clements that go into the days work from sun-up to bedtime yield some tribute of joy. The feeding of the chickens, the hang ing Of snowy clothes on the line. the preparation of dinner, visit to the dentist-any dull episode whatsoever is made to stand and deliver it's ut most content of interest and of fun.
 How true it is that the bulk of human happiness lies along levels that anyone can reach. The Ordainer of life on this planet has spread the essentials of a good time broadcast. As Jehn Brierly says: The material for enjoyment is so inwrought into the worlds constitution that we can not put spade into the ground with out turning 1t up" Add the word of '"The lesson which life repeats and constantly enforces is Look under foot" There is radium in the sdust of city streets if we had eyes to see it, and pleasure in many dull hours if We
 had minds to enjoy.
 T1f katr f1aA SA 6A amused and gladdened by the simple things. In them. rather than in highly spiced pleasures the true elixir of life Is to be found. I had rather possess the ability to be made glad by the common episodes in nature and in human feliowship than come into a lordly fortune.
 A joyful spirit blesses, not oneself alone. but all about. Stevenson, fulfill ing his own great task of happiness spoke the truth when he said "A joy full man or woman is a better thing to
 find than a five-p pound note. The en- trance of such a person into a room is as il another candle had been lighted
 I remember plumber who repeated poetry as he soldered joints. and even over and anon, burst into song. He was an excellent plumber and I can
 testify that the work he did never suffered on account of the good cheer of the workman.
 Let us know the sweetness of life-s cup ere it is forever dashed from our lips. Our service to our feilowplen. oft times so grudgingly rendered, would surely take on a quality of tenderness and Lf zest could we know how soon some of them would be beyond the neod of it. There Is no place for ir- ritaticn, for irnpatience In dealing with a soul soon to pass out along the endless way. Remember that, you who must wait on elderly or aiIing folk, and who sometimes get tired in the process. Could we know how soon they must be forever beyond the reach of our ministrations every thought of hardship would vanish at once and the little we can do would seem privilege.
 Suppose, in your own case. that it was suddenly made known to you tha. you had but one more day to live on this pleasant earth. Would you not do some very familiar things and look on some very familiar scenee with sort of fascinated awe? Any slackness of interest would disappear in an eager desire to make the most of a feetIng opportunity.
 The supposition is by no means wholly vain Who knows what a day shall bring forth? Who can tell whether the sun of another morning shall summon him to those tasks he
 so complafningly fulfills? Let us get the full flavor of the passing days
 Their state is blessed who can rescue
 beauty and joy from these f1eeting human hours, against the day when the silver cord is loosed and the golden bowl is broken.